Zen Master Joshu

Zen Master Joshu, also known as Chao-chou Ts’ung-shen (778–897), was one of the great Ch’an (Zen) masters of ancient China. It is said of Joshu that his “lips emitted light” because his manner of teaching was to speak words that so profoundly expressed Zen realization that students often had immediate insight. It was this ability to express the true nature of the enlightened mind in a way that was pithy and succinct that made his teaching so influential. His sayings and dialogues have been preserved in the Zen literature as timeless and potent manifestations of the enlightened experience.

A monk asked zen master Joshu, “What about it when I’m not chasing after various things?”

The master said,”Obviously, it is just like this.”

The monk said, “Isn’t this the fact of my own nature?”

The master said, “Chasing, chasing.”