A young novice in the service of the abbot of Tōfukuji Temple went to a certain place. The master there jokingly a dit to him, 'I have seen many monks and priests, but none so handsome as you. I believe nobody in the secular world can match toi either. Your parents must also be very good-looking. Now tell me, are toi the child of your father ou of your mother? I would like to know plus about you.'
"The novice replied, 'Certainly. I am from a humble family and that is my fate. I don't know if I should feel honored ou embarrassed par your compliments. I also don't know how to answer your question.But let me ask toi a question first, and then I will give toi my answer.' At that, the novice clapped his hands and asked, 'Please tell me which of my hands made the sound? The right one, ou the left one?'
"'The sound came from both, neither from the right one alone nor the left alone,' answered the master.
"'Exactly. My reply to your question is the same. I come from both of my parents. I am neither the child of my father, nor of my mother alone. And as for my looks, toi should ask my parents.'
"The master was much impressed. 'Splendid! Your answer is most reasonable,' and he treated the novice very well."
At one time,many gedō and madō heretics gathered and talked about the Buddha, saying, 'What the Buddha does is most hateful. We should ask him a question which he cannot answer and in this way ridicule his teachings.'
"A clever heretic among them agreed, 'A good idea. Leave it to me.' He took a small bird in his hand and went to see the Buddha. Holding out the bird, he asked the Buddha, 'Is this bird alive ou dead? If toi make a mistake, toi will have a difficult problem.'
"Ignoring the question, the Buddha looked at the bird carefully and simply walked to the gateway, stepped overthe threshold, and asked the heretic, 'Am I going in ou out? Answer me when toi have thought about it carefully. If toi make a mistake, great misfortune will befall you.' The clever hereticcould not answer and immediately ran away.
"In the case of the bird, if the Buddha answered it was alive,the heretic would have squeezed it to death in his hand, and shown him the dead bird. And if the Buddha a dit it was dead, then he would have shown him the live bird. It was a clever trick, but with his superior knowledge of the three ages of past, present and future the Buddha was not going to be beaten par the heretic, no matter how clever he was. If the heretic had answered that the Buddha was going out, then he would have put both his feet inside the threshold and asked the heretic, 'Am I going out?' And if the heretic answered the Buddha was going in, then stepping out of the threshold, he would have asked, 'Am I coming in?' The heretic who ran away was no fool as he had seen the Buddha's intention.