Zen
Stories
Tea
Combat
A master of the tea ceremony in old
The next day, at the appointed time and place for
the duel, the tea master followed this advice. The soldier, readying himself to
strike, stared for a long time into the fully attentive but calm face of the
tea master. Finally, the soldier lowered his sword, apologized for his
arrogance, and left without a blow being struck.
Full
Awareness
After
ten years of apprenticeship, Tenno achieved the rank
of Zen teacher. One rainy day, he went to visit the famous master
"Yes," Tenno replied.
"Tell me," the master continued, "did you place
your umbrella to the left of your shoes, or to the right?"
Tenno did not know the
answer, and realized that he had not yet attained full awareness. So he became
Empty
Your Cup
A university professor went to visit a famous Zen
master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen.
The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The
professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain
himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted.
"You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you
Zen unless you first empty your cup."
The
Most Important Teaching
A renowned Zen master said that his greatest
teaching was this: Buddha is your own mind. So impressed by how profound this
idea was, one monk decided to leave the monastery and retreat to the wilderness
to meditate on this insight. There he spent 20 years as a hermit probing the
great teaching.
One day he met another monk who was traveling
through the forest. Quickly the hermit monk learned that the traveler also had
studied under the same Zen master. "Please, tell me what you know of the
master's greatest teaching." The traveler's eyes lit up, "Ah, the
master has been very clear about this. He says that his greatest teaching is
this: Buddha is not your own mind."
Working
Really Hard
A martial arts student went to his teacher and
said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long
will it take me to master it." The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten
years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it
faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more
hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?" The teacher thought
for a moment, "20 years."
Mastery
A master calligrapher was writing some characters
onto a piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was watching
him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the student's opinion -
who immediately told him that it wasn't any good. The master tried again, but
the student criticized the work again. Over and over, the calligrapher
carefully redrew the same characters, and each time the student rejected it.
Finally,
when the student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn't
watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters.
"There! How's that?," he asked the student. The student turned to
look. "THAT.... is a masterpiece!" he exclaimed.
Legend
states this is the story behind master Kosen's
creation of an ink template that was used to create the wood carving "The
First Principle" that appears over the gate of
True
Self
A distraught man approached the Zen master.
"Please, Master, I feel lost, desperate. I don't know who I am. Please,
show me my true self!" But the teacher just looked away without responding.
The man began to plead and beg, but still the master gave no reply. Finally
giving up in frustration, the man turned to leave. At that moment the master
called out to him by name. "Yes!" the man said as he spun back
around. "There it is!" exclaimed the master.
Holy
Man
Word spread across the countryside about the wise
Holy Man who lived in a small house atop the mountain. A man from the village
decided to make the long and difficult journey to visit him. When he arrived at
the house, he saw an old servant inside who greeting him at the door. "I
would like to see the wise Holy Man," he said to the servant. The servant
smiled and led him inside. As they walked through the house, the man from the
village looked eagerly around the house, anticipating his encounter with the
Holy Man. Before he knew it, he had been led to the back door and escorted
outside. He stopped and turned to the servant, "But I want to see the Holy
Man!"
"You already have," said the old man. "Everyone
you may meet in life, even if they appear plain and insignificant... see each
of them as a wise Holy Man. If you do this, then whatever problem you brought
here today will be solved."
Wanting
God
A
hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him.
"Master, I wish to become your disciple," said the man.
"Why?" replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment.
"Because I want to find God."
The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into
the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a
minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally
pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to
get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke. "Tell
me, what did you want most of all when you were under water."
"Air!" answered the man.
"Very well," said the master. "Go home and come back to me when
you want God as much as you just wanted air."
