Eight Earthly Winds
There was a well-known scholar who practiced buddhism and befriended a Chan
master. Thinking that he had made great stride in his cultivation, he wrote
a poem and asked his attendant to deliver it to the Chan master who lived across
the river. The master opened the letter and read the short poem aloud:
"Unmoved by the Eight Worldly Winds, [1]
Serenely I sit on the purplish gold terrace."
A smile broke up on the lips of the master. Picking up an ink brush, he scribbled
the word "farting" across the letter and asked that it be delivered
back to the scholar.
The scholar was upset and went across the river right away to reprimand the
master for being rude. The master laughed as he said, "You said you are
no longer moved by the Eight Worldly Winds and yet with just one word of 'farting',
you ran across the river like a rat!"
[1] Eight Worldly Winds/Conditions: Gain and loss, fame and defame, praise and
blame, happiness and pain.