This is from "
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones", a wonderful collection of
zen mantras and stories:
A
university student while visiting Gasan asked him "Have you ever read the
Christian Bible?"
"No, read it to me," said Gasan.
The student opened the
Bible and read from
St. Matthew: "And why take ye thought for
raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They
toil not, neither do they
spin, and yet I say unto you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these . . . Take therefore no thought for the
morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."
Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an
enlightened man."
The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."
Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from
Buddhahood."