Anyone interested in Zen/Feel Good Stories?

K

Kaya

Senior Member
Location
Northern Cali
If so...I have some I will share that I found on the net during my wanderings.:love_heart:

When God had made the earth and sky,
The flowers and the trees.
He then made all the animals,
The fish, the birds and bees.
And when at last He'd finished,
Not one was quite the same.
He said, "I'll walk this world of mine,
And give each one a name."
And so He traveled far and wide
And everywhere He went,
A little creature followed Him
Until its strength was spent.
When all were named upon the earth
And in the sky and sea,
The little creature said, "Dear Lord,
There's not one left for me."
Kindly the Father said to him,
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front
And called you dog, my friend."~ Author Unknown ~​
 

homelessmandog_large.jpg


FRIENDS FOREVER MORE
An old man wandered aimlessly, on a cold and rainy day.
He wished for friends and family, but all had passed away.
He thought he saw a movement from the corner of his eye.
An old shivering dog lay curled beneath the leaden sky.
The old man whistled for the dog, the sad sight made him weep.
Now if it follows me, he thought, this old dog I shall keep.
The old dog raised his shaggy head, with a longing in his eyes.
His tail was wagging slowly, as the old dog tried to rise.
Now the two became the best of friends, they were happy and content.
Until the old man knew one day, his time was nearly spent.
In his bed the old man lay, his heart was full of fear.
For the one that he would leave behind, the old dog that he held so dear.
But the angels came for both of them, that night as they both slept.
For the angels could not part them, so together they were kept.
They rose on wings together, up to heaven did they soar.
The old man and the shaggy dog, friends...forever more.
~ Author Unknown ~
 

man_and_dog.jpg


I first saw this story on TV back in the 1960s. It was an episode on the originalTwilight Zone TV series. The episode was titled The Hunt and a brief synopsis is below:
"An old mountain man and his dog who go on a hunt one night and after sunrise the man and dog who are going home never reach the cabin andso keep walking, not realizing they are dead. After a long walk they instead come on the first of two places on the road. The gatekeeper at the first (the clean, green, wonderful appearing) won't let the dog in but the second gatekeeper (at the one which looks rundown and decrepit) lets the man and dog stay together and explains that thefirst is actually hell and it's appearance is an illusion."
The writer is the same man responsible for The Waltons TV series in the 1970s& 1980s - Earl Hamner Jr.
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.
It looked like fine marble..
At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'
'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered..
'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.
'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'
The man gestured, and the gate began to open. 'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveller asked.
'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.
There was no fence.
As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book....
'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'
'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'
'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog.
'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man.
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree..
'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked.
'This is Heaven,' he answered.
'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said.
'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'
'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope.. That's hell.'
'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'
'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'
 

Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: 'My heart burns like fire but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes.'

He made the following rules, which he practiced every day of his life.
In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.
Retire at a regular hour.

Partake of food at regular intervals.
Eat with moderation and never to the point of satisfaction.

Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone.
When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.

Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.
When an opportunity comes do not let it pass by, yet always think
twice before acting.
Do not regret the past. Look to the future.
Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.

Upon retiring sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

Author~Jacked from someone else's collection of jacks. In short...Soyen Shaku
 
One day, according to an Eastern story, the gods decided to create the universe. They created the stars, the sun, the moon. They created the seas, the mountains, the flowers, and the clouds. Then they created human beings.

At the end, they created Truth.

At this point, however, a problem arose: where should they hide Truth so that human beings would not find it right away?
They wanted to prolong the adventure of the search.
''Let's put Truth on top of the highest mountain'', said one of the gods,
''Certainly it will be hard to find it there''.
''Les's put it on the farthest star'' - said another.
''Let's hide it in the darkest and deepest of abysses''.
At the end, the wisest and most ancient god said - ''No, we will hide Truth inside the very heart of human beings. In this way they will look for it all over the Universe, without being aware of having it inside themselves all the time''.
- from 'What we may be' by Piero Ferrucci
 
A story tells that two friends were walking through
the desert. During some point of the journey, they
had an argument, and one friend slapped the other
one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt,
but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:​
Today my best friend slapped me in the face.
They kept on walking, until they found an oasis,
where they decided to take a bath. The one who had
been slapped got stuck in the mire and started
drowning, but his friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning,
he wrote on a stone:
Today my best friend saved my life.
The friend, who had slapped and saved his best
friend, asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in
the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us,
we should write it down in sand, where the winds of
forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone
does something good for us, we must engrave it in
stone where no wind can ever erase it.
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve
your blessings in stone.
-- Unknown
 
