A Japanese king had heard of a Zen saint that had become enlightened. He went into the forest to see the saint, to be with him, to have some taste of his presence.
But as he touched the Zen saint’s feet, the saint said, ”Although you are a king you don’t have any manners.”
The king was a warrior. He could not tolerate such an insult in front of so many people. He said, ”I only came to ask one question, but you have annoyed me.”
The saint said, ”Ask your question.”
He said, ”I want to know what the difference is between heaven and hell.”
The saint laughed. He said, ”You must be an idiot.”
This was too much.
The king pulled out his sword and was going to strike the saint, and the saint said, ”Wait, you are at the door of hell.” A sudden insight, and the king pushed his sword back into the sheath and touched the feet of the saint.
The saint said, ”This is the door of heaven. Now you can measure the distance. I have shown you the doors of hell and heaven both.”
