The Broken Treasure Vase

In the 1400s in ancient Japan, there was a monk named Ikkyū. When he was nine, he already lived in a Zen temple in Kyoto. One day, the abbot (head monk) went out to handle some affairs, and he told all his students to stay in the meditation hall and diligently meditate while he was out.

After meditating for a while, Ikkyū got restless, so he decided to go for a walk. He passed by the abbot's room and found a fellow young monk crying inside. Puzzled, Ikkyū asked him what's wrong.

The other monk replied, "It's a disaster! I'm doomed!"

Ikkyū said, "We are Zen monks. We can't cry!"

The other monk said, "You don't understand. Inside this cabinet is something the master cherishes the most. He usually takes it out secretly to admire it but never lets me see it. Today, when the master was away, I couldn’t resist. I opened it to see what it was. It turned out to be a small porcelain vase.

Image Source: GPT

I held it in my hands to look at it, but then I accidentally dropped it and broke it. It's a disaster! When the master comes back, I won’t be able to live in peace. I’m really going to die!”

Ikkyū said, "It's OK, don't dry. How about this: you give the broken vase to me, and I'll say I broke it."

The other monk said, "What! Do you really mean it? You're so brave! How could I ever repay you? The master asked me to watch over his room, and he will give me steamed buns to eat. How about I give those steamed buns to you?"

Ikkyū replied, "Sure. You can give the steamed buns to me, and I'll take the broken vase."

Later, the master returned and saw Ikkyū still meditating in the meditation hall. He commented, "Ikkyū, are you meditating diligently?"

Ikkyū replied, " Yes master. I've spent the whole day meditating on a question with great focus."

The master asked, "Oh? And what question is that?"

Ikkyū said, "I've been contemplating whether there is anyone in the world who does not die. Is there, master?"

The master replied, "Oh, my silly disciple. How could there be anyone who does not die? Everything is impermanent, including people's lives."

Ikkyū said, "Oh, I see. If everything is impermanent and all people must die, then what about things? Is there any thing that can last forever?"

“No,” the master replied. “Even inanimate objects are impermanent. They exist when required conditions are met, and they perish when those conditions are gone."

“Oh, I see,” Ikkyū said. “If that’s the case, then when something we cherish dearly perishes, what should we do?”

The master replied, "When conditions disperse, things perish. It's a fact of reality. When we understand the truth, we wouldn't be attached. We can let it go without grievance."

Ikkyū said, "I understand now. Thank you master."

Ikkyū then took the broken vase wrapped in cloth out of his pocket and gave it to the master, saying, "So, I guess this is something that perished because the required conditions are gone."

Image Source: GPT

The master looked at the broken pieces and calmly said, "Yes, it is."

(Story source)

Commentary

The story talked about impermanence, which is a central concept in Buddhism. One of the most famous quotes in Buddhism comes from the Diamond Sutra, in which the Buddha said,

"All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, illusion, bubble, or shadow; also like dew and lightning, and should be viewed as such."

(Original text: 一切有為法如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀。)

What those things all have in common is that they are impermanent and thus "unreal". When the required conditions are present, such things arise. When the conditions disperse, these things perish. When we talk about "true love" or "real love", we mean eternal love that would never change. Similarly, "real" in this context refers to permanence and unchanging. When we understand impermanence, we would dampen our attachments towards things and our mind would be much more peaceful.

In a dream, things seem real, but we will eventually wake up from the dream, and when we do, we realize it wasn't real. We felt such strong emotions in the dream due to what was happening, but it wasn't actually real. Similarly, a lot of our past upsets are like past dreams. Where did our strong feelings back then go? Thus, feelings are impermanent and "unreal". We don't need to take those feelings too seriously. We don't need to cling to our feelings. If an upsetting event happens today, and we realize that it's like a dream, that in the future, we'll have forgotten about this, then we wouldn't get so upset today. We can remain detached, just like the master in the story.

Illusion is easy to understand. Anyone who's ever looked into magic tricks knows that the magician doesn't let the viewer see the truth. Similarly, when we think that things can be permanent, that we can truly possess them, that things will follow our will and not change or perish when we don't want them to, that's an illusion, a mean trick. Once we understand the truth, we will no longer be deceived by the illusion.

Bubble is also easy to understand. Not only are bubbles short-lived, they are also very fragile. Similarly, many conditioned phenomena are short-lived and fragile. The master's vase is a prime example.

Shadow is a metaphor for being unreal. We wouldn't take a shadow seriously. Yet when certain things happen, we get so upset. It's because we take it too seriously. These matters aren't permanent and will always be changing. That thing upsets you? It's going to change. That thing is awesome and you wish it would stay like that forever? It's also going to change. Don't take it for real, don't take it too seriously.

