Spiritwalk
Readings
Favorite Zen Stories
This page is now an archive page
To see the updated page go to
http://www.spiritwalk.org/zenstories.htm
- © Spiritwalk
- Zen Stories
- From Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki,
- From other sources
- Stories from Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
- 1. A Cup of Tea
- Nan-In, a Japanese master during the Meijii era (1868-1912) received a
- university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-In seved tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself.- "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-In said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculaitons.- How can I show you Zen unless first you empty your cup.
A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry
parents demanded to
know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and
embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone
previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents
confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is
that so?"
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a
pariah by the
whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his
responsibility. "Is that
so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.
For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer
withstand the
lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom
she had tried
to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby.
With profuse
apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he
handed them the child.
8. 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."
- Tanzan and Ekido were once travleing down a muddy road.
- A heavy rain was still falling.
- Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk komono and sash,
- unable to cross the intersection.
- "Come on girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her
- over the mud.
- Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple.
- Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females,"
- he told Tanzan, especially young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did
- you do that.
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"
Alternate versions: The Story Of The Two Monks, Across the River, Obsession
- A University student while visiting Gasan asked him: Have you ever read the
- Christian Bible.
- "No, read it to me," said Gasan.
The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: "And why take ye- thought for rainment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They
- toil not, neither do they spin, and I say unto you that even Solomon in all his
- glory was not arrayed like one of these...Take therefore no thought for the morrow,
- for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
- Gasan said: , "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man."
- The student continued reading, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find,
- knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he
- that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."
- Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood."
- Buddha told a parable in a sutra:
- A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him.
- Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself
- down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked
- down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine
- sustained him.
Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The - man saw a lucious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked
- the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
Alternate version: Wild Strawberry
- A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin and asked: "Is there realy a paradise
- and a hell?"
"Who are you?" inquired Hakuin.
"I am a samurai," the warrior replied.
- "You, a soldier!" exclaimed Hakuin. What kind of ruler would have you as his guard?
- Your face looks like that of a beggar.
- Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued:
- "So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably much too dull to cut off my head."
As Nosbushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked: Here open the gates of hell!"
- At these words the samurai, perceiving the master's discipline, sheathed his sword
- and bowed.
Here open the gates of paradise," said Hakuin.
Alternate version: Heaven and Hell
78. Real Prosperity
- A rich man asked Sengai to write something for the continued prosperity of his family so
- that it might be treasured from generation to generation.
- Sengai obtained a large piece of paper and wrote,
"Father dies, son dies, grandson dies."
The rich man became angry . "I asked you to write something for the happiness of my family! - Why do you make such a joke as this?"
"No joke is intended, explained Sengai. "If before you yourself die your son should die , - " this would grieve you greatly. If your grandson should pass away before your son, both
- of you would be broken-hearted. If your family, generation after generation, passes away
- in the order I have named, it will be the natural course of life. I call this real prosperity."
Alternate Takes
Paul Rep's traditional Zen stories from a slightly different view
- The Story Of The Two Monks
- Once upon a time many moons ago, two monks were walking in silence through the
- forest; a younger monk, Anjan, and an older monk, Ananda.
Eventually their path led to a stream. There they saw a beautiful young lady, - exquisitely clad, standing on the bank. She was in great distress because she wanted
- to cross the stream, but did not know how, without getting
her fine long robes wet.
Without hesitation, Ananda scooped her up, crossed the stream, and set her down on dry
ground. She thanked him and continued on her way, and the monks continued on theirs, - again in silence.
Anjan was uncertain, distressed, and confused. He became more and more restless - and then finally he spoke.
"Brother Ananda," he said, "I do not know what to make of it. You know our order is an
austere order, and we cannot so much as speak to a woman. But... but... you saw that - lady, you... uh... picked her up and... carried her across the stream! And yet..." he
- continued, almost choking, "You just keep on walking as
if nothing happened!"
"It is quite simple," Ananda replied. "I set her down on the opposite bank, but you, - Brother Anjan, are still carrying her!"
So... who, indeed, had the lighter burden, and the lighter step?
Note: This story is from Zen, a Buddhist school that developed in China and later in - Japan as a result of the fusion between the Mahayana form of Buddhism originating in
- India and the Chinese philosophy of Taoism. A similar story can be found in, "Zen Flesh,
- Zen Bones" by Paul Reps.
from Cyberspace Park - www.ispahani.org - Created July 19 '95 - © Mariam Ispahani -"zensufi" - Updated April 3 '99
- Two monks, one young, one old, were walking through the woods after a heavy
- rainstorm. Upon reaching a river that had almost gone over its banks, they saw a
- young and beautiful woman, dressed in an expensive silk robe and looking apprehensively
- at the water. Without a word, the older monk went to the lady, picked her up off her feet,
- and quickly carried her across the river. The younger hurried along after them. When they
- reached the other side, the beautiful woman gave the old monk a kiss on the cheek and
- went on her way. Through all this, the younger monk was silent. The two continued
- walking, the adolescent wanting to ask the elder about the woman, but kept his silence.
- After a while, he finally could not restrain himself and burst out: "We monks don't go near
- females, especially young and beautiful ones. Why did you carry her across?" "I put the
- woman down after we crossed the river," said the elder. "Why are you still carrying her?"
~ adapted from Zen Folklore
- 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 Secrets of Heaven and Hell
The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his
hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation, he sat.
Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai
warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"
At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk.
But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the
corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and
more agitated with each passing second.
"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last.
"You who
are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is
uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are
ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"
The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head.
His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he
prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.
"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent.
In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe,
compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him
such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful
tears.
"And that," said the monk, "is heaven."
By Fr. John W. Groff Jr.
from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
- One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled
upon a vicious
tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save
himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice. As he
hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the
vine. Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it
and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!
(One reader claimed that Thomas Cleary once told him that the original ending of - this story was quite different. According to Cleary, D.T. Suzuki changed the ending
- because he thought the original would not appeal to Westerners. The story was then
- picked up by others, such as Paul Reps. In the original version, the strawberry turns
- out to be, in fact, deadly poison.)
More Stories
The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a
butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of
his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he
awoke and found himself laying there, a person once again. But then he
thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a
butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"
- References
- Mostly from Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
- Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors
- www.rider.edu/users/suler/zenstory/zenstory.html
- Zen Writings (see The Ten Bulls)
- www.darklock.com/dreamwoods/zen/index.html
- Another 10 Bulls source
- www.csd.uwo.ca/faculty/andrews/10b/
- Rajneesh's (Osho) comments on the 10 Bulls story..
- www.osho.org/shop/zen/b-zen23.htm
- ...and from Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche
- www.beezone.com/edwardo/TrungpasOxherding.html
[Return to The Spiritwalk Reader]
Home Contents Newsletter Library Archive Bookstore Brochure E-mail Mailing List
© Spiritwalk