Gessen was an artist monk. Before he would start a drawing or painting he always insisted upon being paid in advance, and his fees were high. He was known as the “Stingy…
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Bodhidharma, the chief patriarch of Cha’n Buddhism in China
There are several stories and legends surrounding Bodhidharma. Some of them may be real; and a lot others just made up. In any case, they are very interesting. They bring forth the…
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No loving-kindness
There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally…
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Inch time foot gem
A lord asked Takuan, a Zen teacher, to suggest how he might pass the time. He felt his days very long attending his office and sitting stiffly to receive the homage of…
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Mokusen’s hand
Mokusen Hiki was living in a temple in the province of Tamba, Japan. One of his adherents complained of the stinginess of his wife. Mokusen visited the adherent’s wife and showed her…
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Sleeping in the daytime
The zen master Soyen Shaku passed from this world when he was sixty-one years of age. Fulfilling his life’s work, he left a great teaching, far richer than that of most Zen…
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The giver should be thankful
While Seisetsu was the master of Engaku in Kamakura, he required larger quarters, since those in which he was teaching were overcrowded. Umezu Seibei, a merchant of Edo, decided to donate five…
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Cherry blossoms and the misty moon
It happened about a very famous Zen woman, her name was Rengetsu…. Very few women have attained to the Zen ultimate. This one is one of those rare women. She was on…
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The idea of I
A disciple of a Zen Master was meditating for twenty years. Again and again he would bring his experiences, and the Master would throw him out saying, “This is all rubbish! Go…
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Try to pick it up
A Zen Master dropped his handkerchief and said to one of his disciples who was just sitting there, “Try to pick up the handkerchief. Try to pick it up.” Immediately the disciple…