Answer from the Bird’s Nest Monk

Tampa | June 22, 2013

There is a story about a Chinese Zen master who was called Bird’s Nest Monk because he often meditated in a tree. One day an eminent man, who was both a governor and well-known poet, paid him a visit, arriving while he was up in his tree. When the governor found him, he asked, "What is the teaching of Buddhism?", and Bird’s Nest Monk recited a verse from the Dhammapada, "Not to commit wrong actions, But to do all good ones, And keep the heart pure, This is the teaching of all Buddhas." When the governor heard this, he was not impressed and said, "Any child of three years knows that." Bird’s Nest Monk said, "Any three-year-old child may know it, but even an eighty-year-old man cannot do it."

In this Dharma talk, Fred explains the meaning of this simple but profound teaching, and how we bring this practice into all aspects of our lives.