Reverence is commonly regarded as a virtue. Probably it is. On the social plane of our daily lives it has evident advantages, although it may sometimes raise a smile. For actors, playing our parts in the comedy of apparent existence, it is surely an agreeable characteristic.
Metaphysically regarded, however, it is an unequivocal sign of identification with the notion of an ego. It betrays our state of bondage every time it is manifested. For only a supposed ego could experience such a sentiment, so that such sentiment is necessarily the manifestation of a supposed ego, that is, a manifestation resulting from the role of an assumed 'personality'.
That Zen takes every opportunity of jeering at reverence, as opposed to all the popular religions which encourage it, is evidence of Zen's superior penetration and doctrinal purity: it is uncompromising and makes no concessions.
The anecdotes of the burning of statues of the Buddha for firewood, of rinsing the mouth after mentioning a 'sacred' name, of turning aside if you should happen to meet him and at all costs not stopping to salute him, are all devised to the end of eradicating the notion of reverence as something to be cherished. However, they make an unfortunate impression on Western ears, for they tend to appear as examples of sheer bad manners the object of which is not directly revealed in the story. That such an interpretation is gratuitous is evident in view of the respect given to, and exacted by, the Masters themselves, and in the respectful manner in which they quote the 'Blessed One'. For not only superficial reverence is attacked in these stories, but also reliance on an apparent 'person'.
One anecdote, however, is at the same time more revealing and more amusing - that in which a monk visiting an anchorite in a forest jumps nervously at the roar of a wild beast in the vicinity, and is told by the hermit, 'I see it is still with you!' While the latter enters his cave in search of some refreshment, the visitor scratches the name of the Buddha on the rock on which his host has been sitting. Returning, and about to resume his seat, the hermit sees the 'holy' name and remains standing; whereupon the visitor remarks sardonically, 'I see it is still with you also!'
And did not the Bodhidharma himself reply to the question of the Emperor Wan Li, in the course of the famous interview, when asked to expound the ultimate meaning of the holy doctrine: 'Emptiness, Majesty, and no holiness in it anywhere!'
