Zen

There once lived a great warrior. A young warrior arrived

at the village, determined to be the first man to defeat
the great master. As the two squared off for battle, the
young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He
threw dirt and spat on his face. But the old warrior merely
stood there, motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior
exhausted himself and he left feeling shamed. The
students gathered around the old master and asked,” How
could you endure such indignity? Why did you drive him
away without even fighting?”
“If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive
it,” the master replied, “to whom does the gift belong?”
There is no need to get even with people when you know you
can actually get ahead of them.
 Zen
A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted
him, “Master, I want to find god.” The master jumped up, grabbed
the man 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 his head out of the water. The young man coughed up
water and gasped for breath. The master asked, “Tell me what you
desired the most when you were under water.” “Air!” replied the
exasperated man.
“Very well,” said the master. “Go home and come back to me when
you want god as much as you just wanted air.”
Wishing, needing, wanting and desiring isn’t seeking. You are a
seeker only when you are willing to give everything you’ve got, even
your own self.
 Zen
During a momentous battle, the general decided to attack even
though his army was greatly outnumbered. Though he was confident,
his men were filled with doubt. The general took out a coin and said,
“ If it is heads we shall win. If it is tails, we shall lose. Destiny will
now reveal itself.” He threw the coins 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 emerged 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
that had heads on both sides.
Destiny is a matter of choice, not a matter of chance.
 Zen

A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I’d

like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. So in addition to
learning from you, I’d like to study under another teacher in order
to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?”
“ The hunter who chases two rabbits,” answered the master, “catches
neither.”
Focus is not only your ability to stay attracted to the ‘One’,but also
the discipline to avoid the distraction of the other ‘Ninety-nine’.
 Zen
A rich man asked a Zen master to write something that the family
could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the master
wrote, “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.” The rich man became
angry when he saw the master’s words.
“ If your son should die before you,” the master answered, “this would
bring unbearable grief to your family. If your grandson should die
before your son this would also bring great sorrow. If your family,
generations after generation, disappears in the order I have
mentioned, it will be the natural course of life. This is true
happiness.”
Knowledge has its ways which ignorance knows not. Ask questions to
the master; don’t questions the master.
 Zen

Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed
a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it u
and set it upon the back. In the process, he was stung. As he went
back to washing his bowl, the scorpion fell in again. The monk saved
it again and was again stung. The other monk asked him, “ Friend,
why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature
is to sting.”
“Because,” the monk replied, “ to save it is my nature.”
Divinity sings from the heart of those who can be good even to
those who have not been so good to them.
 Zen
Two 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
months hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up, carried her
across the river on his shoulders and set her down on the other
bank. As the monks continued their journey, one of them unable to
hold his silence, spoke out, “ Brother, out spiritual training teaches
us to avoid any contact with woman, but you picked that one up and
carried her on your shoulders.”
“ Brother,” replied the second monk, “ I set her down on the other
side long time back, while you are still carrying her.”
Yesterday was over yesterday. Life should be a forward progression
and not a backward regression. Save your future from the clutches
of you past.
 Zen
There was a little boy with a bad temper. The master told him to
hammer a nail in the back fence every time he lost his temper.The
first day, the boy drove 37 nails to the fence. He discovered it was
easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all.
Now the master suggested that the boy pull out one nail for each
day that he was able to hold his temper. A few days passed and the
young boy finally told the master that all the nails were gone.

The master said, “You have done well my boy, but look at the holes
in the fence. The fence will never be the same again.”
Anger is the most uncultured and uncivilized way of responding to a
situation. Burn anger before anger burns you.
 Zen
There was an old lady whose elder daughter was married to an
umbrella seller, and younger daughter to a noodle vendor. On sunny
days, she would worry, “ Oh no, you cannot dry noodles without the
sun.” As a result, the old lady lived in sorrow everyday.

One day, she met a monk. The monk smiled kindly and said, “ Madam,
you need to change our perspective. On sunny days, think of the
younger daughter being able to dry her noodles. When it rains,
think about you elder daughter being able to sell umbrellas.”
Instead of asking “Why me god? For all your troubles, start asking
“Why me god?” for all your blessing. Count your blessing and never
your troubles.
 Zen
As he was about to sip his tea, the disciple notices a fly in his cup.
The master too noticed it and exclaimed, “ Oh, oh, a fly in the tea!”
The disciple replied, “ Oh, nothing! Its no problem.” But the master,
with concern written all over his face, rose from his chair and
dipped his finger into the tea. With great care, he took the
offending fly out and placed it on the leaf of a bush so its wings
could dry.
Then the master turned towards his disciple and said, “ It wasn’t a
question of the tea, but the life of the fly. You can always make
another cup of tea, but the fly wouldn’t have got another moment
to live… if we hadn’t acted in time.”

Use things and love life. Don’t have things and abuse life.
 Zen
A young man caught a small bird, held it behind his back and asked,
“ Master, is the bird I am holding in my hands dead or alive?” The
boy thought this was a grand opportunity to play a trick on the
master. The master replied, “ If I were to say ‘dead’, you would let
the bird free into the air.If I were to say ‘alive’, you would simply
wring he bird’s neck and show me a dead bird. “The boy dropped his
head in shame.

The master then added, “Remember my boy, life and death is in

your own hands.”
It is not your intelligence, but it is the direction of your
intelligence that defines our life.
 Zen

A professor who had done his doctorate in Zen went to visit a

master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked
and talked about Zen. The master filled the visitors cup to the
brim and continued to pour more tea. The professor watched the
overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “ It’s full!
No more will go in!” he blurted.
“ You are like this cup-too full,” the master replied. “ How can I teach
you anything unless you empty your mind?”
No wonder ‘silent’ and ‘listen’ have the same alphabets.