The Christian minister was disconcerted. On one hand, Buddhists claimed to believe in Buddha and his teachings. On the other hand, they refused to utter the Buddha's name even once for fear of defiling their mouths; and in the next moment, they continued to pray and prostrate to him. The minister wondered what kind of people Ch'an practitioners were, and thought that perhaps they were insane.

During my last trip from Taiwan to New York, my flight stopped in Seoul, Korea. Enroute, I sat next to another Christian minister. In a book he was reading there were pictures of Buddha statues in Korean Ch'an monasteries. The minister pointed to these and asked me, "Do you believe in Buddha statues?"

I answered, "I make use of Buddha statues, but I don't believe in them."

The minister asked, "Do you pray?"

I said, "I do not pray myself, but I teach others to pray."

The minister said, "You say you don't pray, and yet you teach others to do just that. Don't you think you are deceiving them?"

I explained that in Buddhism there are many levels of teaching. At a particular level, there are appropriate methods for a person to practice and appropriate guidelines for a person to follow.

"For instance, " I said, "many of my students and disciples are Christians, and some still go to church. I think that it's a good idea. They study and practice with me because they believe Buddhism has something to offer which their religion lacks."

"What do you teach them?" he asked.