BENGALURU: A Zen story... In the world of Zen it is a beautiful tradition that masters send their disciples to other masters just to see the reality from some other angle. Even masters who have been contradicting each other their whole lives exchange disciples, so the disciple can see the truth from a totally different standpoint.
It happened...
One disciple was always getting into the same space as you. He was utterly content, there was no complaint, nothing was missing. But this eternal silence without any change was against the old, very deep-rooted habit of the search for excitement. Now there was no excitement possible.
The master called him - he had not been calling him for many days - and then slapped him. The disciple could not believe it. He had not said anything. He had not done anything. He asked, “Why have you hit me?”
The master said, “You needed a little change. And moreover you have to go to the opposing monastery of my eternal enemy. Now you have to live with that master!” The disciple said, “But you have always been contradicting him. You have never agreed on any point with that man, neither has he ever agreed with you. Why are you sending me to him?”
The master said, “Never ask the master why. He knows, and there is no need for you to know it. Simply go and ask the other master to accept you as a disciple.”
His whole contentment, meditation, silence - everything was disturbed. Tidal waves of thought that he had completely forgotten - this was too much! For what was he being punished?
He forgot all about boredom and all about life having no excitement any more. Now there was great excitement. But if the master says, “You have to go...”
He went to the other master very reluctantly, very unwillingly, almost in a state of split. He knew that this man was wrong: he had been listening to his master and he was so logical in his refutation of the other man.
But finally he knocked on the door of the monastery. The master himself came out and he said, “What is the matter? What do you want? You belong to my enemy.”
The disciple said, “I know. I never wanted to come here but your enemy, my master, has sent me to request that I should be accepted as your disciple.”
The master said, “This is very strange. And you followed whatever he said?”
The disciple said, “I had to. He has also hit me very hard - and he is a dangerous fellow! If I don’t follow, he will beat me every day: morning, afternoon, evening, in the middle of the night. He is not reliable. I thought it prudent to come to you.” The master closed his door in his face and said, “Your master is very compassionate. Go back to him.”