Category Stories

“Once their lived a courtesan of incomparable beauty. She was glad to have the monks come by her home for alms, and offered them excellent food. Then one day, one of the monks who had gone to her home for…

“Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labor with his pupils even at the age of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds, and pruning the trees. The pupils felt sorry to see the old teacher working so hard, but…

“One day I decided to quit…I quit my job, my relationship, my Spirituality… I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God, I said. Can you give me one good reason…

“Once King Akbar questioned Birbal if he knows the number of blind citizens of their kingdom. Raja Birbal had requested Akbar to give him a week’s time. The next day Raja Birbal was found to be mending shoes in the…

“A nobleman’s prized racehorse began to limp for no apparent reason. Veterinarians who were called found nothing wrong with the leg – no fracture, no sprain and no soreness – and they were baffled. The nobleman finally consulted a sage,…

“King Suppabuddha was indeed not an admirer of the Buddha. He had not forgotten how the Buddha, while he was still a prince, had abandoned his beloved daughter Yasodhara for the renunciant’s life. One day, knowing that the Buddha and…

“The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life. A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child. This…

“Birbal had been invited to lunch by a rich man. Birbal went to the man’s house and found him in a hall full of people. His host greeted him warmly. “I did not know there would be so many guests,”…

“Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all repaired their boats…

“During the Kamakura period, Shinkan studied Tendai six years and then studied Zen seven years; then he went to China and contemplated Zen for thirteen years more. When he returned to Japan many desired to interview him and asked obscure…