this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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My favorite Buddhist tale is that of the Chinese monk Birdsnest, so called because he always hung out in a tree.
Now, Birdsnest was famous and highly regarded, and a governor heard of him and decided to seek him out. The governor travelled for days to reach birdsnest, and when he arrived, he asked "hey, birdsnest, what was it that all the Buddhas taught?" Basically, dude was asking for a one sentence summary of religion, like the famous tale of economic study resulting in the one sentence summary of "no such thing as a free lunch".
Birdsnest answered "Don't do bad things, only do good things."
The governor scoffed, and said "my three year old nephew knows that!"
"Easy enough for the three year old to understand," Birdsnest retorted, "but still very difficult for the sixty year old to do."
Highly regarded indeed.