The story describes an interaction between a fierce samurai warrior and a wise meditation monk. The samurai demands to know if hell and heaven exist. The monk insults the samurai, angering him. As the samurai raises his sword to kill the monk, the monk says "That is hell". In a moment of realization, the samurai is overcome with compassion, lowers his sword, and the monk says "And that is heaven". The samurai then respects the monk.