‘A monk asked Fayan, “What is Buddha?”
Fayan replied, “First I want to ask you to practice it, second I want to ask you to practice it.” (quoted in Two Zen Classics)
I had not heard of this exchange before, but came across it while I was researching for this week’s class (thinking about Case 26 of the Mumonkan involving Fayan and the screens). But why do you think he needs to tell the monk twice?
Shundo David Haye 