intention

Before Ma-tsu became a teacher, he was training at Nan-yueh’s monastery, one of several hundred monks lost in the crowd.  A senior monk noticed how diligent he was and mentioned him to Nan-yueh, who found him alone in the zendo and asked, ‘What is your purpose in doing zazen?’  When Ma-tsu replied, “I seek to become a Buddha’, Nan-yueh picked up