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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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 are both united
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…