Zen

[pai_mei]

Hello all :) Here are some Zen stories, Zen cannot be discussed because it loses it's meaning, but these stories are an easy way to see the Zen philosophy :

3. Is That So?

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours 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 made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parent went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.

After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?"
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html

[333]

Peace,


Humanitarianism and true love for all beings can only stem from an awareness of the content of religion.
By what ever name the religion may be known, its understanding and practice are the essence of a peaceful mind and therefore of a peaceful world.
If there is no peace in one's mind, their can be no peace in one's approach to others, and thus no peaceful relations between individuals or between nations.

---Dalai Lama

[pai_mei]

"The void is no mere emptiness, but is real, free and existing. It is the source from which all things arise and return. It cannot be seen, touched or known, yet it exists and is freely used. It has no shape, size, colour or form, and yet all that we see, hear, feel and touch is "it". It is beyond intellectual knowing and cannot be grasped by the ordinary mind. When we suddenly awake to the realization that there is no barrier, and has never been seen, one realizes that one is all things, mountains, rivers, grasses, trees, sun, moon, stars, universe are all oneself. There is no longer a division or barrier between myself and others, no longer any feeling of alienation or fear. Realizing this, results in true compassion. Other people and things are not seen as apart from oneself, on the contrary, as one's own body."

Bruce Lee
:)

[333]

Peace,

It is like a finger pointing to the moon ....Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.

Bruce Lee ;)