Chinese Æsop:

THE THREE WOES OF MEN

2012-01-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

There was in India a Sakya king, his name was Suddhodana or Pure-Rice. He loved his son Siddhattha, was anxious to see his son happy.

The palace which the king had given to the prince was resplendent with all the luxuries of India. All sorrowful sights, all misery, and all knowledge of misery were kept away from Siddhattha, for the king desired that no troubles should come nigh him; he should not know that there was evil in the world.

But as the chained elephant longs for the wilds of the jungles, so the prince was eager to see the world, and he asked his father, the king, for permission to do so.

And Suddhodana ordered a jewel-fronted chariot with four stately horses to be held ready, and commanded the roads to be adorned where his son would pass.

The houses of the city were decorated with curtains and banners, and spectators arranged themselves on either side, eagerly gazing at the heir to the throne. Thus Siddhattha rode with Channa, his charioteer, through the streets of the city, and into a country watered by rivulets and covered with pleasant trees.

There by the wayside they met an old man with bent frame, wrinkled face and sorrowful brow, and the prince asked the charioteer: "Who is this? His head is white, his eyes are bleared, and his body is withered. He can barely support himself on his staff."

The charioteer, much embarrassed, hardly dared speak the truth. He said: "These are the symptoms of old age. This same man was once a suckling child, and as a youth full of sportive life; but now, as years have passed away, his beauty is gone and the strength of his life is wasted."

Siddhattha was greatly affected by the words of the charioteer, and he sighed because of the pain of old age. "What joy or pleasure can men take," he thought to himself, "when they know they must soon wither and pine away!"

And lo! while they were passing on, a sick man appeared on the way-side, gasping for breath, his body disfigured, convulsed and groaning with pain.

The prince asked his charioteer: "What kind of man is this?" And the charioteer replied and said: "This man is sick. The four elements of his body are confused and out of order. We are all subject to such conditions: the poor and the rich, the ignorant and the wise, all creatures that have bodies, are liable to the same calamity."

And Siddhattha was still more moved. All pleasures appeared stale to him, and he loathed the joys of life.

The charioteer sped the horses on to escape the dreary sight, when suddenly they were stopped in their fiery course.

Four persons passed by, carrying a corpse; and the prince, shuddering at the sight of a lifeless body, asked the charioteer: "What is this they carry? There are streamers and flower garlands; but the men that follow are overwhelmed with grief!"

The charioteer replied: "This is a dead man: his body is stark; his life is gone; his thoughts are still; his family and the friends who loved him now carry the corpse to the grave."

And the prince was full of awe and terror: "Is this the only dead man," he asked, "or does the world contain other instances?"

With a heavy heart the charioteer replied: "All over the world it is the same. He who begins life must end it. There is no escape from death."

With bated breath and stammering accents the prince exclaimed: "O worldly men! How fatal is your delusion! Inevitably your body will crumble to dust, yet carelessly, unheedingly, ye live on."

The charioteer observing the deep impression these sad sights had made on the prince, turned his horses and drove back to the city.

When they passed by the palaces of the nobility, Kisā Gotamī, a young princess and niece of the king, saw Siddhattha in his manliness and beauty, and, observing the thoughtfulness of his countenance, said: "Happy the father that begot thee, happy the mother that nursed thee, happy the wife that calls husband this lord so glorious."

The prince hearing this greeting, said: "Happy are they that have found deliverance. Longing for peace of mind, I shall seek the bliss of Nirvāna."

Then asked Kisā Gotamī: "How is Nirvāna attained?" The prince paused, and to him whose mind was estranged from wrong the answer came: "When the fire of lust is gone out, then Nirvāna is gained; when the fires of hatred and delusion are gone out, then Nirvāna is gained; when the troubles of mind, arising from blind credulity, and all other evils have ceased, then Nirvāna is gained!" Siddhattha handed her his precious pearl necklace as a reward for the instruction she had given him, and having returned home looked with disdain upon the treasures of his palace.

His wife welcomed him and entreated him to tell her the cause of his grief. He said: "I see everywhere the impression of change; therefore, my heart is heavy. Men grow old, sicken, and die. That is enough to take away the zest of life."

