The young monk had recently joined the monastery. He was curious and extremely restless. Within a few days of being in the monastery, he came across Master Joshu. Though the new monks had to follow strict regimens and step-by-step procedures before they could debate with senior masters, finding no one around, the young man realised it to be Godsend. He thought it was a great opportunity to get some spiritual insights from the great master directly. When Joshu saw the young monk standing, he smiled. The young monk immediately spoke, ‘I’m new in the monastery, Master. I wanted to understand a few things.’ Joshu looked intently at the young monk and asked, ‘And what are those things?’
The young monk hesitated a bit before asking, ‘Can you please explain what the self is?’ Instead of the answer the young monk expected, Joshu asked him, ‘Did you eat the rice gruel?’
Though the young monk was taken aback by this strange and abrupt question, he nonetheless responded, ‘Yes, Master, I have eaten.’
Joshu smiled and said, ‘Then you must go and wash the bowl.’
Before the young man could respond, he saw Joshu deep in meditation. While some say that the young man was immediately enlightened with the answer, others mention spiritual doors opening for him from that point. Whatever may be the case, what exactly took place was that the young monk realised what Joshu meant by it.
Among the many interpretations, we can draw two clear ones. One is that it emphasises performing action instead of debating endlessly about it. There’s though a deeper meaning. Eating the rice porridge stands for having lived your life to the full, till all desires are over, while washing the bowl means returning back to the state we came from: clean, untouched state. In other words, go back to the original, spotless state we were created. Remember, we need to eventually clean the dish. Might as well start now. It’s exactly what Kabir meant when he said, ‘Jyon ki tyon dhar dini chadariya.’
Blurb:
Eating the rice porridge stands for living life to the full, while washing the bowl means returning back to the state we came from: clean, untouched state. Remember, we need to clean the dish eventually. Might as well prepare now.
