A Zen story for the Youth

There is a Zen story I have loved very much. Three friends had gone for a morning walk, and then they suddenly saw on the hill a Zen monk standing.

One of the friends said, ”I think he must have come with his friends; they must have been left behind and he is waiting for them.”

The Zen story

The other said, ”I cannot agree with you, because seeing that man I can say one thing is certain; he is not waiting for somebody who has been left behind, because he never looks back. He is just standing like a statue. Anybody who is waiting for somebody who is left behind will once in a while look, to see whether the fellow has come or not. But he is unmoving.

”He is not waiting for any friend. I think... I know this monk; he has a cow and the cow must have been lost in the thick forest. And that is the highest place from where he can look all over the forest and find the cow.”

The third man said, ”You have forgotten your own argument. If he was looking for the cow then he would be looking all around. He would not just stand there like a statue, focused in one direction; that is not the way of looking for a lost cow.” He said, ”As far as I can tell, he is doing his morning meditation.”

But the other two said that the basic philosophy of Zen is that you can meditate anywhere, you can meditate doing anything. What was the need to go to that hill in the early morning, in the cold, and stand there to meditate? ”He could have meditated in his cozy monastery where they have a special meditation temple. He could have been there – what was the need to go? No, we cannot agree.”

They argued; finally they said, ”It is better we go to the hill. It will be a waste of time but there is no other way to settle what he is doing.” Such is the curiosity of the human mind – very monkeyish. Now why trouble yourself? Let him do whatever he is doing. If he is searching for his cow it is his business; if he is waiting for his friend, it is his friend; if he is meditating it is his business – why should you poke your nose into it? But that’s how people are.

They became so excited arguing with each other that they decided, ”We have to go.” They forgot that they had come just for a small morning walk, and going to the hill will take hours, then coming down the hill... the sun will be almost directly overhead. But the question... they have to come to a conclusion. And in fact they want to prove that ”I am right.” Each of them wants to prove that ”I am right.” Now the only man who can decide is that monk.

They reached – huffing, puffing. The monk was standing there with half-closed eyes. That is the Buddhist way – to keep the eyes half closed when you are meditating, because if you close your eyes completely you may doze into sleep; that is more possible than going into meditation. If you keep your eyes fully open you will get interested in thousands of things. A beautiful woman passes by, and meditation is lost, anything can disturb. So keep the eyes half closed so you don’t see exactly what is happening outside, and you have to keep your eyes half open so you don’t fall asleep.

The first man asked, ”Master, we have heard much about you but we never had any chance to come to your monastery. Fortunately we had come for a morning walk and we saw you. We have a question I want you to answer: Are you not waiting for somebody who has been left behind?”

The monk with half-closed eyes said, ”I have nobody, I am alone. I was born alone, I will die alone, and between these two alonenesses I am not trying to fool myself that somebody is with me. I am alone and I am not waiting for anybody.”

The second man said happily, ”Then certainly your cow has got lost in the thick forest and you must be looking for it.”

The monk said, ”It seems strange idiots have come here! I don’t possess a single thing. I don’t have any cow, the monastery has it; that is not my business. And why should I waste my time looking for a cow?”

The third man was immensely happy. He said, ”Now you cannot deny: you must be meditating. Is it not so? – you are doing your morning meditation!”

The monk laughed; he said, ”You are the worst idiot of the three! Meditation is not done, it is not a doing. You can be in meditation but you cannot do it. It is a state. So certainly I am not doing meditation. I am in meditation, but for that I need not come to this hill; anywhere I am in meditation. Meditation is my consciousness. So you all get lost! And never disturb anybody who is standing with half-closed eyes, remember it.”

But they all three said, ”Forgive us – we are stupid, certainly we are stupid to walk miles and to ask you such.... We are feeling embarrassed. But now that we have come and now that we accept we are stupid, just one question from all of the three, not separate: Then what are you doing?”And the master said nothing.

In that nothing is the witness.

When you witness, you will be surprised that the boredom, the sadness, the blissfulness, the ecstasy – whatever it is – starts moving away from you. As your witnessing goes deeper, stronger, becomes more crystallized, any experience – good or bad, beautiful or ugly – disappears. There is pure nothingness all around you.

Witnessing is the only thing that can make you aware of an immense nothingness surrounding you. And in that immense nothingness.... It is not empty, remember. In English there is no word to translate the Buddhist word #shunyata. In that nothingness... it is not empty, it is full of your witness, full of your witnessing, full of the light of your witness.

You become almost a sun, and rays from the sun are moving into the nothingness to infinity.

How to Master Your Mind [ Inspiring Story ]

After having won many archery competitions, the town champion sought out the Zen master.

“I am the best of all,” he said. “I did not learn religion, I did not look for help from the monks, and I have been considered the best archer in the whole region. I heard that some time ago you were the best archer in the area, so I ask you: did you have to become a monk to learn to shoot arrows?

“No,” answered the Zen master.

But the champion was not satisfied: he took out an arrow, placed it in his bow, fired, and hit a cherry at a considerable distance. He smiled, as if to say: “You could have saved your time and just dedicated yourself to technique.” And he said:

“I doubt if you can do the same.”

