MASTER HSING YUN'S TALK

Night Roving:
In the temple where Ch'an Master Hsien-yai lived, there was a novice who often stealthily climbed over the courtyard wall at night in search of excitement.  Only when the Master found a tall stool near the wall during his rounds one night did he realize that someone had sneaked out of the temple. Not awakening anyone, Hsien-yai quietly removed the stool and waited in its place. Late that night, the novice returned.  Expecting the stool to be where he had left it, he climbed over the wall, unknowingly stepped on the Master's head, and jumped off. When he realized that his master was standing there, he was so frightened that he did not know what to do.  However, the Master was not the least bit offended.  Instead, he comforted him by saying, "It's late and is getting chilly.  Take good care of your health. Go and put on more clothes, or you'll catch a cold." No one else in the temple knew of this incident, nor did Master Hsien-yai ever mention it afterward. From that time onward, none of the more than one hundred novices in the temple ever went out at night in search of excitement again.