Xianglin Chengyuan [W-G: Hsiang-lin Ch’eng-yuan / J: Kyorin Choon]

Xianglin Chengyuan was once asked the traditional question, “Why did the first patriarch come east?” It is a way of asking what the purpose of Zen is. 

He replied, “It’s not good for one’s health to sit too long.”

Zen Masters of China: 279-80