"Lillies of the Field" - Zen Story

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One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the *lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"

*Consider the lilies of the field,

how they grow;

They toil not, neither do they spin;

And yet I say unto you,

that even Solomon in all his glory

was not arrayed like one of these.