Without demonstrating the least concern, the master took his bow and began to walk towards a nearby mountain. On the way there was an abyss that could only be crossed by an old rotting rope bridge that was almost falling down: with the utmost calm, the Zen master went to the middle of the bridge, took his bow, placed an arrow, aimed at a tree on the other side of the gulch, and hit the target.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said gently to the young man as he walked back to safe ground.

In trepidation, looking at the abyss below him, the young man went to the indicated spot and fired an arrow, but it landed very far from the target.

“That’s what one gets from discipline and practicing meditation,” concluded the master when the young man re-appeared at his side. “You can be very skilled with the instrument you have chosen to earn a living, but it’s all useless if you can’t manage to master the mind that uses the instrument.”

Become Useless [ Story ]

Lao Tzu is passing through a forest, and the forest is being cut. Thousands of carpenters are cutting the trees. Then he comes near a big tree — a very big tree, one thousand bullock carts can rest underneath it — and it is so green and beautiful. He sends his disciples to enquire of the carpenters why this tree has not been cut yet.

 
And they say ‘It is useless. You cannot make anything out of it: furniture cannot be made, it cannot be used as fuel — it gives too much smoke. It is of no use. that’s why we have not cut it.’

And Lao Tzu says to his disciples ‘Learn from this tree. Become as useless as this tree then nobody will cut you.’

Uselessness has great value.

He says: Look, and watch this tree. Learn something from this tree. This tree is great. Look, all the trees are gone. They were useful, hence they are gone. Some tree was very straight, that’s why It is gone. It must have been very egoistic, straight, proud of being somebody — it is gone. This tree is not straight, not a single branch is straight. It is not proud at all. hence it exists.

Lao Tzu says his disciples: If you want to live long, become useless. But remember, his meaning of the word ‘useless’ is; don’t become a commodity, don’t become a thing. If you become a thing you will be sold and purchased in the market, and you will become a slave. If you are not a thing, who can purchase you and who can sell you?

Remain God’s creation. Don’t become a human commodity and nobody will be able to use you. And if nobody is able to use you, you will have a beautiful life of your own, independent, free, joyful. If nobody can use you, nobody can reduce you to a means. You will never be insulted, because in this life there is no greater insult than to become a means: somebody or other is going to use you — your body, your mind, your being.

Lao Tzu says: Become a nonentity so that nobody looks at you and you can live YOUR LIFE as YOU want to live it. Nobody comes to interfere with you. Story-by-OSHO

If you believe in god then learn to trust God Completely [ Story ]

Once there was a man who loved to climb mountains. He considered himself to be quite spiritual and saw mountain climbing as a metaphor for his mystical ascent. He decided to climb a particular mountain and was so confident in his own abilities that he didn’t bother researching it or planning the path he would take to get to the top. He packed up his gear and his book of spiritual teachings and started the upward trek.

About half way up he stopped for some food and read from his spiritual book. He stood up and looked over the countryside and thanked God for all the good things he had and for giving him the chance to see this beautiful world from such a height. He tarried a bit longer than he should have, the afternoon sun was setting fast, but he wasn’t concerned. Even when the sky started to turn dark and storm clouds started moving in, the man continued on his mission. But soon the night fell heavy in the heights of the mountain, and the climber got lost and could not see anything. All was black and misty cold and the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. Undaunted, the man continued climbing the mountain despite his disorientation and confusion. He thought, God will guide me, God will protect me, and I will reach the top of this mountain.

He climbed for hours, not even sure sometimes if he was moving up, down or sideways. Once, the clouds parted, and he thought he saw the peak of the mountain not far ahead of him. But the clouds and the darkness returned and he lost sight of the summit. He continued climbing in the night and the growing cold – moving more by instinct and what he took to be faith than by any true knowledge of his path. And then, while reaching out over an outcropping ledge, he slipped and fell into the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity.

He kept falling, and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. He stopped falling and his body hung limp in the air.

Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no other choice but to scream: “Help me God.”

All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered, “What do you want me to do?”

“Save me God.”

And God replied “Do you really believe I can save you?”

“Of course I believe.”

“And will you do exactly as I tell you?” the voice asked.

“Of course Lord, whatever you ask of me I will do.”

“Then trust in me, cut the rope tied to your waist – free yourself from the darkness and be saved.”

There was a moment of silence. The man began to weep. He clutched tighter to the rope holding him and felt the cold and the darkness wrap itself around him. And the voice spoke to him no more.

The next morning the rescue team reported that a climber was found dead and frozen. His hands still clutched the rope and his face was a mask of agony. He was hanging only three feet above the ground!

Do people really believe in what they say they believe in? Can they really trust the words of their own heart? What are the consequences of not doing what you believe is the right thing?

Believe in your God. Always believe in Teachings of your Guru.

Greatest Archer

One man declared to the emperor of China, ”Now you have to announce it and recognize me as the greatest archer in China. I am ready for any challenge.” And he was absolutely perfect, one hundred percent successful.
 

