No Work No Food

Hykujo, a Chinese Zen master always worked alongside his students. Together they trimmed the gardens, cleaned the grounds and pruned the trees and bushes.

When Hykujo was eighty years old, his students worried that the physical labor was too much for him. They repeatedly asked him to stop working only to be refused. So one day, they hid his tools.

Hykujo did not eat that day.

Another day passed, and still the old teacher would not eat.

The next day, the students had no choice but to give back his tools. Hykujo worked again and resumed eating.

That evening, Hykujo had these words for his students,

“No work, no food.”