Zen Stories 2
Is That So?
In a village a woman got pregnant. Fearing scandal, she said that it was the zen master who impregnated her and that he should take care of the baby. The zen master simply said, "Is that so?"
The zen master raised the baby and a couple of years later, the couple confessed the entire thing and thanked the zen master, compensated him and claimed back their baby.
They apologized to the zen master in which he answered, "Is that so?"
Hot and Cold
A student asked a zen master, "Master, I am going travelling and the weather where I am going is very extreme. How do I prepare?"
The zen master said, "When hot, be hot. When cold, be cold through and through."
The True Miracle
One day, the leader of a strange cult of that time approached a zen master and said,
"My religion is superior. My master can hold up a piece of cloth on one cliff and from another, a student can write a name in the air, and a word can appear on the cloth on this cliff."
The zen master said, "Perhaps you can train a clever fox to do that. The miracle of zen is that when I am hungry, I eat and when I am tired, I sleep."
Silent Debate
There is an aspect of Zen Buddhist monk training called the silent debate.
One day, a one eyed monk had to challenge a Buddhist monk traveller from another Province to a debate. The two contestants were to discuss the debate afterwards with the Abbot of the temple.
The Abbot interviewed the traveller first, "What happened?" asked the Abbot?
The traveller said that the one eyed monk had won.
I held up one finger to signify the teaching. He held up two fingers to signify the Buddha and the teaching. I held up three fingers to point out that the Buddha, his teaching, and the two things together are three things. The Tripataka, the Threefold Lotus Sutra. He held up a fist to signify that all things fall in and out of what Buddhism calls the Void, also known as the other dimension.
When it was time for the one eyed monk to see the Abbot, the Abbot congratulated him on his profound teaching.
"Profound teaching nothing. I hope I never see him again."
"What happened?" asked the Abbot.
"He held up one finger to greet me, signifying that I have one eye. I congratulated him and that he should thank God that he has two eyes, holding up two fingers. He had the effrontery to hold up three fingers to signify that between the two of us, we have three eyes. So I held up a fist ready to strike!"
A Mother's Poem
A mother wrote a poem to her son,
"Give up searching for fame and fortune,
Give up reading so many books and watching so much TV
Go and live alone in the fields and meditate,
And in this way attain true realization."
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