Category Zen Stories

“Zenkai, the son of a samurai, journeyed to Edo and there became the retainer of a high official. He fell in love with the official’s wife and was discovered. In self-defense, he slew the official. Then he ran away with…

“Zengetsu, a Chinese master of the T’ang dynasty, wrote the following advice for his pupils: Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student. When witnessing the…

“Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden…

Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind. “It is 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…

“While Seisetsu was the master of Engaku in Kamakura he required larger quarters, since those in which he was teaching were overcrowded. Umezu Seibei, a merchant of Edo, decided to donate five hundred pieces of gold called ryo toward the…

“When you get hurt, say, by an arrow, that is pain. The arrow hitting your arm, it hurts. Pain. However, there is a second arrow, which is your reaction to the arrow, the getting angry, the planning revenge, that is…

“When Huineng, regarded by Shenhui’s “Southern School” of Chan Buddhism as the 6th Patriarch, was allegedly asked on what basis he succeeded the 5th Patriarch in this lineage of Buddhism, Huineng is said to have instantly replied, “Because I do…

“When Catholic missionary St. Francis Xavier was touring Japan, he was graciously hosted in 1549 by the extraordinarily friendly master Ninshitsu of Fukusho-ji Soto Zen monastery, near Kagoshima. Strolling through the temple grounds one day, Xavier saw monks meditating in…

“When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to Bankei with the request that the culprit be expelled.…

“Upon meeting a Zen master at a social event, a psychiatrist decided to ask him a question that had been on his mind. “Exactly how do you help people?” he inquired. “I get them where they can’t ask any more…