"The Pointer" — a Zen Story
The Zen teacher’s dog loved his evening romp with his master.
The dog would bound ahead to fetch a stick, then run back, wag his tail, and wait for the next game.
On this particular evening, the teacher invited one of his brightest students to join him – a boy so intelligent that he became troubled by the contradictions in Buddhist doctrine.
"The Wise Woman’s Stone" - Author Unknown
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“Right and Wrong — Unknown
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. Bankei ignored the case.
"Buddha's Flower Sermon "
"Toward the end of his life, the Buddha took his disciples to a quiet pond for instruction. As they had done so many times before, the Buddha’s followers sat in a small circle around him, and waited for the teaching.
"The Waves and the Ocean are One - We and God are One" by Atman Nityananda
The waves are one with the ocean. Both are sea water. The waves are only an expression of the ocean. The ocean is permanent and the waves are impermanent. The ocean is the substratum and the waves the phenomenon that appears due to and in the substratum. But the waves never stop to be the ocean.
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"Where is the Tao?" by Derek Lin in Chuang Tzu Stories
One day, a scholar by the name of Donguozi asked Chuang Tzu: “That which we call the Tao — where is it?”
The two of them were outside, and Chuang Tzu said: “Everywhere. There is no place where the Tao isn’t.”
Donguozi didn’t quite understand this, so he asked: “Can you be more specific and point it out for me?”
Chuang Tzu looked around and saw ants crawling underfoot, so he pointed to them: “The Tao is among these ants.”
This surprised Donguozi. He asked: “Why such a lowly place?”
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” - a translation of Hans Christian Andersen's “Keiserens Nye Klæder" by Jean Hersholt
Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, "The King's in council," here they always said. "The Emperor's in his dressing room.”
"Flight from the Shadow" by Chuang Tzu
There was a man
who was so disturbed
by the sight of his own shadow
and so displeased
with his own footsteps,
that he determined to get rid of both.
"Moon Cannot Be Stolen" – Zen Parable
Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.
“Awareness” by Anthony de Mello (edited by Keith Basar)
The student monk had spent seven years of his life learning how to live and embrace a life of being fully aware thus the highly perceptible state "awareness." His confidence overflowed in such a way that it seemed near impossible for his knowledge to fail him under any circumstance.
Now his study time had ended and he was prepared to be tested his many years of diligent effort.