One day, a monk by the name of Yuan who was in charge of discipline in the monastery asked Chan Master Huihai, “Do you work hard at your spiritual quest?”

 

Huihai replied, “Yes.”

 

Yuan asked, “How?”

 

Huihai replied, “I eat when I am hungry, sleep when I am sleepy.”

 

Yuan said, “But that’s what everybody does. Would you say they all work as hard as you do?”

 

The Chan Master said, “No.”

 

"Why not? In what way are they different?”

 

The Chan Master replied, “Some people don’t eat when they should eat, don’t sleep when they should sleep, but spend their time calculating and scheming. That’s what makes the difference.”

 

The Master of Buddhists Discipline was lost for words.

 

-Recorded Dialogues of Huihai