ZEN STORIES

A soldier named Nobushige asked Hakuin, " Is there really a paradise and a hell?" Hakuin replied, "Who are you?" The soldier said, "I am a samurai." Hakuin scoffed, "You, a samurai? What lord would keep you as his guard? You look like a beggar." Nobushige?s face darkened with rage, and his hand flew to his sword. Hakuin said, "So you have a sword! It is probably too dull to cut off my head." As Nobushige began to draw the blade, Hakuin said quietly, "Here open the gates of hell." The samurai, struck by the master's composure, sheathed his sword and bowed. Hakuin said, "Here open the gates of paradise."