A devotee of women, Tecugen, decided to publish sutras in Japan that were only available in Chinese at the time. The books had to be printed using wooden blocks, in an edition of seven thousand copies, which was a tremendous undertaking. Tecugen set out on a journey to collect donations for this purpose. A few supporters gave him around a hundred pieces of gold each, but in most cases, he only received small coins. He thanked each donor equally. After ten years, Tecugen had enough money to realize his idea.
During that time, the Uji River began to flood. Famine struck. Tecugen took the money he had collected for the books and spent it on saving people from starvation. Then he resumed his fundraising efforts.
Several years later, a certain epidemic spread throughout the land. All the money collected, Tecugen once again gave to help his people.
And for the third time, he started his business again, and after twenty years, his wish was fulfilled. The printing blocks used to print the first edition of the sutras the next day. One can see in the Obaku monastery in Kyoto.
Japanese tell their children that Tecugen created three collections of sutras, and that the first two, invisible, surpassed the last one.
zen Buddhist story
From the book: Miroslav Josipović, Empty Your Cup
Selected by: Vesna Bosnar