Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on September 13, 2002.
Once, my Zen master told me this story one day. He told me about his friend who was considered very uneducated and even considered stupid by some of their friends. The fact that he could barely speak any English, only Japanese, only compounded his predicament. Apparently, in order to improve himself, he asked some advice from a friend. His friend simply told him that one way to educate himself easily was to study an English dictionary. My Zen master said that this old man studied this dictionary every single day from morning to night. He remembers his friend carrying around this dictionary that had become just a pile of ragged, dirty pages because of so much use and study. After many years, my Zen master relates, when this poor man passed away, he was known as one of the smartest, most wisest people around!
Study is not merely the collection of information and being smart. Study is a matter of devotion, commitment and love - without these, there is no study. . . . . not at all.
It is from these stories and stories I heard of O'Sensei's devotion to practice that I learned the meaning of what "study" is. This is my little present to you for today. . . . . Many thanks!