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21.It Will Pass
A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I
feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just
horrible!"
"It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly.
A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful!
I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!'
"It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.
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22.Just Two Words
There once was a monastery that was very strict. Following a vow of silence, no
one was allowed to speak at all. But there was one exception to this rule. Every
ten years, the monks were permitted to speak just two words. After spending his
first ten years at the monastery, one monk went to the head monk. "It has been
ten years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to
speak?"
"Bed... hard..." said the monk.
"I see," replied the head monk.
Ten years later, the monk returned to the head monk's office. "It has been ten
more years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to
speak?"
"Food... stinks..." said the monk.
"I see," replied the head monk.
Yet another ten years passed and the monk once again met with the head monk who
asked, "What are your two words now, after these ten years?"
"I... quit!" said the monk.
"Well, I can see why," replied the head monk. "All you ever do is complain."
( This story is a favorite in many western monasteries. It may or may not be an
original Zen tale. Like any good anecdote, it makes us laugh, but also
encourages us to think about why it is funny .)
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23.Knowing Fish
One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish
swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."
"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are
enjoying themselves."
"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that
the fish are enjoying themselves?"
(A western version of this story describes two philosophers on a walk while
discussing phenomenology. One of them kicks a dog and says, "See! This dog is
experiencing pain".... etc.)
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24.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."
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25.Masterpiece
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 Obaku Temple in Kyoto)
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26.Maybe
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many
years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to
visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.
"How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The
following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and
broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his
misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials
came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg
was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how
well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.
(in other versions of this story, the farmer says something other than "maybe" -
for instance "we'll see" - or he simply smiles without saying anything)
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27.The Moon Cannot Be Stolen
A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a
mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to
find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him.
"You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not
return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was
bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching
the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful
moon."
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28.The Stone Cutter
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his
position in life.
One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw
many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must
be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could
be like the merchant.
To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries
and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less
wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair,
accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no
matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that
official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"
Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan
chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so
the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at
the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful
the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"
Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields,
cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and
the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How
powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"
Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by
everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force,
and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish
that I could be the wind!"
Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees,
feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against
something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a
huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I
could be a rock!"
Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he
stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard
surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I,
the rock?" he thought.
He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
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29.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."
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30.Moving Mind
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."
(In other versions of this story,
the master says it is the HEART
that flaps)
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