had to set out and find three identical willow branches, and he says, this seem like an easy task. I went and fetched three branches from the willow trees that dropped over a nearby river. When I showed them to my Grandmaster, he said, these are not identical. I said, perhaps a bit boldly. They are identical in Bing Willow. My Grandmaster said, I want three branches which look identical. So I went back to the river and to save myself further trouble. I brought back a very big branch of Willow, thinking that my Grandmaster would choose from it, the branches he wanted himself. The master scolded me, and I went back to the river a third time. After a long search, I found three willow branches that I thought looked very much the same. I took the branches back to the monastery, and my Grandmaster looked at them carefully and said, they are not the same. But they are the same. I responded with real frustration. But my Grandmaster pointed at the branches and said, look, the shape of this leaf is very thick, but the corresponding leaf on the other branch is thin, and the shapes of the branches do not quite look the same. Try again. So, clearly, this was a teachable moment. How would you respond after being corrected like this over and over again? Our impulse might be to get angry worried and frustrated to lash out at the person who's in a position of authority. Whether it's a teacher, a parent, a boss, a work supervisor. In Zen training, we learn over time and sometimes the hard way in these moments to just set aside that ego and just respond, do what needs to be done with no gap, no resistance