The history of Zen gives many such examples of great masters who emerged into the world after a period of retirement. The idea is not the practice of asceticism, but is the “maturing”, as has been properly designated, of one’s moral character. Many serpents and adders are waiting at the porch, and if one fails to trample them down effectively they raise their heads again, and the whole edifice of moral culture built up in vision may collapse even in a day.
