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  • A stoic response to betrayal

    Late in his reign, sick and possibly near death, Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius  received surprising news. His old friend and most trusted general, Avidius Cassius, had rebelled in Syria. Having heard the emperor…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…