RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories

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RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/13/2008 4:54:33 PM

artemis611

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I had two thoughts: one was that it was an example of spiritual self-righteousness and competitiveness, and the other was that maybe it was simple mindlessness, not thinking about what they were doing and getting lost in distractions. When I was on my silent retreat, the first day I kept finding myself saying things out of habit, (such as "bless you" after someone's sneeze, and "excuse me" after bumping into someone). It took a little while to find my focus and stay mindful.

Lori

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RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/14/2008 9:31:47 AM

zenmember

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Isn't it just so easy to slip back into old ways of the conditioned mind. Thanks for sharing that Lori.

Post #: 122

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/21/2008 7:11:54 AM

zenmember

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A famous spiritual teacher came to the front door of the King's palace. None of the guards tried to stop him as he entered and made his way to where the King himself was sitting on his throne.

"What do you want?" asked the King, immediately recognizing the visitor.

"I would like a place to sleep in this inn," replied the teacher.

"But this is not an inn," said the King, "It is my palace."

"May I ask who owned this palace before you?"

"My father. He is dead."

"And who owned it before him?"

"My grandfather. He too is dead."

"And this place where people live for a short time and then move on - did I hear you say that it is NOT an inn?"

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Post #: 123

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/21/2008 11:31:22 AM

Gaia

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A wonderful story! What the spiritual teacher -- and the story -- seem to be pointing to is our tendency to grasp onto things and call them "ours". Our seat in a movie is only "ours" for a time, a job is only "ours" for a time, our house is only "ours" for a time. I had a marriage that was "mine" for a a long time, until it was over, and then it wasn't "mine" any more. Where did it go? Now I have a new marriage that is "mine" and I treat it much differently. And I have a body that is "mine" for a time. And then?

It seems like everything in life is like the inn that we inhabit for awhile and then -- one way or another -- we leave. Each room -- high school, college, marriage, job, friends -- is impermanent.

When I went to Catholic school I learned the phrase "vanitas, vanitorum vanitas" -- "vanity of vanity, all is vanity". It's our vanity, our ego, that sees things as permanent.

I remember reading once that we just rent this body. I'll try to remember this story today and reflect that that my life is like the inn of many rooms.

Her is a poem by Rumi that seems to fit in with the story:

Rumi - Guest House

This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Post #: 124

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/22/2008 7:33:49 AM

zenmember

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Theresa; Thank you for sharing your very insightful perspective; And for Rumi's poem.

How true, how true, rj

Post #: 125

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/22/2008 10:16:52 AM

Imenuff

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Theresa, welcome to the forum. Having also grown up in Catholic School, your post reminded me of the phrase used at the installation of a new pope when the bundle of flax is lighted, is consumed by the flames and then and then rapidly burns out. "Sic transit gloria mundi" is repeated three times as the fire quickly burns out --"Thus passes the glory of the world." It also brings to mind another commentary-- "The cemetaries are filled with irreplaceable people." We look forward to your future posts and are pleased that you have joined us.

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Post #: 126

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/22/2008 3:04:54 PM

J1937

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Welcome and thanks from me, too, Theresa! You have interpreted the content of the story exhaustively - there is nothing to add for me. Special thanks for the Rumi poem!

Thanks also to you, of course, Richard!
And to you, Betty!

Juliana
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PS: It has just occurred to me that there would be a far better chance for peace if we all remembered that "This being human is a guest house", "all is vanity", and "Thus passes the glory of the world"...

Post #: 127

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/24/2008 7:36:43 AM

zenmember

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A farmer got so old that he couldn't work the fields anymore. So he would spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would look up from time to time and see his father sitting there. "He's of no use any more," the son thought to himself, "he doesn't do anything!" One day the son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wood coffin, dragged it over to the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father climbed inside. After closing the lid, the son dragged the coffin to the edge of the farm where there was a high cliff. As he approached the drop, he heard a light tapping on the lid from inside the coffin. He opened it up. Still lying there peacefully, the father looked up at his son. "I know you are going to throw me over the cliff, but before you do, may I suggest something?" "What is it?" replied the son. "Throw me over the cliff, if you like," said the father, "but save this good wood coffin. Your children might need to use it."

