Once, there was a fellow who wanted out of the Zen
monastery where he was living.
In Zen monasteries you must pay constant attention
to what you’re doing,
what you’re
experiencing from moment to moment. After a time, this can get to you,
which is precisely
what happened to this fellow.
He went to see the master and said,
“I can’t take this
anymore. I want out.”
The master said,
“Okay, then
leave.”
He started for the door, and the master said,
“That’s not your
door.”
“Oh. Sorry.” The fellow looked around and spotted
another door.
As he headed for
it, the master said,
“That’s not your
door.”
“Oh!” He looked around for another door, and as he
headed for that one,
the master said,
“That’s not your door!”
Bewildered and exasperated, the poor fellow said,
“What do you mean?
There’s no other
door. You told me I could leave, but there’s no door I can leave by.”
“If there’s no door you can leave by,”
said the master,
“then sit down.”
We can only be here. We can’t leave. We’re always
here.
Examine your life
and you’ll see. The master’s
“sit down”
means to start
paying attention to what’s actually going on,
instead of running
away from it. This is how it is with us.
Because we ignore
our true situation, we’re never satisfied.
~ Steve Hagen