An aged Chinese monk who asks permission to seek enlightenment in an isolated cave. Taking his robes, his begging bowl, and a few possessions, he heads out on foot into the mountains.
On his way he sees an old man carrying a huge bundle. This man is actually the bodhisattva Manjushri, who appears to people at the moment they are ready for enlightenment.”I am going to the furthest mountains,” the monk tells Manjushri, “to find a cave. I will stay there and mediate until I die or realize awakening.”
Manjushri thenm drops his bundle onto the ground, and instantly the monk is enlightened. He, too, has put down his whole defensive self, the entire burden.
But he’s still a bit confused. “Now what?” he asks Manjushri. And the bodhisattva, smiling, silently reaches down, picks up his bundle and continues down the path.
– Mark Spstein (1999), Going to pieces without fallig apart. London: Thorsons. pp176-177.