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Post #: 128

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/25/2008 1:42:25 PM

Gaia

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Thank you Richard, I'menuff, and Betty for welcoming me to the forum! I've looked through some of the stories already posted and really enjoy reading the insightful comments.

I think the old farmer is teaching his son a powerful lesson about karma, the law of cause and effect. The son is free to declare his father useless and throw him off a cliff, but if he does, his action will create a chain of events that will result in him being declared useless one day by his own children. The wooden coffin he builds seems like a powerful symbol of the bad karma he is himself creating. The farmer wisely tells his son to keep the coffin, for he will need it sooner or later. The son is teaching his own children a lesson on how to treat him when he gets old.

The tale also brought the "golden rule" to mind: do unto others as we would have them do unto us. We reap what we sow.

Do you know the poem, Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne? I thought of these lines:

No man is an island
entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
…
Each man's death diminishes me,
for I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
for whom the bell tolls,
it tolls for thee.

Theresa

Post #: 129

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/26/2008 7:23:41 AM

zenmember

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Theresa:

One of my favourites, thanks for sharing that and drawing the parallel, rj

Post #: 130

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 7:05:28 AM

zenmember

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Once there was a well known philosopher and scholar who devoted himself to the study of Zen for many years. On the day that he finally attained enlightenment, he took all of his books out into the yard, and burned them all.

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Post #: 131

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 10:23:19 AM

J1937

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Richard,
I can very well understand that scholar. He felt he had reached a point at which he did not need books any more. As for me, I have far too many books and will have to throw (better: give) some away. The only trouble is that with most of them I remember certain sentences or passages, and when I want to go back to them to share the wisdom collected there with others, I do need them.
As for enlightenment, I doubt whether any one can or should ever say "I am enlightened". It seems to me that state comes step by step, if ever, and it is not necessary to think about it at all.

Juliana
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Post #: 132

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 11:28:44 AM

Hildegard

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Richard, this story reminds me of Thomas Aquinas who wrote the Summa Theologica. It is said that one day he had a mystical experience, and after this never wrote another word.

Isn't it amazing how many words are written about that for which there are no words?!

Edda

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Post #: 133

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 12:48:04 PM

Gaia

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Richard,
To me the tale suggests that the only way to fully learn life's truths is when you take them into your heart. It doesn't matter where or how you learned something, or where you read it. All books can do is point the way to knowledge or wisdom. As long as you rely on the book, you are relying on someone else's words, someone else's thoughts. Your book might be different from my book, but we can get to the same truth.

It makes me think of a quote from the Chinese philosopher, Chuang Tzu: "Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?"

I know I am always happy when I can give a book away to a friend and know that I will keep its message with me. Then I know I've really gotten the message.
Namaste, Theresa

Post #: 134

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 1:42:56 PM

buttington

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Richard,
I agree with what everyone else has said here, but like Juliana I don't give away my books lightly. I too will wish to go straight to 'that book' to look up something for someone else, and besides all that........I just love my books.

Also 'book-burning' has too many unpleasant attachments to it. I don't think I could ever do that.

Jude

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RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/28/2008 2:37:13 PM

Gaia

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Jude,
Thank you for raising that important point about book burning. So true! Looked at from the perspective of 20th century events, it was the very opposite of enlightenment. Instead it was an act of enslavement, the death of ideas.
Theresa

Post #: 136

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/29/2008 6:31:50 AM

zenmember

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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?"

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RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 4/29/2008 2:44:48 PM

buttington

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When a caterpillar dies a butterfly is born.

-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.

"How does one become a butterfly?" she asked

pensively. "You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

-Trina Paulus

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RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 5/26/2008 8:22:51 AM

zenmember

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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!

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

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Post #: 139

RE: Some enlightening Zen Stories - 5/26/2008 9:38:33 PM

Hildegard

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This man is able to totally be in the moment accepting and enjoying that delicious strawberry despite the precarious situation he finds himself in.
In times of trouble we can become to preoccupied with our cares that we don't even see the "strawberries", much less find relief in enjoying the gift.

Edda

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Post #: 140