Tag Archives: zen

The Gift Of Insults

Fire Caste Warrior Command

Image by Will Merydith via Flickr

There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.

One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.

Moving Heart

Deutsch: Bodhidharma

Image via Wikipedia

Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind.

“It’s the wind that is really moving,” stated the first one.

“No, it is the flag that is moving,” contended the second.

A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them.

“Neither the flag nor the wind is moving,” he said, “It’s the HEART that moves.”

Zen Stories To Tell Your Neighbors

Are You Still Carrying Her?

An old monk was once traveling together with his discipline. The journey wasn’t too smooth because the road was muddy. It had rained heavily earlier of the day.

Coming around a bend, the old monk and his young student met a lovely young girl in a pretty dress standing by a stream. She explained that she wanted to cross the stream but didn’t know how. The heavy rain flooded the stream to almost waist deep with gushing water and there was no bridge in sight. Her mother was ill so she needed to get home quick to take care of her.

A Cup Full Of Tea

A Zen master received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Upon arrival, the professor started talking about all the researches he had done on Zen. The Zen literatures he had ploughed through, his thoughts and opinions on what Zen was and so on.