One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned,
he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No,"
Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the
Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading
Christ's words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent
for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these
words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything
I have been trying to teach you here!"
(In another version of this story, it is a Christian who reads the Bible passage
to Gasan.)