Great practitioners like Milarepa and Han Shan (Cold Mountain) were so poor they could not even afford clothes. Actually, however, they were the richest of people, because everything in the universe belonged to them. In comparison, the richest king was a pauper. For people like Milarepa and Han Shan, every place is their home; every person is their disciple; anything can be their clothing. Han Shan said, "The mountains are my pillow, the clouds my blanket, the land my bed, the ocean my bath."

Enlightened beings do have supernormal powers, but they are not the minor powers that enthrall ordinary people. These minor powers are only tricks, befitting little ghosts. During the T'ang Dynasty, a yogi with supernormal powers went to a city in China, where he was well received. At that time, there was a monk named Hui-ch'ung, who was the king's Ch'an master. Someone said to him, "Master, you're through. A yogi with great power wants to have a competition with you."

Master Hui-ch'ung replied, "I don't have any powers, but I don't mind competing."

Many people gathered to watch the great event. The yogi asked Hui-ch'ung to challenge him with a question, so Hui-ch'ung asked, "Where is my mind right now?"

The yogi answered, "You have the honorable position as Ch'an master to the king, so why have you wandered to the province of Ssu-ch'uan to watch the boat race?

Master Hui-ch'ung said, "Very good. Can you see where I am now?"

"Strangely enough, " the yogi replied, "you are now in another province, watching people doing monkey tricks."

These exchanges proved that the yogi could see into peoples' minds, because he knew what Hui-ch'ung was thinking. Hui-ch'ung asked a third time, "Where am I now?"