A Chan master of the Tang Dynasty, disciple of National Teacher Hui’an, was unknown in name and origin. His enigmatic conduct defied understanding as he dwelt in seclusion on Songshan Mountain.
In the valley stood a temple housing a solitary oven, revered as divine. People from afar sacrificed livestock there, slaughtering countless animals.
One day, the Chan master led his disciples into the temple. Striking the oven thrice with his staff, he declared: “Pah! This oven is mere clay and tiles! Where lies its holiness? Where its divinity? How dare you kill living beings for it?” He struck it three more times, and the oven crumbled.
Soon after, a figure in black robes and tall hat bowed before the master.
“Who are you?” asked the master.
“I am this oven’s deity, bound by karma for ages. Hearing your teaching on birthless, deathless Dharma, I’m freed to rebirth in heaven. I came to thank you.”
The master said: “This is your intrinsic nature — I gave you nothing.”
The deity bowed again and vanished.
Later, disciples asked: “We’ve long served you yet received no profound teaching. How did the oven god attain liberation instantly?”
“I only told him the oven was clay. Nothing more,” replied the master.
Silenced, the disciples stood until the master challenged: “Do you understand?”
“No,” they admitted.
“Why can’t you grasp your own intrinsic nature?” he pressed.
As the disciples bowed, he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen! Smashed! Smashed!”
Philosophical Notes:
Shattering Illusions
The oven symbolizes deluded worship of form. Smashing it exposes emptiness: holiness resides nowhere but in intrinsic Buddha-nature.
Liberation in a Word
The deity’s awakening reveals Zen’s directness: truth needs no complex doctrine — a single insight into reality frees one from karmic bonds.
The Disciples’ Blindness
Their failure to recognize their own nature contrasts with the deity’s instant enlightenment, underscoring Zen’s paradox: what’s closest is hardest to see.
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