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  • A modern saint

    Everything that Gandhi said shows that he was primarily a seeker after God, Truth, the Ultimate, and a politician because this led him into the service of his fellows and so into…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The stingy artist

    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…

  • 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.…

  • 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…