A student asked the Master: “Master, how can I know if my soul is at peace?” The Master lit a small lantern and placed it in the wind. The flame flickered, but he said nothing. After a while, the student spoke: “The flame trembles — perhaps my soul is the same.” The Master blew out the lantern.“And now?” he asked. The student was silent. The Master smiled: “When the path remains bright even without the light —then your soul is at rest.”

In a Chan monastery, it was once tradition for students to take a solemn vow:Even if their master were to kill them one day, they would...

A farmer came to a venerable Tendai priest and asked him to recite sutras for his wife, who was lying on her deathbed. When the...