Don’T Judge A Book By Its Cover

It is not right to judge a book by its cover, such judgment will prevent us from getting the excellent knowledge inside. It is said that if we judge by externals, by appearances only, we will gain only superficialities. If we dislike the outward aspect of the teacher, we could not reach his inner aspect. This is well illustrated by the Zen story, Looking Good. Here is the story:

A Zen abbot went, dressed in rags, to the door of a rich man and was turned away with an empty bowl. So he returned in his formal robe of office and was invited in and served a sumptuous meal. Removing his robe and folding it, he placed it in front of the feast and departed with the words, "This meal is not for me; it is for the robe".

This story tells about a Zen teacher who was judged by his robe so a rich man did not offer him alms-food. But when he changed his robe, he was invited in and served a good meal. According to this story, there are many people who judge a teacher by his robe, so they cannot learn the good teachings from him. Judgment is a stumbling block to learning and practising the teachings. So we just allow ourselves to learn and practise the teachings to get an insight to a realization.

Study, practise the teachings without conditions and then we will realise the truth of things, the deep realization, not superficiality.