A Samurai who was known for his nobility and honesty, went to visit a Zen monk to ask advice. However, the moment he entered the temple where the master was praying, he felt inferior and concluded that, in spite of
Riding backwards? Everyone knows that Mullah Nasruddin rides his donkey turning towards its tail. He was going like that one day. “Hodja! Why do you sit facing backwards?” asked someone. “Leave it man! You can not understand! Who said I
A merchant carrying fifty rolls of cotton goods on his shoulders stopped to rest from the heat of the day beneath a shelter where a large stone Buddha was standing. There he fell asleep, and when he woke up his
A poet once wrote a love song and it was beautiful. And he made many copies of it, and sent them to his friends and his acquaintances, both men and women, and even to a young woman whom he had
Ever so long ago, two young ment, Edmund and Oswald, appeared in court. Edmund said to the judge: “Three years ago, when I left home, I gave Oswald, who I thought was my best friend, a costly gold ring sent
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver
Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that necklace, and when she asked her
A young physician in Tokyo named Kusuda met a college friend who had been studying Zen. The young doctor asked him what Zen was. “I cannot tell you what it is,” the friend replied, “but one thing is certain. If
The master of Kennin temple was Mokurai, Silent thunder. He had a little protege named Toyo who was only twelve years old. Toyo saw the older disciples visit the master’s room each morning and evening to receive instruction in sanzen
