THE MEDITATION HALL AND THEMONKS LIFE
notwastingamomentidly,self-independence,and whatthey
call "secretvirtue", aresoundfor all landsand inall ages.
Esf>eciallyisthistrueoftheconceptof"secretvirtue",whichisa
verycharacteristicfeatureofZendiscipline.Itmeansnottowaste
naturalresources;itmeanstomakefulluse,economicandmoral,
ofeverythingthatcomesyourway;itmeanstotreatyourselfand
theworldinthemostappreciativeandreverentialframeofmind.
Itparticularlymeanspractisinggoodnesswithoutanythoughtof
recognitionbyothers.Achildisdrowning;Igetintothewater,
andthechildissaved.Thatisallthereistobedoneinthecase;
whatisdoneisdone.Iwalkaway,Ineverlookbackward,and
nothingmoreisthoughtofit.Acloudpassesandtheskyisas
blueaseverandasbroad.Zencallsit"adeedwithoutmerit"
[anabhogacaTya),andcomparesittoaman'sworkwhotriesto
fillupawellwithsnow,
Jesussaid,"WTienthoudoestalms,letnotthylefthandknow
whatthyrighthanddoeth; thatthinealmsmaybeinsecret."
Thisisthe"secretvirtue"ofBuddhism.Butwhentheaccount
goesontosaythat"ThyFatherwhoseethinsecretshallrecom-
pense thee",wesee adeep cleavagebetweenBuddhism and
Christianity.Aslongasthereisanythoughtofanybody,behe
Godordevil,knowingofourdoingsandmakingrecompense,
Zenwouldsay,"Youarenotyetoneofus."Deedsthatarethe
productofsuchthoughtleave"traces"and"shadows".Ifaspirit
istracingyourdoings,hewillinnotimegetholdofyouandmake
youaccountforwhatyouhavedone;Zenwillhavenoneofit.
Theperfectgarmentshowsnoseams,insideandoutside;itis
onecompletepieceandnobodycantellwheretheworkbegan,
orhowitwaswoven.InZen,therefore,notracesofself-conceit
orself-glorificationaretobeleftbehindevenafterthedoingof
good,muchlessthethoughtofrecompense,evenbyGod.
Resshi (Lieh-tzu), the Chinese philosopher, describes this
frameofmindinamostgraphicmanner:"I allowedmymindwithoutrestraint tothinkofwhatit
pleased,andmymouthtotalkaboutwhateveritpleased;Ithen
forgotwhether'thisandnot-this'wasmineorothers',whetherthegainorlosswasmineorothers';nordid Iknowwhether
Lao-shang-shihwasmyteacherand Pa-kaowasmyfriend.In
andout,Iwasthoroughlytransformed;andthenitwasthatthe