The Practice of Right Speech

There is a Zen story about two groups of monks arguing over a cat. The teacher, in response to the conflict, picks up the cat in one hand and a knife in the other. He says to the group of monks, "Say something of the truth of Zen, or I will cut the cat in half." No one said anything, and the cat was killed. (Remember, this is a story — I've always imagined that the teacher pretended to kill the cat.) Later, the teacher was describing...