 But the king said, ”Have you heard about an old archer who lives deep in the mountains?”

He said, ”I have heard about him, but I am ready to contest.”

The king laughed. He said, ”You should go and meet that old man. If he recognizes you, I will recognize you, because I don’t know archery.... But he is a great archer, perhaps the greatest, so you should go. Bring his recognition, and my recognition is available. But without asking him I cannot do it. It is not a question of a challenge.”

So the man had to travel to the high mountains, where he found a very old man whose back was bent, who could not stand straight. He asked, ”Are you the archer?”

The man said, ”I used to be. But perhaps half a century has passed, and when I became a perfect archer, according to my master, I had to throw away my bows and arrows. You think you are a perfect master; have you come for recognition?” The king had sent information to him that he was sending somebody.

The man said, ”Yes.”

The old man said, ”Then why are you carrying the bow and the arrows?”

The man said, ”Strange... That’s what my mastery is.”

The old man laughed. He brought him out of his small cottage to a mountain cliff. The old man was so old, maybe one hundred and forty years old, and the cliff went so deep underneath, thousands of feet into the valley. If you just missed a single step or trembled or hesitated, you were gone. The old man walked to the very edge of the cliff, half his feet hanging off the cliff, half his feet on the cliff.

The young man could not believe his eyes. The old man said, ”Now you also come. There is enough space here for one more!” The young man tried just two steps and sat down, trembling, seeing the situation.

The old man laughed and he said, ”What kind of archer are you? How many birds can you kill with a single arrow?”

The young man said, ”Of course one bird.”

The old man said, ”You have to learn under a Zen master. It is a sheer wastage of one arrow, just one bird. My master never allowed anybody the certificate unless he was able with one arrow to bring down the whole flock.”

The young man said, ”How many can you bring down?”

He said, ”You say the number.”

Just then a flock of birds flew over. The old man just looked, and seven birds fell down.

The young man said, ”My God!”

The old man said, ”When you can look with totality, your very eyes become arrows. But you are a novice; you could not come to the edge of the cliff. If you are trembling inside, then your archery cannot be perfect. You may manage to hit the targets, but that is not the point. The point is that you have an untrembling total presence. Then your total presence becomes as sharp as any arrow.

The master said, ”You go back and learn from this point. The target is not the target; you are the target. Become total – and if I am alive, I will visit you after five years to see whether I can give you the recognition. Or if I am gone, my son will come after five years. He is as great an adept as I am, and you will be able to recognize him, because whatever I can do with my eyes, he can also do.”

After five years the old man came. These five years the archer tried his best to be total, and he succeeded. The old man asked, ”Where are your bows and arrows?”

He said, ”It must be two years by now, but it seems like centuries have passed and I have not seen the arrows and the bow. Now I can do what you were able to do.”

The old man did not ask for a test, he simply gave the recognition. He said, ”I can see in your eyes the unwavering totality. I can see in your body the spontaneous relaxedness. You can go to the king and tell him that the old man gives the recognition, and just for your recognition I have come down from the hills.”

Zen brings a new valuation into everything. It is not a life-renouncing religion, it is a life-transforming religion. It transforms everything, it negates nothing. But one thing has to be remembered: unconditionality, totality, spontaneity – strange values and they are the authentic values that will give you the alchemy to change your being.

This a beautiful anecdote, and Kyozan is saying, ”WHEN ONE WINS, ONE WINS UNCONDITIONALLY.” There was no desire to win, one was simply playful, enjoying the very art and enjoying the meditativeness and spontaneity. Now whatever happens, that is not the concern.

Ofcourse when two persons will be fighting, one will be defeated, one will be victorious. What does it matter who is victorious and who is defeated? All that matters is whether both are at the same degree of concentration, at the same degree of unconditionality. Whoever is higher in unconditionality – he may be the defeated one, but according to Zen he is at a higher point of consciousness, and that is real victory. The formal victory is another thing. - Story-by-OSHO

Samurai and a Zen Master

A samurai, a very proud warrior, came to see a Zen Master one day. The samurai was very famous, but looking at the beauty of the Master and the Grace of the moment, he suddenly felt inferior.

He said to the Master, "Why am I feeling inferior? Just a moment ago everything was okay. As I entered your court suddenly I felt inferior. I have never felt like that before. I have faced death many times, and I have never felt any fear -- why am I now feeling frightened?"

The Master said, "Wait. When everyone else has gone, I will answer. "

People continued the whole day to come and see the Master, and the samurai was getting more and more tired waiting. By evening the room was empty, and the samurai said, "Now, can you answer me?"

The Master said, "Come outside."

It was a full moon night, the moon was just rising on the horizen. And he said, "Look at these trees. This tree is high in the sky and this small one beside it. They both have existed beside my window for years, and there has never been any problem. The smaller tree has never said to the big tree, 'Why do I feel inferior before you?' This tree is small, and that tree is big -- why have I never heard a whisper of it?"

The samurai said, "Because they can't compare."

The Master replied, "Then you need not ask me. You know the answer."