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Ummon’s Dried Dung

March 17th, 2010

A monk asked Ummon,”What is Buddha?” Ummon answered him, “Dried dung.”

Mumon’s Comments
We must say that being so poor, Ummon cannot appreciate plain food, or he is so busy that he cannot even scribble properly. He is disposed to support his school with dry dung. Look at how devastated the Buddhist teaching has been!

Lightning flashes,
Sparks of striking flint.
In a blink of your eyes,
You have passed by (and missed it).

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