[Prose Essay] Superior Person
The young monk asked: "Abbott, you sometimes hit and curse people; sometimes you are polite to people. Is there any mystery behind this?" The abbot said: "When you treat the upper-class people, you can hit or scold them, and treat them truthfully; when you treat the middle-class people, they are mostly metaphors, and you have to be measured, because they can't stand being beaten or scolded; when you treat the lower-class people, you have to be gentle. Laughing, clasping hands, he is very fragile and small-minded, and he cannot tolerate criticism and reprimand. He can only use worldly etiquette." The young monk asked again: "Who is the superior person and who is the inferior person?" The abbot said, "Those who are rich and powerful and give money for incense are the inferior people, and those who are poor and have no money to worship Buddha are the superior people."
