A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a piece of paper. One
of his especially perceptive students was watching him. When the calligrapher
was finished, he asked for the student's opinion - who immediately told him
that it wasn't any good. The master tried again, but the student criticized
the work again. Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same characters,
and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the student had turned
his attention away to something else and wasn't watching, the master seized
the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters. "There! How's that?,"
he asked the student. The student turned to look. "THAT.... is a masterpiece!"
he exclaimed.
(Legend states this is the story behind master Kosen's creation of an ink template
that was used to create the wood carving "The First Principle" that
appears over the gate of Obaku Temple in Kyoto)