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In the Tang Dynasty, there was a Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) Temple on the Southern Mountain of Hengshan. The temple was stately and solemn, with incense1 smoke curling all around. One day, the eminent2 Monk3 Huai Rang of the Chan sect4 strolled into the temple hall and saw Monk Ma Zu sitting calm and upright on a rush cushion, with his palms put together and his eyes closed in deep meditation5. Knowing that Ma Zu aspired6 to become a Buddha7, Huai Rang smiled to himself. He picked up a brick at random8, squatted9 on his heels and began to grind it noisily. Ma Zu was vexed10 by the noise. He opened his eyes to find that it was his own master grinding a brick. He asked: "Master, what are you doing?" Huai Rang replied: "I am grinding the brick to make a mirror." Ma Zu laughed and said: "Can a brick be ground into a mirror?" "If a brick cannot be ground into a mirror," replied Huai Rang, "then can you become a Buddha by sitting in deep meditation?" Ma Zu was rather displeased11, and said: "What do you mean?" Huai Rang explained: "For example, an ox pulls a cart, but the cart doesn't move. Now, you say, should you whip the ox or push the cart?" Ma Zu hummed and hawed but couldn't answer. At this moment, Huai Rang said to him seriously: "You learn to sit in meditation in order to become a Buddha. In fact, it relies on wisdom and comprehension of the mind to become one, not at all on sitting. | 
