Hyakujo had a unique way of guiding monks. from morning till night he kept on saying, ”Work for me in the field, and I will teach for you.”
He thus made his disciples work in the field all the time; but he did not seem to be prepared to give any lectures or sermons.
Finally, the monks, not able to stand it any longer, went to the master and asked:”Would you please be gracious enough to give us an edifying sermon?”
The masters unwavering reply was: ”work for me in the field, and I will teach for you.”
Several days passed, and the impatient monks went to the master again and urged: ”please give us a sermon.” this time, he quite readily agreed to do so.
After a while all the monks gathered together in the hall. the master quietly appeared before them, walked up to the pulpit, spread out both his arms, and without a word immediately returned to his room.
There is another Zen Story:
One day Zen Master Nansen was working on the mountain with a sickle. a monk came up the mountain path and asked, without knowing to whom he was talking: ”how can I get to master Nansen?”
The master raised his sickle in front of the monk, and said:”I paid thirty cents for this sickle.”
The monk retorted:”I did not ask you about the sickle.” ”what, then,” queried the master, ”did you ask me?”
The monk repeated:”how can I get to master Nansen?”
The master said,”oh, yes! This cuts well!”
