Carry a Stick

I have been reading Dropping Ashes On The Buddha: The Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn. Through questions, dialogues, stories, interviews, and Darma speeches, he shares his knowledge of Buddhism.

Often when he asks a student a question he will follow by telling him: "I will hit you thirty times with a stick if you answer "No." I will hit you thirty times with a stick if you answer "Yes." Often when asked a question by the student he will reply by hitting the ground with a stick. He has referred to the value of some understandings as "as good as dried shit on a stick."

I guess that means if I want to truly become enlightened (said tongue in cheek) I must go out and get a stick!