Bamboo

Without looking, some realized the Way through the sound of bamboo, and some illumined the mind through the blossoms of the peach tree. How can bamboo be sharp or dull, deluded or enlightened? How can flowers be shallow or deep, wise or foolish? Year after year flowers bloom, but people do not all attain enlightenment. The bamboo makes sounds from time to time, but not all those who hear them realize the Way. Realizing the Way and enlightening the mind only came about as a result of the karma accrued by the diligent and whole-hearted effort of continuously sitting Zazen, practicing, and maintaining the precepts.