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Children of His Majesty
submitted by stef718 stef718 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Yamaoka Tesshu was a tutor of the emperor. He was also a master of fencing and a profound student of Zen. His home was the abode of vagabonds. He has but one suit of clothes, for they kept him always poor. The emperor, observing how worn his garments were, gave Yamaoka some money to buy new ones. The next time Yamaoka appeared he wore the same old outfit. “What became of the new clothes, Yamaoka?” asked the emperor. “I provided clothes for the children of Your Majesty,” explained Yamaoka read more...

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7
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Chasing Two Rabbits
submitted by stef718 stef718 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I’d like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I’d like to study with 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 one.” read more...

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6
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Calling Card
submitted by stef718 stef718 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Keichu, the great Zen teacher of the Meiji era, was the head of Tofuku, a cathedral in Kyoto. One day the governor of Kyoto called upon him for the first time. His attendant presented the card of the governor, which read: Kitagaki, Governor of Kyoto. “I have no business with such a fellow,” said Keichu to his attendant. “Tell him to get out of here.”The attendant carried the card back with apologies. “That was my error,” said the governor, and with a pencil he scratched out the words Governor of Kyoto. “Ask your teacher again.” “Oh, is that Kitagaki?” exclaimed the teacher when he saw the card. “I want to see that fellow.” read more...

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7
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Buddha’s Zen
submitted by stef718 stef718 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — uddha said: “I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot. I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of magicians. I discern the highest conception of emancipation as a golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated ones as flowers appearing in one’s eyes. I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.” read more...

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3
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Books
published 1 year, 8 months ago, submitted by maria maria 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — 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. read more...

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3
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Black-Nosed Buddha
published 1 year, 8 months ago, submitted by maria maria 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A nun who was searching for enlightenment made a statue of Buddha and covered it with gold leaf. Wherever she ent she carried this golden Buddha with her. Years passed and, still carrying her Buddha, the nun came to live in a small temple in a country where there were many Buddhas, each one with its own particular shrine. read more...

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8
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Bicycle
submitted by maria maria 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, “Why are you riding your bicycles?” The first student replied, “The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!” The teacher praised the student, saying, “You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do.” read more...

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7
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Bell Teacher
submitted by maria maria 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A new student approached the Zen master and asked how he should prepare himself for his training. “Think of me as a bell,” the master explained. “Give me a soft tap, and you will get a tiny ping. Strike hard, and you’ll receive a loud, resounding peal.” read more...

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7
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Banishing a Ghost
submitted by zen 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — 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. read more...

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Arresting the Stone Buddha
submitted by zen 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A merchant bearing fifty rolls of cotton goods on his shoulders stopped to rest from the heat of the day beneath a shelter where a large stone Buddha was standing. There he fell asleep, and when he awoke his goods had disappeared. He immediately reported the matter to the police. A judge named O-oka opened court to investigate. “That stone Buddha must have stolen the goods,” concluded the judge. “He is supposed to care for the welfare of the people, but he has failed to perform his holy duty. Arrest him.” The police arrested the stone Buddha and carried it into the court. A noisy crowd followed the statue, curious to learn what kind of sentence the judge was about to impose. read more...

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7
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Announcement
submitted by zen 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Tanzan wrote sixty postal cards on the last day of his life, and asked an attendant to mail them. Then he passed away. The cards read: I am departing from this world. This is my last announcement. Tanzan read more...

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5
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Accurate Proportion
submitted by zen 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Sen no Rikyu, a tea-master, wished to hang a flower basket on a column. He asked a carpenter to help him, directing the man to place it a little higher or lower, to the right or left, until he had found exactly the right spot. “That’’s the place,” said Sen no Rikya finally. The carpenter, to test the master, marked the spot and then pretended he had forgotten. Was this the place? “Was this the place, perhaps?” the carpenter kept asking, pointing to various places on the column. But so accurate was the tea-master’’s sense of proportion that it was not until the carpenter reached the identical spot again that its location was approved. read more...

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3
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A Smile in His Lifetime
published 1 year, 8 months ago, submitted by tictac tictac 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Mokugen was never known to smile until his last day on earth. When his time came to pass away he said to his faithful ones: “You have studied under me for more than ten years. Show me your real interpretation of Zen. Whoever expresses this most clearly shall by my successor and receive my robe and bowl.” Everyone watched Mokugen’s severe face, but no one answered. Encho, a disciple who had been with his teacher for a long time, moved near the bedside. He pushed forward the medicine cup a few inches. This was his answer to the command. The teacher’s face became even more severe. “Is that all you understand?” he asked. Encho reached out and moved the cup back again. read more...

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8
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A Mother’s Advice
submitted by tictac tictac 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — Jiun, a Shingon 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 desire to turn into a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to information and commentation, glory and honour. 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.” read more...

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7
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A Buddha
submitted by tictac tictac 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — In Tokyo in the Meiji era there lived two prominent teachers of opposite characteristics. One, Unsho, an instructor in Shingon, kept Buddha’s precepts scrupulously. He never drank intoxicants, nor did he eat after eleven o’clock in the morning. The other teacher, Tanzan, a professor of philosophy at the Imperial University, never observed the precepts. When he felt like eating, he ate, and when he felt like sleeping in the daytime, he slept. One day Unsho visited Tanzan, who was drinking wine at the time, not even a drop of which is supposed to touch the tongue of a Buddhist. “Hello, brother,” Tanzan greeted him. “Won’t you have a drink?” “I never drink!” exclaimed Unsho solemnly. “One who does not drink is not even human,” said Tanzan. “Do you mean to call me inhuman just because I do not indulge in intoxicating liquids!” exclaimed Unsho in anger. “Then if I am not human, what am I?” “A Buddha,” answered Tanzan. read more...

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A foot of jade is worth an inch of time
submitted by tictac tictac 1 year, 8 months ago

spiritualinquiry.com — A great official came to the master Takuan asking for help in passing his days more eventfully. All day long, he explained, he sat receiving supplications and reports, and he found it all very dull. Takuan took brush and paper, and wrote eight Chinese characters. Translated, they said: No day comes back again: One inch of time is worth A foot of jade. read more...

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