Practice
Makes Perfect
A dramatic ballad singer studied under a strict
teacher who insisted that he rehearse day after day, month after month the same
passage from the same song, without being permitted to go any further. Finally,
overwhelmed by frustration and despair, the young man ran off to find another
profession. One night, stopping at an inn, he stumbled upon a recitation
contest. Having nothing to lose, he entered the competition and, of course,
sang the one passage that he knew so well. When he had finished, the sponsor of
the contest highly praised his performance. Despite the student's embarrassed
objections, the sponsor refused to believe that he had just heard a beginner
perform. "Tell me," the sponsor said, "who is your instructor?
He must be a great master." The student later became known as the great
performer Koshiji.
Learning
the Hard Way
The son of a master thief asked his father to teach him
the secrets of the trade. The old thief agreed and that night took his son to
burglarize a large house. While the family was asleep, he silently led his
young apprentice into a room that contained a clothes closet. The father told
his son to go into the closet to pick out some clothes. When he did, his father
quickly shut the door and locked him in. Then he went back outside, knocked
loudly on the front door, thereby waking the family, and quickly slipped away
before anyone saw him. Hours later, his son returned home, bedraggled and
exhausted. "Father," he cried angrily, "Why did you lock me in
that closet? If I hadn't been made desperate by my fear of getting caught, I
never would have escaped. It took all my ingenuity to get out!" The old
thief smiled. "Son, you have had your first lesson in the art of
burglary."
Jesus
and Buddha as Brothers
One of master Gasan's
monks visited the university in
Consider the lilies of
the field,
how they grow;
They toil not, neither do they spin;
And yet I say unto you,
that even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.
Surprising the Master
The students in the monastery were in total awe of
the elder monk, not because he was strict, but because nothing ever seemed to
upset or ruffle him. So they found him a bit unearthly and even frightening.
One day they decided to put him to a test. A bunch of them very quietly hid in
a dark corner of one of the hallways, and waited for the monk to walk by.
Within moments, the old man appeared, carrying a cup of hot tea. Just as he
passed by, the students all rushed out at him screaming as loud as they could.
But the monk showed no reaction whatsoever. He peacefully made his way to a
small table at the end of the hall, gently placed the cup down, and then,
leaning against the wall, cried out with shock, "Ohhhhh!"
Self
Control
One day there was an earthquake that shook the
entire Zen temple. Parts of it even collapsed. Many of the monks were
terrified. When the earthquake stopped the teacher said, "Now you have had
the opportunity to see how a Zen man behaves in a crisis situation. You may
have noticed that I did not panic. I was quite aware of what was happening and
what to do. I led you all to the kitchen, the strongest part of the temple. It
was a good decision, because you see we have all survived without any injuries.
However, despite my self-control and composure, I did feel a little bit tense -
which you may have deduced from the fact that I drank a large glass of water,
something I never do under ordinary circumstances."
One of the monks smiled, but didn't say anything.
"What are you laughing at?" asked the teacher.
"That wasn't water," the monk replied, "it was
a large glass of soy sauce."
Destiny
During a momentous battle, a Japanese general
decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was
confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the
battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the
general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is
heads, we shall win. If tails, we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal
itself."
He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it
landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence
that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious. After the battle,
a lieutenant remarked to the general, "No one can change destiny."
"Quite right," the general replied as he showed the
lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.
Banishing
a Ghost
The
wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love
you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me.
Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will come back
to haunt you."
For several months after her death, the husband did avoid
other women, but then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they
were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared to him. She
blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned
to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between
him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of
repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he
couldn't sleep at all.
Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near
the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon
hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She
remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" The
master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what
to do the next time you see it."
That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the
master had advised. "You are such a wise ghost," the man said,
"You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one
question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my
life." "Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped
up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how
many beans there are in my hand."
At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.
Obsession
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met
a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One
of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders,
transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She
thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and
preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our
spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked
that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other
side, while you are still carrying her."
The
Mind Moves
Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind. "It's the wind that is really moving," stated the first one. "No, it is the flag that is moving," contended the second. A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. "Neither the flag nor the wind is moving," he said, "It is MIND that moves."
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