A young boy was sent by his family to study the way of the Zen in a monastery. It was run by a renowned Zen master, Gisan. Much of the boy’s days were spent in prayers and learning the sutras. Other times, he was on the rice fields or doing chores around the temple.
One day, Gisan asked the boy to heat water for his bath. The boy did not realise it, but the water began boiling and it became too hot to be handled. Gisan instructed him to fetch cold water from the well behind the monastery to cool the water.
The boy lugged two buckets of water and began pouring it into the bath. One bucketful was not enough. As he poured the second one, Gisan dipped his finger in the bath to check its temperature. When he felt it was just right, Gisan asked the boy to stop.
There was still some water left in the bucket. Without a second thought, the boy threw out the remaining water on the ground.
“What have you done, you fool?!” snapped Gisan. “Could you not have poured the water on that tree or on the flower bed? You should not have wasted that water.”
The boy’s eyes brimmed with tears as the venerable teacher continued, “Child, there is no rain at this time of the year and water is not easy to come by. Even a single drop of water is precious.”
At that moment, the boy gained a new understanding of Zen. He adopted the name Tekisui, which means ‘a single drop of water’ and grew up to become a famous Zen teacher himself.
— A Zen Tale