Once there was a sword master called Shoken, who lived in a house infested with a large rat. This rat was truly ferocious, and no matter how hard Shoken chased it with his bokuto he could not kill it. Fortunately, one of Shoken’s neighbours was a cat breeder who specialised in training his cats to kill rats. Shoken asked if he might borrow a cat to catch the rat.
The cat trainer gave Shoken a viscous ginger alley cat, a real street fighter with sharp claws. But when the cat came to face the rat, the rat stood it’s ground and the cat was afraid. Shoken returned the cat to the cat master.
“Must be some rat,” said the breeder, and gave Shoken a lean black and white cat. “This cat has had years of training, and is highly skilled.” The second cat fought with the rat, but the rat was able to beat it easily.
Shoken went back to the cat breeder, and retuned with a jet black cat. The black cat had a very strong presence, projecting a quiet confidence. “This cat has mastered flawless technique, and has developed his mind through meditation. His zanshin is truly powerful. This cat will get the rat,” the master had said. But this cat also was defeated.
When Shoken returned to the cat master, the master said. “Very well, this time I will give you the master of the cats. This cat was old and grey, and did not look so impressive. Shoken took the cat home and brought it to face the rat. The rat moved to attack the old cat, but the old cat sat quietly unconcerned. Suddenly the rat felt a slight tinge of fear. The rat hesitated, and suddenly the old cat reached out a claw and killed the rat with a single strike.
When Shoken brought the cat back to the breeder he asked him how it was that the old cat could kill the rat while the younger ones had such a hard time. “Come with me,” said the breeder, “I’m sure the cats will discuss this, and since cats know a great deal about martial arts I’m sure you will find their conversation interesting.” They listened in to the cats’ discussion.
The ginger cat stood up and said, “I am very tough.”
“Then why couldn’t you beat the rat? Because toughness is itself not enough. There will always be a tougher rat somewhere.” Said the old grey cat.
The black and white cat spoke. “I have had years of training and impeccable technique, why could I not beat the rat?” “Because, although your waza is brilliant, and although you have had many years in the dojo, this is not enough in a real fight.
“But I have perfected my body through training and my mind through meditation,” said the black cat, “I have flawless technique, and also have achieved enlightenment. Why did the rat defeat me?”
“Because, Kuroi-san, although your skill is indeed great, and you have both spiritual and physical power you are not without desire. When you faced the rat you had an object in your mind, you did not have mushin. The rat sensed this, and his intuition was better than yours. Because you did not have mushin you were unable to harmonise your strength, your technique and you consciousness. I was able to use all these three elements naturally and unconsciously to defeat the rat. This is why I was successful.
“But I know of another cat, in a village not far from here. His fur is snow white with age, and he’s not very strong looking. He doesn’t eat meat, but lives on vegetables and rice gruel, although he is known to take a little sake occasionally. He hasn’t caught a rat in years because the rats are all terrified of him! As soon as he walks into a house all the rats leave at once. Even in his sleep he chases away rats! We must all learn to be like him, beyond violence, beyond technique, beyond even the desire for skill.”
 
A saint who visited the river Ganges to take a bath, came across a group of family members who were shouting at each other in anger.

The saint turned to his diciples with a smile, "Why do people who are angry shout at each other?"


After a little while one diciple said, "Because we lose our calm. Then we shout."​

"But why do you shout when the other person is right next to you? You can say what you have to say in a much softer manner," said the saint.

None of the diciples could give a good response. Then the saint decided to explain it.
"When two people are angry at each other, their hearts get further apart. To cover that distance, they have to shout to each other to be able to hear each other, and reach out. The angrier they get, the louder they must shout to be heard from such a great distance."

He then smiled, before he asked the diciples a new question,
"When two people fall in love, what happens? They talk softly to each other. Why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small.."

He concluded, "When two people's love grow even stronger, they only whisper because their hearts are so close. In the end the love is so strong that they only need to look at each other. That is all."​
 
An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining and so, one morning, sent him for some salt.When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked.
“Bitter,” spit the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake.
The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”
As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”
“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.
“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.
“No,” said the young man.
At this the master sat beside this serious young man, who so reminded him of himself, and took his hands, offering:
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”
 
When the Tesshu, a master of Zen, calligraphy and swordsmanship, was a young man he called on the Zen master Dokuon. Wishing to impress Dokuon he said, “The mind, the Buddha, and all sentient beings after all do not exist. The true nature of phenomenon is emptiness. There is no realisation, no delusion, no sagacity, no mediocrity, nothing to give and nothing to receive.
Dokuon promptly hit him with a bamboo stick. Tesshu became quite furious.
Dokuon said quietly: “If nothing exists, where did this anger come from?”



 
That should do for now. I have more, but I want to see if anyone is interested...or (hopefully) will join me in sharing these bits of wisdom and "think" stories. :)
 

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