Dew is another metaphor for impermanence. Its conditions are present in the early morning. By noon, it's too hot and dry, and the dew is gone.

Lightning is yet another metaphor for impermanence, with emphasis on how fast things change. Some things might last longer, like dew, while other things are gone in an instant,  like lightning.

"All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, illusion, bubble, or shadow; also like dew and lightning, and should be viewed as such."

Just to be clear, "unreal" does not mean it doesn't exist in that moment. It just means that everything is impermanent and always changing. Impermanence or "unreal" also does not mean we should care about anything or not have goals. We just shouldn't be stubborn and attached towards them. In everything, we accord with the conditions.

In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha also said,

"Practice all forms of goodness without notions of self, people, all things, and time. In this way, one attains unsurpassed complete enlightenment."

(Original text: 以無我、無人、無眾生、無壽者修一切善法，即得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 ) 

The Buddha did not tell us to be uncaring or say that we don't need to practice goodness. The Buddha taught us to actively practice goodness, but in the process, we should let go of attachments towards the notions of self, people, things, and time. In this way, not only do we create good karma, but we also cultivate a pure and tranquil mind.

For example, when we do good deeds, we don't keep thinking about how I did a good deed, or the people I helped, or what that good deed was, or when we did it, or when we should be rewarded. We practice goodness with a pure, sincere, and tranquil mind. If the conditions are ripe for us to do a good deed, we do it earnestly. If not, we don't force it. When we accord with conditions rather than force things, our mind will be tranquil.

(For more on detachment, check out this article: Attachment, Suffering, and Letting Go)

A major reason Ikkyū was able to help the master not get angry is because they both study Buddhism, and they often contemplate such teachings.

After hearing this story, I gained three insights.

1: Set the stage before delivering the news

There's a Chinese saying that goes,

"First put others in a good mood, then talk about matters and logic."

Put in another way, we need to set the stage before bringing out the main act or punchline. I am thoroughly impressed by how Ikkyū set the stage before delivering the news. If it were me, I might have been very nervous and apologetically tell the master that I broke his precious vase. What would be the result? The master would get very angry and take out that anger on me. I need to learn from Ikkyū!

2: Make proper thoughts a habit

Secondly, I'm reminded of a quote from Liao Fan's Four Lessons:

"When proper thoughts arise, improper thoughts will naturally be unable to affect us."

There's another teaching in Buddhism that goes,

"Let never forgetting proper thoughts be the practice of Zen stillness."

In the master's context, proper thoughts refer to the truth of impermanence, while improper thoughts refer to anger and blame. Ikkyū first helped his master bring out proper thoughts in a very tactful way. By asking those questions, his master felt very wise when he replied those questions. Right after saying those words, he was presented with the broken vase, so the power of those words are still fresh in his mind.

I imagine he probably felt a little bit upset, but he thought to himself, "Wow. Ikkyū's right. This really is a perished object whose conditions have dispersed. It was going to perish eventually anyway, so I really shouldn't get upset over it. I just lectured him on this, so I need to take my own medicine."

I need to learn from this master. I remember when I accidentally spilt water all over my past laptop and it broke, I was quite upset. Maybe if I had someone like Ikkyū set the stage for me, I would've been less upset haha. But we can't rely on others to save us, we need to save ourselves. We need to be our own Ikkyū and bring out proper thoughts ourselves.

I used that laptop for a long time, and I did regular back-ups, so it wasn't a big loss. The laptop isn't immortal; it would eventually perish; there's no need to cling to it, just like there's no need to be upset when a flower wilts near the end of its life. We give our thanks for its past service, and then we move on.

If in daily life, we can frequently bring up proper thoughts, like those of impermanence and karma, then that would be practicing Zen in daily life.

3: Good or bad is determined by ourselves

Third, I'm reminded of a quote by Master Ou Yi:

"Circumstances do not have good or bad. Good or bad is determined by our mind."

For most people, when our precious treasure gets broken, we'd probably view it as a tragedy and feel terribly upset. What's the root cause of this feeling? It's not the matter, it's our attitude. The more attached we are to something, the more anguish we feel when it's gone.

In this story, the master encountered a "disaster", yet he did not get terribly upset. Not only that, he elevated his level of spiritual cultivation. Furthermore, he set a good example for his students. In the future, when he talks about detachment to his students, they would respect him and truly listen to him because he role modelled it. If it weren't for that incident, his students might think, "Talk is cheap. Aren't you super attached to your treasure?"

Thus, whether or not something is a pit or a launch pad is completely determined by ourselves, by our own mind.

Concluding Thoughts

1. Have you ever had to deliver bad news? Did you first set the stage?

2. Have you ever had something precious break? How did you feel? What would you tell yourself now?

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Weekly Wisdom #382