Once, a young student of Zen studied in a monastery. One afternoon, he was going to the market to buy some vegetables for the monastery. On the way, he met Peter, a student from another monastery. “Hello Peter! How are you?” he asked. “I am good,” replied Peter. “Where are you going?” asked the student. “Wherever my legs take me,” replied Peter and he went off. The student thought about Peter’s answer for some time as he was sure it had some deep meaning. Then, he bought vegetables and returned to the monastery. He kept thinking about the answer and decided to ask his teacher. So, he went to his teacher and told everything. The teacher said, “You should have asked him what he would do if he had no legs.” The next day, the student went to the market to purchase some fruits where he once again met Peter.
Now, the student was very excited as he approached Peter. “Where are you going?” he asked and without waiting for a reply continued, “Wherever your legs take you, I suppose. Well, what you would do if… .” Peter interrupted and said, “Today I’m going wherever the wind blows.” This time, the student was confused and went back to the monastery to ask his teacher. When he told everything to his teacher, he said, “You should have asked him what he would do if there were no wind.” After some days, the student met Peter the third time in the same market. He asked confidently, “Where are you going, Peter? Wherever your legs take you or wherever the wind blows, I suppose. Well, what he would do if… .” “No, no,” Peter interrupted and said, “Today I’m going to buy vegetables.” Now this time the student smiled and appreciated Peter for his intelligence.