A young student of zen, who felt he had accomplished a great deal, presented himself before a zen master, and to show his zen, declared, “The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings do not exist. The true nature of all phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.”

The master was quietly smoking a bamboo pipe at the time, and said nothing in reply. Then. he suddenly smacked the student with the pipe. The student turned red with anger at this insult.

“If nothing exists,” the master said, “where did this anger come from?”