joe.. i have a huge canvas pic on living room wall of the courtyard of the temple of Confucius with the very old very venerated 200 year old pines in rows.. amazingly beautiful have seen the many temples in china...where few westerners have been.. have 5, ooo photos...
the stick?????? whack.... some sense into the senseless and try to make them mindful! merle Merle, The latter, I think. I imagine it was fashioned in the form of a flat blade, like a palette-knife, or putty knife, probably from a broad thin piece of architectural bamboo. It must have been a common enough accessory in use at the Ch'an monasteries, some of which housed hundreds of monks or nuns, and the latrines must have been extensive. And so the Master made use of the stick as an example, in his teaching. Others might have answered, "The Oak Tree in the court yard" (but at some of the monasteries on high mountains, Oaks did not grow, but mostly Pines did/do). Bamboo could be brought up from below, for building, and for implements. Still others might have answered, "Just THIS!". The Master was very compassionate, bringing the student back into the "here and now" with what he said and how he said it. --Joe > Merle Lester <merlewiitpom@...> wrote: > > huh??????? wiping what.... the toilet or the arse?.. > so it's an arse wiping stick?
