Question
I am reading the Quran. I am at the beginning, and it really strikes a different note from the Bible, at least as I remember it. At the same time, it is natural that shortly after Christ, who had been kind—probably too kind—God would tighten the screws. God is still good and merciful, but now he is also a master of vengeance. So I wonder: which attitude is preferable, spending all your cash on prostitutes and leading a dissolute life, or committing to a master and then disowning him, disowning his successor? Did zazen help the Fifth Patriarch’s monks? What is the consequence of having nurtured the desire to eliminate his successor?
Anonymous
Answer from Master Kosen
If you feel like going to whores, go ahead (before it is banned), ha ha ha! If you feel like practicing, go ahead without worrying about human ambitions or what others think. But comparing the two is so stupid. It is like wiping your ass while forgetting what paper—or water, for Muslims—is for.
Kosen