Dong Shan is Taught by an Old Lady

[Shi Da Dao]

'During his journey on foot, he met one day on the roadside an old woman carrying two buckets of water. He asked her for a drink. The woman replied:

'You will be given a drink, but I have a question to ask you first; (tell me) how many (foreign) elements (guna) does water contain?'

The master replied:

'Water does not contain any.'

The old lady said:

'Go away, do not foul my (buckets of) water.'(5)

Footnote 5 - written by Charles Luk - reads:

The old lady understood Ch'an and set a trap to probe the master's ability. She questioned him on the 'existence' of foreign elements in water, which symbolises the self-nature, and his answer implied the 'non-existence' of any foreign element in it. Existence and non-existence being a dualism, the master's answer did not convey the meaning of the absolute, hence the old lady's refusal to give him a drink. The compiler of the collection 'Finger Pointing at the Moon' either inadvertently or wrongly mentioned this paragraph after instead of before the gatha of enlightenment, for the master was enlightened and could not make a mistake in his reply to the old woman.'

Ch'an and Zen Teaching - Second Series; Translated by Charles Luk - Pages 132-133 - Century Paperbacks , 1987