Zen Masters in charge of monasteries that grew past a certain size had to select someone qualified enough to start a new monastery. Several hundred years ago a particular ZM walked out in front of 1000 monks, set down a glass vase on the floor, and said, "We need to select a new teacher to take over half of this assembly and start a new monastery, and this person must be a clear-eyed teacher. Look at what I've placed on the floor. If you say it's a vase, you're no better than a mindless creature, but if you say it's NOT a vase, you're equally clueless. What is it?"
Everyone remained silent for a few moments, and then one of the monks walked up to the front of the assembly, kicked the vase so hard that it shattered into a pile of shards, and walked away. The ZM said, "Okay, you understand, but you're still a bit crude." The monk turned around and said, "Where is there any crudity or polish here to get hold of?" The ZM let him start the new monastery, but he wasn't 100% happy about it. If you had been there, how could you have made the ZM 100% happy?
Everyone remained silent for a few moments, and then one of the monks walked up to the front of the assembly, kicked the vase so hard that it shattered into a pile of shards, and walked away. The ZM said, "Okay, you understand, but you're still a bit crude." The monk turned around and said, "Where is there any crudity or polish here to get hold of?" The ZM let him start the new monastery, but he wasn't 100% happy about it. If you had been there, how could you have made the ZM 100% happy?
