Zen parables

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by Land Cow, May 23, 2010.

  1. What is a Zen hero's super power?

    When he's hungry he eats. When he's tired he sleeps.
     
  2. The Buddha was once asked, "What kind of shoes are you wearing?"

    He replied, "This kind."
     
  3. #63 TesseLated, Oct 12, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 12, 2011
    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.




    Another..


    A renowned Zen master said that his greatest teaching was this: Buddha is your own mind. So impressed by how profound this idea was, one monk decided to leave the monastery and retreat to the wilderness to meditate on this insight.

    There he spent 20 years as a hermit probing the great teaching. One day he met another monk who was traveling through the forest. Quickly the hermit monk learned that the traveler also had studied under the same Zen master. "Please, tell me what you know of the master's greatest teaching," he asked the traveler. The traveler's eyes lit up, "Ah, the master has been very clear about this. He says that his greatest teaching is this: Buddha is NOT your own mind."
     
  4. #64 Perpetual Burn, Oct 12, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 12, 2011
    This is a Taoist parable from the Chuang Tzu, a book that makes Tao Te Ching look like child's play...

    The Yellow Emperor was travelling North facing South when he realized he lost his Dark Pearl [Tao.] He commissioned Knowledge to trace it, but he could not trace it. He commissioned Li Chu [Sight, Experience] to trace it, but he could not trace it. He commissioned Heated Debate to trace it, but he also could not trace it. He finally commissioned Pointless to trace it and he traced it. The Yellow Emperor said, "How strange! How is it that only Pointless could trace it?"
     
  5. The Buddha was asked, "What does Ultimate Nature look like?"

    "It looks like this."
     
  6. There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied.

    The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer.

    The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.
     
  7. #67 Perpetual Burn, Oct 26, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 26, 2011
    ^That parable teaches the Middle Way. Free from extremes. To not get too attached to ideas of good or bad.

    There is a Zen parable that is much the same...

    Is That So?


    ---

    Black-Nosed Buddha

     
  8. Tree in a Thicket

    Confucius and Chuang-Tzu were walking through the forest when they came across a very old tree that was surrounded by a thicket. The tree was so twisted and knotted and unaccessible due to the thicket that no woodcutter could chop it down.

    Confucius said, "My friend, your teachings are like this tree. They are lofty but impractical. That is why they are of no use to anyone else."

    Chuang-Tzu said, "It is because my teachings are of no use to others that makes them unable to be defiled. Just like the tree, my teachings will remain untouched forever. It is that my teachings are so useless which makes them so useful."

    ^This is more-or-less a story from The Chuang Tzu.
     
  9. How Do You Know?

    Zhuangzi and Huizi were walking along the dam of the Hao River, when Zhuangzi said, “How the fish come to play! That is how the fish enjoy themselves.”

    Huizi said, “You are not a fish. How do you know what fish enjoy?”

    Zhuangzi replied, “You are not I. How do you know that I do not know what fish enjoy?”

    Huizi said, “I am not you, and granted that I do not fully know you, you certainly are not a fish. That proves that you do not know what fish really enjoy.”

    Zhuangzi replied, “Let us return to your original question. You said to me, 'How do you know what fish enjoy?' So you already knew that I knew it when you asked the question. I know the enjoyment of the fish from my enjoyment of wandering along the Hao River.”
     
  10. Not Dead Yet

    The Emperor asked Master Gudo,
    "What happens to a man of enlightenment after death?"
    "How should I know?" replied Gudo.
    "Because you are a master," answered the Emperor.
    "Yes sir," said Gudo, "but not a dead one."
     
  11. A Butterfly

    Once I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamt that I was a butterfly fluttering about happily. I did not know I was Zhou. Suddenly, I awoke, and there I was, Zhou again. I did not know whether it was Zhou dreaming that he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming that it was Zhou. Between Zhou and a butterfly there must be a distinction. This is called the transformation of things.
     
  12. The Buddha was once asked which way he was going.

    He replied, "This way."
     
  13. The Gateless Gate

    Buddha Twirls a Flower

    When Buddha was in Grdhrakuta mountain he turned a flower in his fingers and held it before his listeners. Every one was silent. Only Maha-Kashapa smiled at this revelation, although he tried to control the lines of his face.

    Buddha said: "I have the eye of the true teaching, the heart of Nirvana, the true aspect of non-form, and the ineffable stride of Dharma. It is not expressed by words, but especially transmitted beyond teaching. This teaching I have given to Maha-Kashapa."



    Mumon's comment: Golden-faced Gautama thought he could cheat anyone. He made the good listeners as bad, and sold dog meat under the sign of mutton. And he himself thought it was wonderful. What if all the audience had laughed together? How could he have transmitted the teaching? And again, if Maha-Kashapa had not smiled, how could he have transmitted the teaching? If he says that realization can be transmitted, he is like the city slicker that cheats the country dub, and if he says it cannot be transmitted, why does he approve of Maha-Kashapa?


    At the turning of a flower
    His disguise was exposed.
    No one in heaven or earth can surpass
    Maha-Kashapa's wrinkled face.
     
  14. please forgive me.....saw this and instantly thought of this thread....

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Sing at Death

    When Chuang Tzu’s wife died, his friend Hui Tzu came to offer his condolences and found Chuang Tzu hunkered down, drumming on a potter pan and singing.

    Hui Tzu said, “You lived with her, raised children with her, and grew old together. Even weeping is not enough, but now you are drumming and singing. Is it a bit too much?”

    Chuang Tzu said, “That is not how it is. When she just died, how could I not feel grief? But I looked deeply into it and saw that she was lifeless before she was born. She was also formless and there was not any energy. Somewhere in the vast imperceptible universe there was a change, an infusion of energy, and then she was born into form, and into life. Now the form has changed again, and she is dead. Such death and life are like the natural cycle of the four seasons. My dead wife is now resting between heaven and earth. If I wail at the top of my voice to express my grief, it would certainly show a failure to understand what is fated. Therefore I stopped.”

    ---

    "Those of us who know Life and Death are One, we're all friends."- Chuang Tzu
     
  16. Prosperity

     
  17. Nansen said, " Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the way."


    A monk asked Baso in all earnestness, "What is Buddha?" Baso replied, "No mind, no Buddha."
     

Share This Page