There was a warrior who sought enlightenment from a Zen master.
The warrior asked, “What is the difference between paradise and hell?”
The master retorted, “Who are you?”
The warrior replied, “I am a warrior.”
Hearing this, the master said with a smile, “You swine, are you qualified to seek enlightenment from me?”
The warrior flew into a rage, drew his sword and hacked at the master, “I'll kill you!”
Seeing the sword would fall upon his head, the master whispered in no hurry, “This is the hell.”
Suddenly startled, the warrior seemingly understood, dropped his sword, knelt and touched the forehead to the ground with his hands folded, “Thank you for your direction. Please forgive my recklessness right now.”
The master said in a low voice, “This is the paradise.”
有个武士去找一位禅师给他指点迷津。
武士问：“天堂和地狱有何不同？”
禅师反问道：“来者何人？”
武士答道：“在下乃习武之人。”
听到这话，大师笑着说：“你这蠢猪，你有何资格求我指点迷津？”
武士勃然大怒，拔剑砍向禅师：“我杀了你！”
禅师眼看剑刃就要落到头顶，不紧不慢地小声说：“此乃地狱。”
武士顿时一惊，似有领悟，放下剑，跪倒在地，双手交叠在额前磕起头来：“多谢大师指点。请原谅我方才一时鲁莽。”
大师低声说：“此乃天堂。”
-hack [hæk] v. 砍，劈
-recklessness [ˈrekləsnəs] n. 鲁莽；轻率
摒除戾气、心怀善念，即使不执寸铁，也能降服利刃、跻身禅境，处处皆天堂。