Koans

toastie wrote: Not sure if there's anything more romantic than your boyfriend writing you a koan

THE CUTEST THING EVER. OMG. hahaha.

Now I won't be satisfied with simple flowers

toastie wrote: Not sure if there's anything more romantic than your boyfriend writing you a koan

Yes... wrote... not copied-pasted and edited... :silly:

Honesty rises above romance right?

A little wu wei to make up for it?

Great Waves

In the early days of the Meiji era there lived a well-known wrestler called O-nami, Great Waves.

O-nami was immensely strong and knew the art of wrestling. In his private bouts he defeated even his teacher, but in public he was so bashful that his own pupils threw him.

O-nami felt he should go to a Zen master for help. Hakuju, a wandering teacher, was stopping in a little temple nearby, so O-nami went to see him and told him of his trouble.

"Great Waves is your name," the teacher advised, "so stay in this temple tonight. Imagine that you are those billows. You are no longer a wrestler who is afraid. You are those huge waves sweeping everything before them, swallowing all in their path. Do this and you will be the greatest wrestler in the land."

The teacher retired. O-nami sat in meditation trying to imagine himself as waves. He thought of many different things. Then gradually he turned more and more to the feeling of the waves. As the night advanced the waves became larger and larger. They swept away the flowers in their vases. Even the Buddha in the shrine was inundated. Before dawn the temple was nothing but the ebb and flow of an immense sea.

In the morning the teacher found O-nami meditating, a faint smile on his face. He patted the wrestler's shoulder. "Now nothing can disturb you," he said. "You are those waves. You will sweep everything before you."

The same day O-nami entered the wrestling contests and won. After that, no one in Japan was able to defeat him.

Akkarin wrote:

toastie wrote: Not sure if there's anything more romantic than your boyfriend writing you a koan

Yes... wrote... not copied-pasted and edited... :silly:

Honesty rises above romance right?

You ruined everything!

Not Far From Buddhahood (originally posted on this site by Brother John, but I'm sure originated elsewhere)

A university student while visiting the Zen Master Gasan asked him: "Have you even read the Christian Bible?"

"No, read it to me," said Gasan.

The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider and enlightened man."

The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, is shall be opened."

Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood."

It is fun to edit -- and for a poet it is "wu wei" ...



Soldiers of Humanity

Once a division of the U.N. Police Action Forces was engaged in a sham battle, and some of the officers found it necessary to make their headquarters in the Temple of the Jedi Order.

Br. John told his cook: "Let the officers have only the same simple fare we eat."

This made the army men angry, as they wre used to very deferential treatment. One came to Br. John and said: "Who do you think we are? We are soldiers, sacrificing our lives for our country. Why don't you treat us accordingly?"

Br. John answered sternly: "Who do you think we are? We are soldiers of humanity, aiming to save all sentient beings."

toastie wrote:

Akkarin wrote:

toastie wrote: Not sure if there's anything more romantic than your boyfriend writing you a koan

Yes... wrote... not copied-pasted and edited... :silly:

Honesty rises above romance right?

You ruined everything!

Making the rest of us guys look bad, master akkarin. I'm glad my gf doesn't read the forums at this point.

Two for everyone to ponder:

Elephant and Flea

Roshi Kapleau agreed to educate a group of psychoanalysts about Zen. After being introduced to the group by the director of the analytic institute, the Roshi quietly sat down upon a cushion placed on the floor. A student entered, prostrated before the master, and then seated himself on another cushion a few feet away, facing his teacher. "What is Zen?" the student asked. The Roshi produced a banana, peeled it, and started eating. "Is that all? Can't you show me anything else?" the student said. "Come closer, please," the master replied. The student moved in and the Roshi waved the remaining portion of the banana before the student's face. The student prostrated, and left.

A second student rose to address the audience. "Do you all understand?" When there was no response, the student added, "You have just witnessed a first-rate demonstration of Zen. Are there any questions?"

After a long silence, someone spoke up. "Roshi, I am not satisfied with your demonstration. You have shown us something that I am not sure I understand. It must be possible to TELL us what Zen is."

"If you must insist on words," the Roshi replied, "then Zen is an elephant copulating with a flea."



Most Important Teaching

A renowned Zen master said that his greatest teaching was this: Buddha is your own mind. So impressed by how profound this idea was, one monk decided to leave the monastery and retreat to the wilderness to meditate on this insight. There he spent 20 years as a hermit probing the great teaching.

One day he met another monk who was traveling through the forest. Quickly the hermit monk learned that the traveler also had studied under the same Zen master. "Please, tell me what you know of the master's greatest teaching." The traveler's eyes lit up, "Ah, the master has been very clear about this. He says that his greatest teaching is this: Buddha is NOT your own mind."

Midnight Excursion

Many Jedi pupils were studying meditation under the Jedi Knight Wescli. One of them used to arise at night, climb over the temple wall, and go to town on a pleasure jaunt.

Wescli, inspecting the dormitory quarters, found this pupil missing one night and also discovered the high stool he had used to scale the well. Wescli removed the stool and stood there in its place.

When the wanderer returned, not knowing that Wescli was the stool, he put his feet on the master's head and jumped down into the grounds. Discovering what he had done, he was aghast.

Wescli said: "It is very chilly in the early morning. Do be careful not to catch cold yourself."

The pupil never went out at night again.

I hadn't seen this thread before...

This has made my day :laugh:

Alexandre Orion wrote: One afternoon, Wescli was visiting V-tog. “Where is your wooden staff, the one I carved for you?” asked Wescli. V-tog said, “It broke when I hit a student over the head with it.”

Wescli then said, “And where is that candleholder I brought you from Texas ?” V-tog responded, “It broke when I threw it at a lazy student.” Wescli shook his head and said, “There seems to be a problem here with your anger”.

V-tog said, “No, the problem is you keep giving me things that break.”