Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
When Eshun, the Zen nun, was past sixty and about to leave this world, she asked some monks to pile up wood in the yard.
Seating herself firmly in the center of the funeral pyre, she had it set fire around the edges.
“O nun!” shouted one monk, “is it hot in there?”
“Such a matter would concern only a stupid person like yourself,” answered Eshun.
The flames arose, and she passed away.
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Act, Affection, Compassion, Death, Devotion, Experience, Life, Nun Eshun, Short Story, Story for Adult, Varta, Zen story | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: “My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes.” He made the following rules which he practiced every day of his life.
::> In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.
::> Retire at a regular hour. Partake of food at regular intervals. Eat with moderation and never to the point of satisfaction.
::> Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone. When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.
::> Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.
::> When an opportunity comes do not let it pass you by, yet always think twice before acting.
::> Do not regret the past. Look to the future.
::> Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.
::> Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Act, Advice, Body, Care, Counsel, Death, Earth, Fear, Hard work, Life, Love, Pride, Short Story, Soyen Shaku, Story for Adult, Varta, Zen story | 1 Comment »
Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
The master of Kennin temple was Mokurai, Silent Thunder. He had a little protégé named Toyo who was only twelve years old. Toyo saw the older disciples visit the master’s room each morning and evening to receive instruction in sanzen or personal guidence in which they were given koans to stop mind-wandering.
Toyo wished to do sanzen also.
“Wait a while,” said Mokurai. “You are too young.”
But the child insisted, so the teacher finally consented.
In the evening little Toyo went at the proper time to the threshold of Mokurai’s sanzen room. He struck the gong to announce his presence, bowed respectfully three times outside the door, and went to sit before the master in respectful silence.
“You can hear the sound of two hands when they clap together,” said Mokurai. “Now show me the sound of one hand.”
Toyo bowed and went to his room to consider this problem. From his window he could hear the music of the geishas. “Ah, I have it!” he proclaimed.
The next evening, when his teacher asked him to illustrate the sound of one hand, Toyo began to play the music of the geishas.
“No, no,” said Mokurai. “That will never do. That is not the sound of one hand. You’ve not got it at all.”
Thinking that such music might interrupt, Toyo moved his abode to a quiet place. He meditated again. “What can the sound of one hand be?” He happened to hear some water dripping. “I have it,” imagined Toyo.
When he next appeared before his teacher, he imitated dripping water.
“What is that?” asked Mokurai. “That is the sound of dripping water, but not the sound of one hand. Try again.”
In vain Toyo meditated to hear the sound of one hand. He heard the sighing of the wind. But the sound was rejected.
He heard the cry of an owl. This was also refused.
The sound of one hand was not the locusts.
For more than ten times Toyo visited Mokurai with different sounds. All were wrong. For almost a year he pondered what the sound of one hand might be.
At last Toyo entered true meditation and transcended all sounds. “I could collect no more,” he explained later, “so I reached the soundless sound.”
Toyo had realized the sound of one hand.
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Compassion, Death, Devotion, Education, Hard work, Heaven, Kennin temple, Life, Love, Mokurai, Short Story, Story for Adult, Toyo, Varta, Zen story | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
Jiun, a Shogun master, was a well-known Sanskrit scholar of the Tokugawa era. When he was young he used to deliver lectures to his brother students.
His mother heard about this and wrote him a letter.:
“Son, I do not think you became a devotee of the Buddha because you desired to turn into a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to information and commentation, glory and honor. I wish you would stop this lecture business. Shut yourself up in a little temple in a remote part of the mountain. Devote your time to meditation and in this way attain true realization.”
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Advice, Buddha, Devotion, Experience, Hard work, Jiun, Mother, Necessity, Shogun master, Short Story, Story for Adult, Success, Tokugawa era, Varta, Zen story | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
When one goes to Obaku temple in Kyoto he sees carved over the gate the words “The First Principle.” The letters are unusually large, and those who appreciate calligraphy always admire them as being a masterpiece. They were drawn by Kosen two hundred years ago.
When the master drew them he did so on paper, from which workmen made the larger carving in wood. As Kosen sketched the letters a bold pupil was with him who had made several gallons of ink for the calligraphy and who never failed to criticize his master’s work.
“That is not good,” he told Kosen after the first effort.
“How is that one?”
“Poor. Worse than before,” pronounced the pupil.
Kosen patiently wrote one sheet after another until eighty-four First Principles had been accumulated, still without the approval of the pupil.
Then, when the young man stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen thought: “Now is my chance to escape his keen eye,” and he wrote hurridly, with a mind free from disctraction. “The First Principle.”
“A masterpiece,” pronounced the pupil.
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Advice, Companion, Devotion, Envious, Hard work, Japan, Jealousy, Kosen, Labour, Love, Obaku temple, Short Story, Story for Adult, Varta, Zen story | Leave a Comment »
Posted by kathavarta on July 1, 2008
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 luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
Posted in Moral story, Varta, Zen story | Tagged: Affection, Buddha, Death, Experience, Greedy, Help, Life, Mouse, Necessity, Pleasure, Short Story, Story for Adult, Tiger, Varta, Zen story | Leave a Comment »
