teaching Zen

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I had a Zen Buddhist instructor I was inclined to listen to. One day, I asked him about the appropriate way to instruct relative newcomers to the discipline. He replied, "Tell them eighty percent and let them learn twenty."

Because I was inclined to listen to him, I rolled that around in my mind in the years that followed. In the end, I decided he was right but I also decided I did not agree with him. My answer to my question became, "Tell them one hundred percent and let them learn one hundred percent."

Like Christmas presents under the tree, it's funny how what is fierce comes differently wrapped.