Shodo Harada

To stress the importance of assuming a proper posture when meditating, Shodo Harada tells the story of “a rich man who wanted a third-floor residence so that he could be higher than any of his neighbors. When the carpenters arrived they naturally began construction from the bottom floors. When the rich man saw this he became angry and said to the carpenters, ‘I said I wanted a third-floor residence, so I don’t need anything else, just the third floor. Why should I waste my money building the bottom floors?’”

Cypress Trees in the Garden: 117-132

The Story of Zen: 349