Constant Awareness

"No Zen student would presume to teach others till he had lived with his Master for a minimum of ten years. 

Tenno, having completed his ten years of apprenticeship, acquired the rank of teacher. 

One day he went to visit the Master Nan-in. It was a rainy day, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. 

When he walked in, Nan-in greeted him with, “You left your wooden clogs and umbrella on the porch didn’t you? Tell me, did you place your umbrella on the right side of the clogs or on the left?”

Tenno was embarrassed, for he did not know the answer. He realized he lacked Awareness. So he became Nan-in’s student and laboured for ten more years to acquire Continual Awareness. 

The person who is ceaselessly aware: the person who is totally there each moment: behold the Master!"

from the book "Song Of The Bird" by Anthony de Mello

...in truth, OdiliaCarmen