The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store
lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents
discovered she was with a child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who
the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parents went to the master.
"Is that so?" was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin.
By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him,
but took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from
his neighbors and everything else the little one needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer.
She told her parents the truth - that the real father of the child
was a young man who worked in the fish market.
The mother and the father of the girl at once went to Hakuin
to ask his forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back again.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was
"Is that to so?"
(Check the validity of Koan #5 regarding the story ''Is that so'' of "101 Zen Stories", from ''Zen Flesh, Zen Bones'')
