Jo-Shu began the study of Zen when he was sixty years old and continued until he was eighty, when he realized Zen. He taught from the age of eighty until he was one hundred and twenty. A student once asked him, "If I haven't anything in my mind, what shall I do?" Jo-Shu replied, "Throw it out." "But if I haven't anything, how can I throw it out?" continued the questioner. "Well," said Jo-Shu, " then carry it out."
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