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a virtuous man should have. Who knows of the other world? This is the world; you have given it to us to enjoy and now you have come with these ten commandments. This is contradictory."
God went around and around. Then he came to Moses, leader of the Jews. Moses never asked for a sample, and God was afraid: if Moses said no, nobody was left; Moses was the last hope. When God asked Moses -- the moment God said, "I have ten commandments" -- what did Moses reply? He said, "How much do they cost?" This is how a businessman thinks: the first thing he wants to know is the cost.
God said, "They cost nothing." And Moses said, "Then I will have ten. If they cost nothing, there is no problem." That's how the ten commandments were born.
But this samurai was not a Jew; he was not a businessman, he was a warrior. He had come with a simple question. He was not interested in scriptures, not in cost, not in any verbal answer. He was interested in reality. And what did Hakuin do? He said, "Who are you?" And the warrior replied, "I am a samurai." It is a thing of much pride to be a samurai in Japan. It means being a perfect warrior, a man who will not hesitate a single moment to give his life. For him, life and death are just a game.
He said, "I am a samurai, I am a leader of samurais. Even the emperor pays respect to me."
Hakuin laughed and said, " You, a samurai? You look like a beggar."
The samurai's pride was hurt, his ego hammered. He forgot what he had come for. He took out his sword and was just about to kill Hakuin. He forgot that he had come to this master to ask where is the gate of heaven, to ask where is the gate of hell. Then Hakuin laughed and said, "This is the gate of hell. With this sword, this anger, this ego, here opens the gate." This is what a warrior can understand. Immediately he understood: This is the gate. He put his sword back in its sheath. And Hakuin said, "Here opens the gate of heaven."
Hell and heaven are within you, both gates are within you. When you are behaving unconsciously there is the gate of hell; when you become alert and conscious, there is the gate of heaven.
What happened to this samurai?
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