Tokusan came into the dining hall carrying his bowls. Seppō, the cook, said, “The bell hasn’t rung and the drum hasn’t sounded. Where are you going with your bowls?”
Tokusan immediately returned to his room.
Seppō later told Gantō about this, thinking he had gotten the better of Tokusan. Gantō replied, essentially, “Great as Tokusan is, he still hasn’t penetrated the last word of Zen.”
Tokusan heard about this and summoned Gantō. After Gantō whispered something to him, Tokusan’s manner changed. The next day, Tokusan gave a talk unlike any he had given before. Gantō laughed and declared that Tokusan had finally grasped the “last word.”