An old woman heard about a monk who wanted to do a solo meditation retreat. She had a little hut in her backyard and she invited the monk to do his retreat there. Each day she carried a meal out and set it beside the door. The monk remained inside meditating like crazy. After several weeks, the woman began to wonder if the monk had had any kind of significant realization. She had a beautiful daughter, so she sent her daughter out to knock on the monk's door. When the monk opened the door, the daughter gave the monk a suggestive look and said something to him that her mother had instructed her to say. The monk remained like a robot and repeated a famous Buddhist line about how the world of form is nothing but ashes and dust and that a monk must remain unattached to anything.
The daughter returned to her mother and reported what the monk had said. After hearing what he said, her mother rushed out to the hut, and kicked the monk out. She said, in essence, "You worthless bum. You've been taking up space that someone else could put to much better use." And she beat him with a stick all the way down the road.
I've forgotten the words that the daughter said to the monk, but the koan says, "If you had been the monk how could you have satisfied the old woman?"
The daughter returned to her mother and reported what the monk had said. After hearing what he said, her mother rushed out to the hut, and kicked the monk out. She said, in essence, "You worthless bum. You've been taking up space that someone else could put to much better use." And she beat him with a stick all the way down the road.
I've forgotten the words that the daughter said to the monk, but the koan says, "If you had been the monk how could you have satisfied the old woman?"
