"Our schoolmaster used to take a nap every afternoon," related a
disciple of Soyen Shaku. "We children asked him why he did it and he told
us: 'I go to dreamland to meet the old sages just as Confucius did.' When
Confucius slept, he would dream of ancient sages and later tell his
followers about them.
"It was extremely hot one day so some of us took a nap. Our
schoolmaster scolded us. 'We went to dreamland to meet the ancient sages
the same as Confucius did,' we explained. 'What was the message from those
sages?' our schoolmaster demanded. One of us replied: 'We went to
dreamland and met the sages and asked them if our schoolmaster came there
every afternoon, but they said they had never seen any such fellow.'"
