The Temple Lessons, part V
Previously, on The Temple Lessons [2, 3, 4]

One day, Joshu received one of Hofuku’s disciples and asked him, “How does your master instruct you?”
“My master instructs me to shut my eyes and see no evil thing; to cover my ears and hear no evil sound; to stop my thoughts and form no false ideas,” the monk replied.
“Then what does he do?” asked Joshu.
“We usually don’t get past that,” said the monk.
“That is a lot for one day,” nodded Joshu.
“Yes, and we break for lunch,” said the monk.

A philosopher asked Nansen: “Without words, without silence, will you tell me the truth?”
Nansen produced a sheet of paper and a bamboo brush. As the philosopher watched, master Nansen traced a figure on the paper, then pushed it across the floor to him.
After reading what master Nansen had written, the philosopher bowed and left the temple.
On the paper, Nansen had written the word “no”.

Baso was counting apples in the orchard, his legs curled up into the lotus position. Every time the wind blew an apple from the branches, he would say, “so passes the life of Tokusan,” or “so passes the life of Sekiso,” naming one of the other monks in the temple.
Nobody had asked him to do this. People rarely even talked to Baso.

Joshu asked the students this riddle: “Keichu, the first wheelmaker, made two wheels. Each had fifty spokes. Suppose you cut out the hubs? Would there still be a wheel?”
Pondering this, several students began to attain enlightenment. Joshu cut them off by ringing a bell loudly.
“The answer is yes.”