Conversation between Emperor Wu-ti and Bodhidharma

"What merit have I gained by having innumerable temples built, sutras written down, and monks initiated, ever since I ascended to the throne?"

The Master answered: "No merit whatever."

The Emperor replied: "Why no merit whatever?"

The Master said: "All these are impure motives for merit; they bear the puny fruit of rebirth as a human being or a deva. They chase a figure like a shadow, but have no reality."

The Emperor said: "What then is true merit?"

He answered: "It is pure knowing, wonderful and perfect. Its essence is emptiness. One cannot gain such merit by worldly means."

Thereupon the Emperior asked: "What is the sacred truth's first principle?"

The Master replied, "Vast emptiness, nothing sacred."

The Emperor said: "Who is it that now stands before me?"

The Master replied: "I don't know."

---

-taken from "Zen Enlightenment: Origins and Meaning" by Heinrich Dumoulin