Some enlightening Zen Stories

Lori;

What an awesome analogy!  I'm glad you enjoyed the story, rj

Richard, this story made me think of a violinist or pianist with perfect technique but who is playing without soul!
 
Edda

Peace and joy!

Edda;
That too is a good analogy! You and Lori have made me think back to whenever I learned a new skill, it wasn't until I forgot to learn that I really became adept at it.
Gassho, rj

"We must be the change we want to see in this world."

Please light a Candle in the "zendo"

Yes!  That's so true, isn't it?  "Forgetting to learn."

To truly listen is to perfect one's own virtue.

During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If tails, we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself."

He threw the coin 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 were 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, which had heads on both sides.


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"We must be the change we want to see in this world."

Please light a Candle in the "zendo"

It's a pity we can't have that sense of certainty about working for an end to all war.
I think there is always a little 'niggle' at the back of our minds which says "It will never happen" even though we really want it to.
 
Jude

Love is the only way

Hi rj and fellow zenmembers
I love the story and it has come to enlighten me also...
I felt like the meaning from the place I am viewing it
from is that we will have many battles , our attitude will
determine if we view our war as won or lost....
Namaste
Hope coach
Barbara T.

God I gratefully await and accept your miracles for me that I may be a witness to your wonder

It seems to me like the story is saying that we are our own destiny, that we look to "magic" or ritual or authority sometimes, when we have what we need within us. 
 
Lori

To truly listen is to perfect one's own virtue.

Richard, this story makes me think of living up or down to expectations. There is a story about a teacher being told that her students were gifted. She taught them accordingly and they performed as expected. However it turned out that they were not among those considered gifted to begin with!
 
Edda

Peace and joy!

A distraught man approached the Zen master. "Please, Master, I feel lost, desperate. I don't know who I am. Please, show me my true self!" But the teacher just looked away without responding. The man began to plead and beg, but still the master gave no reply. Finally giving up in frustration, the man turned to leave. At that moment the master called out to him by name. "Yes!" the man said as he spun back around. "There it is!" exclaimed the master.

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Richard, a new year, a new challenge, and welcome back! 
 
To my knowledge in other cultures names have a profound meaning and power. Being called by name was a mmoment of enlightenment for this man. Responding "Yes" was saying yes to who he was.
 
Edda

Peace and joy!

Hi, Richard!  I've missed your wisdom and your stories!!
 
I agree with Edda.  Also I thought that while the distraught man was "grasping," he wasn't his true self.  He was impatient, thinking he was in need, etc.  When he walked away, maybe he was practicing more acceptance, while remaining open (as evidenced by his "yes" response) to finding it.  It seems like while we seek, it remains elusive.  The trick is to see what is and respond to it when we find it. 
 
Or not.
 
Hugs and welcome back, Richard.
Lori

To truly listen is to perfect one's own virtue.

Edda, it took your little bit of enlightenment for me to understand the story
 
It must take a different sort of mind to mine to understand Zen.
Jude

Love is the only way

Hi All
It takes me awhile to sit with the stories that is what I love about Zen it is in the sitting with the story that to me what is revealed is more about our mind and perception : the first story the general appears to determine destiny but I think it was the soldiers perception of the battle and their might that influenced the outcome so based on what the mind percieves we shape self or events when we practice detachment whatever the outcome we remain okay....ultimately it is the act of meditation on the stories I find I am grateful for... thanks rj and I am enjoying the Daily Zen site as well
Namaste Hope coach
 

God I gratefully await and accept your miracles for me that I may be a witness to your wonder

I love to read all your different interpretations to these stories and if you click on the links "Click here to read other people's reactions to this story" you get to view a number of other perspectives as well.  It's interesting to note that in this particular case no one picked up on the possibility that the distraught man's basic problem was his lack of perseverance and when he gave up and turned away the master drew his attention to this and he realized himself to be a quitter.  All of us suffer from pain, anxiety, loss and most of all fear. From the very beginning we learn stategies to overcome or avoid suffering;  lonliness, humility, axiety, fear, etc. etc. But, what we need to do is "be" with the pain, loss, lonliness, humility, axiety, fear.  Truly experience it, not our learned conditioned response.  Each experience is different but we mask over the differences with our memories and very seldom do we realize that "nothing matters", it can all be taken care of if we just let go.  All of what we percieve as reality is made up from our thoughts. Nothing is as bad as we can imagine. Everything is born, lives and dies. Go with the flow and be joyfull; be still and know that you are not alone. The greatest gift that we receive is our ability to love ourselves and share that love with others.  The Egyptians believed that they would be asked two questions upon meeting their death; "Did you have joy in your lifetime." and "Did you cause joy in your lifetime." My wish for all of you at the beginning of this new year is, that you can answer these two questions with "YES !!"

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"
The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

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"Did you have joy in your lifetime." and "Did you cause joy in your lifetime."
 
Richard, this is key!  Jude

Love is the only way

I think this last story is about pure experience. 
 
Lori

To truly listen is to perfect one's own virtue.

I think this story is about living in the present moment, doing what it calls for.
 
Edda

Peace and joy!

The wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me. Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will come back to haunt you."

For several months after her death, the husband did avoid other women, but then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared to him. She blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he couldn't sleep at all.

Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" The master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what to do the next time you see it."

That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the master had advised. "You are such a wise ghost," the man said, "You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my life." "Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how many beans there are in my hand."
At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.


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