Eschatology
Of the great Zen Master Rinzai
it was said that each night the last thing he did before he went to bed was let out a great big belly laugh that resounded through the corridors and was heard in every building of the monastery grounds.
And the first thing he did when he woke at dawn was burst into peals of laughter so loud they woke up every monk no matter how deep his slumber.
His disciples asked him repeatedly to tell them why he laughed but he wouldn't.
And when he died he carried the secret of his laughter with him to the grave.
The Master was in an expansive mood so his disciples sought to learn from him the stages he had passed through in his quest for the divine.
"God first led me by the hand," he said, "into the Land of Action and there I dwelt for several years.
Then He returned and led me to the Land of Sorrows; there I lived until my heart was purged of every inordinate attachment.
That is when I found myself in the Land of Love whose burning flames consumed whatever was left in me of self.
This brought me to the Land of Silence where the mysteries of life and death were bared before my wondering eyes."
"Was that the final stage of your quest?" they asked.
"No." The Master said,
"One day God said.
Today I shall take you to the innermost sanctuary of the Temple, to the heart of God himself.'
And I was led to the Land of Laughter."
THE PRAYER OF THE FROG 1
Anthony de Mello
