Painting by Allison Atwill.
Baizhang and the Fox
Book of Serenity (Shoyoroku, Congrong Lu) #8, first part
Whenever Master Baizhang delivered a sermon, an old man was always there listening with the monks. When they left, he left too. One day, however, he remained behind. Baizhang asked him, “What man are you, standing there?”
The old man replied, “In the past, in the time of Kashyapa Buddha, I lived on this mountain as a Zen priest. Once a monk came and asked me, ‘Does a perfectly enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?’ I said to him, ‘He does not.’ Because of this answer, I fell into the state of a fox for 500 lives. Now, I beg you, Master, please say a turning word.”
Baizhang said, “The law of cause and effect cannot be obscured.”
Illustration by Kat Davis.