Crashing the Third Gate

The young monk Djishin of the Laughing Monkey Clan was said to prefer coding to eating or sleeping. But while his output was prodigious, much of it was unwelcome: he ignored third-party libraries and frameworks, preferring to develop his own inferior substitutes. Despite repeated attempts at correction, Djishin continued to implement things that did not need implementing, and often to do so poorly.

Master Banzen, suspecting that he understood the boy’s unquenchable zeal, sent for him.

“What are the Five Gates of Implementation?” asked Banzen.

Djishin repeated dutifully:

“That the Temple is in need;
that the need is best met by code;
that the code does not yet exist;
that the existence may be achieved with reasonable effort;
that the effort is best expended now and by myself.”

Banzen began to lecture the monk on the importance of the Third Gate. “Master,” protested Djishin, “I do not doubt that there are fine blades in the marketplace, but many are heavy to wield and hard to master. My boning-knife may be small and dull, but it has served me well.

That evening, Banzen re-assigned Djishin to the One Shoe Clan and gave him a double workload of coding tasks, none of which were critical to the Temple’s activities. And since the One Shoe Clan did not merit their own hall, Djishin was relocated to a sunless broom-closet far removed from the daily bustle of Temple life.

Master Suku, who was fond of the monk, petitioned Banzen for leniency. Banzen dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

“I did not correct the monk; I corrected the temple,” said Banzen. “Djishin only wishes to sharpen his knife. The temple gave him chickens to gut and carve. I have given him a whetstone.”