A mother’s advice

Jiun, a Shingon master, was a well-known Sanskrit scholar of the Tokugawa era. When he was young, he used to deliver lectures to his brother students.

His mother heard about this and wrote him a letter:

“Son, I do not think you became a devotee of the Buddha because you desired to turn into a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to information and commentation, glory and honour. I wish you would stop this lecture business. Shut yourself up in a little temple in a remote part of the mountain. Devote your time to meditation and in this way attain true realisation.”

Courtesy: Zen koans in https://ashidakim.com

Jiun Sonja (1718-1804) was a Shingon monk, Zen calligrapher and scholar who was affiliated with the esoteric Buddhist Shingon Ritsu sect.