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…
About Wellsprings
This site is a cluster of wellsprings. Wellsprings of heartwarming anecdotes, stirring stories, age-old fables, epic tales, mythical musings, good deeds, life's lessons, inspiring insights, and much more. None of these are our own but they have something for all of us. That's why we have taken the liberty of putting them together, acknowledging the source or the author wherever we could.
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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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All for name and fame
The story is that one man became a chakravartin (conqueror of the world) — and it happens only once in thousands of years that a man becomes a chakravartin. Even Alexander the…
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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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Work and rest
There is an ancient story: It is said that an old follower of Lao Tzu, who was 90 years old, was busy pulling water from the well, together with his young son.…
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Chishti and music
I have heard a story. It happened in Ajmer… You must have heard about one Sufi mystic, Moinuddin Chishti, whose dargah, whose tomb, is in Ajmer. Chishti was a great mystic, one…
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Ashtavakra, the pre-born genius
The story of Ashtavakra is from the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. It is the story of a young boy who was born deformed but whose intellect and wisdom surpassed many learned…
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In search of a master
There is a famous Sufi story: A man went in search of a Master. He was ready to go around the world, but he was determined to find the Master, the true…
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The holy shadow
Let me tell you a very famous Sufi story, “The Holy Shadow.” There once lived a saint so good that the angels came from heaven to see how a man could be…
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Way to be pure
It happened….A man used to come to a great saint, and he would always ask, ‘Sir, one thing puzzles me. You are so innocent, so pure, how is this possible? Suspicion arises…