Zen Tails

Heaven and Hell

nfpublishing — Tue, 03 May 2011 04:21:10 +0000

An old man sat meditating on the side of a quiet road. Eyes closed and legs crossed, he was calm. Then a cruel and authoritative voice interrupted his peace.
“Hey, old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!”
The old man slowly opened his eyes and saw that the cruel voice belonged to a large and unkempt soldier. The old man smiled as the soldier shifted his weight impatiently from foot to foot.
“You want to know the secrets of heaven and hell?” the monk asked patiently. “But you are so scruffy. Your clothes are worn, your hair is knotted, your skin is dirty and you smell terrible. You, an ugly and ill-kept brute, want to know about heaven and hell?”
The angry soldier had run out of patience. He cursed and drew his sword. His face and neck were red with fury. His veins bulged beneath his skin. Raising the sword above his head, he moved to kill the old man. Then, just as his sword was about to strike, the monk pointed at the irate soldier and said softly, “That is hell”. In that moment, the mad soldier paused in his movement. He was so amazed at the wisdom of the old man that he became overcome with awe, love and compassion. The soldier loved the gentle old man who had risked his life to teach him. He lowered his sword as his eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

“And that,” said the old man, “is heaven.”

Destiny

nfpublishing — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 23:02:15 +0000

In the midst of an ancient battle a general was struggling to inspire his troops. Despite the general and his troops being greatly outnumbered the general still believed they would win. The troops were not quite as confident and were worried about the battle. The night before the general and his men stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men the general took a coin out of his pocket and said, “I will toss this coin. If it lands heads we will win. If it lands tails we will lose. Destiny will be revealed.”

The general threw the coin into the air and all the men watched with baited breath as it spun round and round. The general caught the coin and took a moment before looking at it. It was heads. The men were filled with so much confidence that they went on to win the battle. The next day one of the general’s men said to the general, “I guess no one can change destiny.”

“That is right,” the general said with a smile. The general removed the coin from his pocket and showed it to the man. It had heads on both sides.

True Self

nfpublishing — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:39:57 +0000

A young man in search of his true self approached a Zen master. “Master, I don’t know who I am. Please show me.” The Zen master ignored the young man and looked in another direction. At this, the young man became desperate and began begging the Zen master to show him his true self. The Zen master continued to ignore the young man until finally he gave up. When the young man turned around to leave the Zen master called his name. “Yes!” the young man responded. “That is your true self.”

The Stonecutter

nfpublishing — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:36:57 +0000

An ancient stonecutter was unhappy with his life. One day he passed by a rich man’s house and from the entrance the stonecutter could see all the rich man’s fabulous possessions. He thought, “How powerful that man must be!” The stonecutter looked down at his shabby clothes and wished that he could be like the rich man.

Astonishingly, the stonecutter became the rich man. He enjoyed all the power and privilege of the rich man, including being envied by all those who didn’t have as much as he. It wasn’t long before the stonecutter saw a high official pass by, being carried by servants on a beautiful chair. Everyone bowed to the official. The stonecutter thought again, “How powerful that official is!” The stonecutter wished he could be like the official.

This time the stonecutter transformed from the rich man to the official. He was carried everywhere by his servants and everyone bowed before him. He had all the power he’d ever wanted but unfortunately it was a hot day and he became dismayed by the sun. He looked up at the sun and saw how majestic it was shining right up there in the sky. The stonecutter thought, “How powerful the sun is!” The stonecutter now wished to be the sun.

The stonecutter changed from the official to the sun. He shone brightly in the sky and looked down upon everyone and everything. Then a large cloud came between him and the earth. He was no longer shining on all the people. The stonecutter thought, “How powerful that cloud is!” He wished to be the cloud.

The stonecutter transformed once again and became the cloud. He blocked the sun and shaded the crops until he was eventually moved from his position in the sky. He was moved by the wind. The stonecutter thought, “How powerful the wind is!” He wished to be the wind.

The stonecutter was now the wind, blowing through the villages and terrorising all the people. But it wasn’t long before the stonecutter came up against a large rock. He blew and blew against it but now matter how hard he tried it wouldn’t budge. The stonecutter thought, “How powerful the rock is!” He wished to be the rock.

Finally the stonecutter was the rock, the most powerful thing on earth. The rock could not be moved by anything. The stonecutter exalted in his glory thinking, “What could be more powerful than a rock?” He looked down to the ground and saw a stonecutter.

Go with the flow

nfpublishing — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:11:27 +0000

An old man was walking along a powerful river when suddenly he fell in. Onlookers watched in horror as the old man became stuck in strong rapids that lead to a deadly waterfall. Somehow, he came out further downstream unharmed. The crowd was shocked and asked the man how he could possibly of managed to survive.

He responded, “I adapted myself to the water. I did not try to overpower it or struggle against it. I went with the current and came out of the current. That is how I survived.”

Enlightenment

nfpublishing — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:40:10 +0000

A master revealed to his students that one of their peers had reached an advanced state of enlightenment. At this the students became excited and went to see the young man. When they found him they wanted to know all about enlightenment.

“Master told us you are now enlightened. Is it really true?”

“It is.” The young man replied.

“What is it like? How do you feel?”

“Much the same.”

It Will Pass

nfpublishing — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:45:22 +0000

A troubled student sat with his mentor and said, “My meditation is not working! Whenever I sit down to meditate I get distracted or my body begins to ache. Sometimes I even fall asleep!”

The mentor looked upon the student sympathetically and said, “It will pass.”

A week later the student sat with his mentor once again. This time he was much happier, “My meditation is great! I feel so at peace and alive. It’s incredible.”

The mentor looked upon the student sympathetically and said, “It will pass.”

Self Control

nfpublishing — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 22:32:50 +0000

An earthquake shook a Zen temple so violently that parts of the temple collapsed. Once the earthquake ceased the Zen teacher told his students, “You have now seen how a Zen teacher behaves in a crisis. I didn’t panic and despite knowing the severity of the situation, I stayed calm and showed you what to do. I took you all into the kitchen – the strongest part of the temple. It’s because of this you survived.” The Zen master continued, relenting a little, “You may have noticed that I was a little tense, though. You may have seen me drink a large glass of water, something I don’t normally do.”

One of the young monks in the group smiled.

“What are you smiling about?” The teacher asked.

“The glass you drank from wasn’t water. It was soy sauce,” the monk replied.

Destiny

nfpublishing — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:46:39 +0000

“That is right,” the general said with a smile. The general removed the coin from his pocket and showed it to the man. It had heads on both sides.

Cliffhanger

nfpublishing — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:32:25 +0000

One day a man was walking through a forest when he saw a ravenous tiger. The tiger began after the man and he fled. Eventually he came to a cliff with no way round, the tiger hadn’t relented and wasn’t far behind him. As the man stood before the cliff he wondered what to do next. He grabbed a vine and lowered himself down the cliff out of the tigers reach. The tiger stood at the edge of the cliff desperate to get to the man. Just when the man thought he was safe, two mice came out of a crevice in the cliff and began eating away at the vine. The man looked down and saw a great distance between himself and the ground. He then looked to his right and saw a large strawberry growing from a much smaller vine. He ate the strawberry and it was delicious.