Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors

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Masato
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Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors

Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:35 pm

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.

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Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:35 pm

A Useless Life

A farmer got so old that he couldn't work the fields anymore. So he would
spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would
look up from time to time and see his father sitting there. "He's of no use any
more," the son thought to himself, "he doesn't do anything!" One day the
son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wood coffin, dragged it over to
the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father
climbed inside. After closing the lid, the son dragged the coffin to the edge of
the farm where there was a high cliff. As he approached the drop, he heard a
light tapping on the lid from inside the coffin. He opened it up. Still lying
there peacefully, the father looked up at his son. "I know you are going to
throw me over the cliff, but before you do, may I suggest something?" "What
is it?" replied the son. "Throw me over the cliff, if you like," said the father,
"but save this good wood coffin. Your children might need to use it."

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Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:36 pm

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."

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Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:36 pm

When Tired

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."



(In other versions of this story, one disciple is bragging about his master to
the disciple of another master. He claims that his teacher is capable of all
sorts of magical acts, like writing in the air with a brush, and having the
characters appear on a piece of paper hundreds of feet away. "And what can
YOUR master do?" he asks the other disciple. "My master can also perform
amazing feats," the other student replies. "When he's tired, he sleeps. When
hungry, he eats"........... or simply, "When he sleeps, he sleeps. When he eats,
he eats.")

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Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:37 pm

Without Fear

During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep
into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just
before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen master. Curious about
this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of
man this master was. When he wasn't treated with the deference and
submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger.
"You fool," he shouted as he reached for his sword, "don't you realize you
are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an
eye!" But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved. "And do you
realize," the master replied calmly, "that you are standing before a man who
can be run through without blinking an eye?"

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Postby Masato » Fri Apr 29, 2016 5:37 pm

Working Very 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."

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Postby Canuckster » Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:48 pm

Forgot about this thread, , top notch I need more stuff like this.
People say they all want the truth, but when they are confronted with a truth that disagrees with them, they balk at it as if it were an unwanted zombie apocalypse come to destroy civilization.

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Postby Canuckster » Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:59 pm

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.

A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.

This made her parents very angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parents went to the master. “Is that so?” was all he would say.

After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else the little one needed.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth – that the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask his forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back again.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: “Is that so?”
People say they all want the truth, but when they are confronted with a truth that disagrees with them, they balk at it as if it were an unwanted zombie apocalypse come to destroy civilization.

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Postby Masato » Thu Sep 08, 2016 11:39 am

Canuckster wrote:Forgot about this thread, , top notch I need more stuff like this.


I love tales like this too...

I have 2 really great books I've recently finished:

'Tales of the Taoist Immortals' and 'Sufi Tales'. The first old stories from China, the other old stories from Middle East. Both are packed with short 1-2 page stories. You can read them on many levels, light or contemplative. Lots of fun.

I should post/paraphrase some of my favorites here but if I take too long you are welcome to borrow one anytime Canuckster.

I also have a few books with old native North American (indian) stories, though I find these much harder to relate to, they are very strange and quite removed from any reflection of modern life.

Taoist stories are my favorite though. You read a bunch of them, and after a while whether they make sense or not you feel like you are floating lol

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Postby Canuckster » Thu Sep 08, 2016 11:59 am

Remind me to return your secret teachings book, I never finished it, I don't think I'm ready for a book like that yet
People say they all want the truth, but when they are confronted with a truth that disagrees with them, they balk at it as if it were an unwanted zombie apocalypse come to destroy civilization.


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