Naked and alone
A Zen master's students arrive to find him disheveled, mud-spattered, and naked, sitting on the ground in front of his house, beating on an empty pot with a wooden spoon, and keening. Having known the master always as a person of utmost dignity in dress and bearing, at this spectacle, the students are shocked into a long silence. Finally, the most senior student is able to speak:
“Master, what has happened?”
The old man just keeps on beating the pot and singing his keen.
“Master, master,” the student says. “You have instructed us to sit peacefully, residing always in the calm center. Why are you carrying on like this?”
At last, the master stops beating on the pot and replies.
“Well,” he says. “Last night my wife died, and I find myself sitting here on the ground, naked, and alone, beating on a pot."