"I saw daddy fall down" [View all]

In “The Recorded Sayings of Layman Pang” there’s this story:

One day Layman Pang and his daughter Ling Zhao were selling bamboo baskets. Coming down off a bridge Mr. Pang stumbled and fell.

When Ling Zhao saw this she ran to her father’s side and threw herself onto the ground.

“What are you doing?” cried the Layman.

“I saw Daddy fall down, so I’m helping,” replied Ling Zhao.

“Luckily no one was looking,” remarked the Layman.

This story always touched me greatly, but I could never understand why Mr. Pang disapproves his daughter.

Then one day I heard a teacher reflect on this story and as he came to this exact point his voice grew soft. I thought he was slightly choked up. He said, “Mr. Pang is not disapproving Ling Zhao. That’s not what’s happening here. He's not embarrassed by what Ling Zhao has done."

That teacher’s teacher used to say, “If the left hand catches fire, the right hand doesn’t have to think about swatting out the flames.”

And the incomparable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche always said, “You sneeze first and wipe your nose afterwards.”

Still, I don’t understand why Mr. Pang said what he said to his daughter. But they are great adepts, so surely they understand. Yet, I cannot penetrate it.

Being stuck in the relative, if I had been Mr. Pang I would probably have burst into sloppy tears of gratitude and hugged my daughter.

They say the student should exceed the teacher by half. That being the case, Mr. and Mrs. Pang were extraordinary masters.

Nine bows to Ling Zhao!