Buta No Gotoki !!top!! -

The beggar knelt. “Master, a pig does not know it is called a pig. But a man who calls another buta no gotoki — he forgets that even pigs have the Buddha-nature. Mud is not a curse. It is where lotus roots grow.”

The beggar only smiled.

Once, in a crumbling temple at the edge of a forgotten village, there lived a monk named Sesshin. He was known for his harsh discipline and his even harsher tongue. To his disciples, he often said, “You are buta no gotoki — like pigs. Rooting in mud, blind to the sky.” buta no gotoki

One autumn, a wandering beggar came to the temple gates. His clothes were rags, his face weathered, but his eyes were calm as still water. The disciples, eager to prove their worth, mocked him. “Even pigs know better than to beg here,” one sneered. The beggar knelt

Sesshin wept. He drank the broth. And in that ruined temple, under a roof that no longer kept out the rain, the master became the student. Mud is not a curse