The Real Miracle

When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed in salvation through repetition of the name of the Buddha of Love, was jealous of his large audience and wanted to debate with him.

Bankei was in the midst of a talk when the priest appeared, but the fellow made such a disturbance that Bankei stopped his discourse and asked about the noise.

“The founder of our sect,” boasted the priest, “had such miraculous powers that he held a brush in his hand on one bank of the river, his attendant held up a paper on the other bank, and the teacher wrote the holy name of Amida through the air. Can you do such a wonderful thing?”

Bankei replied lightly: “Perhaps your master can perform that trick, but that is not the manner of Zen. My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel thirsty I drink.”

Guilt and Forgiveness

During his pilgrimage to Mecca, a holy man was suddenly aware of God’s presence beside him. He fell into a trance, knelt down, hid his face and prayed: ‘Lord, I ask only one thing in my life, that You give me the grace never to offend You.’

 

‘I cannot give you that grace,’ replied the Almighty. Surprised, the man asked why.

  

‘If you never offend me, I will have no reason to forgive you,’ he heard the Lord say. ‘And if I have no need to forgive you, you will soon forget the importance of being merciful to others. Therefore, continue on your way with Love, and allow me to forgive you now and then, so that you do not forget this virtue either.’

 

-By Paulo Coelho

Image: Ali Mansuri

Temple of Silence

Shoichi was a one-eyed teacher of Zen, sparkling with enlightenment. He taught his disciples in Tofuku temple.

Day and night the whole temple stood in silence. There was no sound at all. Even the reciting of sutras was abolished by the teacher. His pupils had nothing to do but meditate.

When the master passed away, an old neighbor heard the ringing of bells and the recitation of sutras. Then she knew Shoichi had gone.

Empty Your Cup

Nan-in, a Japanese monk during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came in search of knowledge about Zen Buddhism.

While Nan-in served tea, the professor commented exercises, analyzed writings, interpreted stories and traditions, and deliberated on the ancient processes of meditation. He did everything to impress his host, in the hopes that he might be accepted as a disciple.

As he spoke, the monk continued to fill his cup, until it overflowed, and tea began to flow across the whole table.

“What are you doing? Can’t you see the cup is full, and that nothing more will fit in it?” asked the professor.

“Your soul is like this cup” replied the master, “How can I teach you the true art of Zen Buddhism, if it is already filled with theories?”

Injustice

When he was small, Cosroes had a teacher who helped him to become an outstanding student in all his subjects. One afternoon, the teacher punished him severely, apparently for no reason. 

Years later, Cosroes acceded to the throne. One of his first actions was to summon his former schoolmaster and demand an explanation for the injustice he had committed.

‘Why did you punish me when I had done nothing wrong?’ he asked. 

‘When I saw how intelligent you were, I knew at once that you would inherit the throne from your father,’ replied his teacher. ‘And so I decided to show you how injustice can mark a man for life. Now that you know that,’ the teacher went on, ‘I hope you will never punish another person without good reason.’

- By Paulo Coelho

Love, Success And Wealth

Outside the house a woman saw 3 old men standing in her front yard. She said, “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”

 “We do not go into a House together,” they replied.

“Why is that?” she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your family which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” He said, “If that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth! We will be happy.”

His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success? If success comes in, we will never have to face failure and we will be happy forever.”

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love and love makes the world a better place!”

“Let us heed our daughter’s advice,” said the husband. And he asked his daughter to go out and invite Love to be the guest.

The daughter went out and asked, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the girl asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him!”

Meaningless Goal

A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. But the dog never succeeded in catching the car. One day a neighbor asked the farmer "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?" The farmer replied, "That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one." Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.

Immortality

The famous Persian poet Rumi tells us that one day, in a village in the north of what is now Iran, there appeared a man who told marvelous stories about a tree whose fruit made whoever ate of it immortal.

The news soon reached the ears of the king, but before he could ask the exact location of such a prodigy of nature, the traveler had already departed.

Nonetheless, the king was determined to become immortal, for he wanted to have enough time to turn his kingdom into an example for all the peoples of the world. When he was a young man he had dreamed of making poverty disappear, teaching justice, feeding every single one of his subjects, but soon realized that this was the work of more than one generation. Still, life had given him a chance and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers. He called the bravest man in his court and entrusted him to find the tree.

The man left the following day carrying enough money to obtain information, food and all that was necessary to attain his objective. He traveled through many towns and over plains and mountains, asking questions and offering rewards. The honest people told him that such a tree did not exist; the cynics treated him with ironic respect, and some crooks sent him off to remote places just to get some coins for their information.

After many disappointments, the man decided to give up his search.

Although he admired his sovereign immensely, he would return empty-handed. He realized that this meant he would lose his honor, but he was tired and convince that such a tree did not exist.

On his way back, on climbing a little hill, he remembered that a wise man lived there, and thought: “I have lost all hope of ever finding what I wanted, but at least I can ask for his blessing and beg him to pray for my destiny.”

On reaching the wise man’s house, he could bear it no more and burst into tears.

"Why are you in such despair, my son?", asked the holy man.

"The king charged me to find a tree that was unique in the world, one whose fruit makes us live forever. I have always fulfilled my duty with loyalty and courage, but this time I am returning home empty-handed."

The wise man began to laugh:

"What you are looking for exists, and it is made of the water of Life that comes from God’s infinite ocean. Your mistake was to try to find a form with a name."

“Sometimes this is called “tree,” other times “sun,” or “cloud,” we can call it anything that exists on the face of the Earth. However, to find this fruit, one must renounce form and seek content."

“Anything that has the presence of the Creation is in itself eternal, nothing can be destroyed.” When our heart stops beating, even so our essence transforms into nature around us. We can become trees, raindrops, plants, or even another human being.

“Why dwell on the word “tree” and forget that we are immortal? We are always reborn in our children, in the love that we show to the world, in each and every gesture of generosity and charity that we practice.”

“Go back and tell the king that he need not worry about finding a fruit from some magic tree. Each attitude and decision that he makes now will endure for many generations. So ask him to be fair and just to his people, and if he does his work with dedication, no-one will ever forget him. His example will influence the history of his people and stimulate his children and grandchildren always to act in the best possible way.”

And he added: “all those who look for just a name will always be stuck to appearance without ever discovering the hidden mystery of things and the miracle of life.”

“All the fighting that goes on is on account of names: property, jealousy, wealth, immortality. But when we forget the name and look for the reality hiding behind the words, we will have all that we desire – and peace of mind too.”

 

By: Paulo Coelho
Image: Aronofsky's The Fountain.