Compassion means seeing everyone as family. The emperor gives his impoverished tutor money for clothes. Instead, the Zen master clothes local vagabonds. Read this parable to see how he redefines duty. Yamaoka…
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Calling card
True connection begins when we drop our official titles and meet as equals. When the Governor of Kyoto attempts to visit Zen master Keichu, his official calling card gets him immediately turned…
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A drop of water
True mindfulness means recognising the infinite value in what appears to be worthless. When a young student mindlessly throws away a small leftover splash of bathwater, Zen master Gisan delivers a simple…
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Fuketsu’s silence and words
True reality cannot be captured by speech or forced silence, but only by experiencing life directly as it is. See how Zen master Fuketsu’s vivid, poetic image of spring in Southern China…
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Publishing the Sutras
Living compassion means recognising when human needs must take priority over religious rituals. This classic Zen story follows Master Tetsugen on a gruelling, decades-long mission to achieve a monumental spiritual dream. Read…
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No work, no food
Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labour with his pupils even at the age of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds and pruning the trees. The pupils felt sorry to…
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Muddy Road
Two monks, Tanzan and Ekido, were once traveling together down a muddy road. It was raining heavily in those parts. Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk…
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Mokusen’s hand
Mokusen Hiki was living in a temple in the province of Tamba. One of his adherents complained of the stinginess of his wife. Mokusen visited the adherent’s wife and showed her his…
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How grass and trees become enlightened
During the Kamakura period, Shinkan studied Tendai six years and then studied Zen for seven years; then he went to China and contemplated Zen for thirteen years more. When he returned to…
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Happy Chinaman
Anyone walking about Chinatowns in America will observe statues of a stout fellow carrying a linen sack. Chinese merchants call him Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha. This Hotei lived during the T’ang…
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The right teaching
Once, there was a renowned monk who lived in a beautiful monastery with many of his pupils. His teachings were known to be very effective and many of his students grew up…
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Integrity pays
At the point of death, a man, Tom Smith, called his children and he advised them to follow his footsteps so that they can have peace of mind in all that they…