Daoxin's "Liberation"
Daoxin, the Fourth Patriarch, was walking when he encountered a man who had tied himself to a tree with a rope.
The man cried out, "
Master, please liberate me!"
Daoxin asked,
"Who has bound you?"
The man replied,
"No one has bound me."
Daoxin said,
"Then why ask me to liberate you?"
Upon hearing this, the man was enlightened.
Reflection
Daoxin's question 'Who has bound you?' to the man tied to a tree is a direct pointer to self-liberation. The man realizes that no external force has bound him – the rope is a metaphor for self-created limitations. Seeking liberation from an outside source is itself the bondage. When the search for freedom stops, freedom is already here.