The king, his father, hearing that the prince had become estranged from pleasure, was greatly overcome with sorrow and like a sword it pierced his heart.

---- THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA, BY PAUL CARUS

The caravan leader

2011-12-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Kāsi, the Bodhisatta was born in a merchant's family; and when he grew up, he went about trafficking with five hundred carts.

One day he arrived at a sandy desert many leagues across. The sand in that desert was so fine that when taken in the closed fist it could not be kept in the hand. After the sun had risen it became as hot as a mass of burning embers, so that no man could walk on it. Those, therefore, who had to travel over it took wood, and water, and oil, and rice in their carts, and traveled during the night. And at daybreak they formed an encampment and spread an awning over it, and, taking their meals early, they passed the day lying in the shade. At sunset they supped, and when the ground had become cool they yoked their oxen and went on. The traveling was like a voyage over the sea: a desert-pilot had to be chosen, and he brought the caravan safe to the other side by his knowledge of the stars.

Thus the merchant of our story traversed the desert. And when he had passed over fifty-nine leagues he thought, "Now, in one more night we shall get out of the sand," and after supper he directed the wagons to be yoked, and so set out. The pilot had cushions arranged on the foremost cart and lay down, looking at the stars and directing the men where to drive. But worn out by want of rest during the long march, he fell asleep, and did not perceive that the oxen had turned round and taken the same road by which they had come.

The oxen went on the whole night through. Towards dawn the pilot woke up, and, observing the stars, called out: "Stop the wagons, stop the wagons!" The day broke just as they stopped and were drawing up the carts in a line. Then the men cried out: "Why this is the very encampment we left yesterday! We have but little wood left and our water is all gone! We are lost!" And unyoking the oxen and spreading the canopy over their heads, they lay down in despondency, each one under his wagon. But the Bodhisatta said to himself, "If I lose heart, all these will perish," and walked about while the morning was yet cool. On seeing a tuft of kusa-grass, he thought: "This could have grown only by soaking up some water which must be beneath it."

And he made them bring a spade and dig in that spot. And they dug sixty cubits deep. And when they had got thus far, the spade of the diggers struck on a rock; and as soon as it struck, they all gave up in despair. But the Bodhisatta thought, "There must be water under that rock," and descending into the well he got upon the stone, and stooping down applied his ear to it and tested the sound of it. He heard the sound of water gurgling beneath, and when he got out he called his page. "My lad, if thou givest up now, we shall all be lost. Do not lose heart. Take this iron hammer, and go down into the pit, and give the rock a good blow."

The lad obeyed, and though they all stood by in despair, he went down full of determination and struck at the stone. The rock split in two and fell below, so that it no longer blocked the stream, and water rose till its depth from the bottom to the brim of the well was equal to the height of a palm-tree. And they all drank of the water, and bathed in it. Then they cooked rice and ate it, and fed their oxen with it. And when the sun set, they put a flag in the well, and went to the place appointed. There they sold their merchandise at a good profit and returned safely to their home.

----The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient Records by Paul Carus

The Cruel Crane and the Lobster

2011-12-13T03:59:00.000-08:00

There was a crane who lived near a pond, and when the dry season set in he said to the fishes with a bland voice: 'Are you not anxious for your future welfare? There is at present very little water and still less food in this pond. What will you do should the whole pond become dry, in this drought?'

'Yes, indeed' said the fishes, 'what should we do?'

"Replied the crane: 'I know a fine, large lake, which never becomes dry. Would you not like me to carry you there in my beak?' When the fishes began to distrust the honesty of the crane, he proposed to have one of them sent over to the lake to see it; and a big carp at last decided to take the risk for the sake of the others, and the crane carried him to a beautiful lake and brought him back in safety. Then all doubt vanished, and the fishes gained confidence in the crane, and now the crane took them one by one out of the pond and devoured them on a big varana-tree.

"There was also a lobster in the pond, and when it listed the crane to eat him too, he said: 'I have taken all the fishes away and put them in a fine, large lake. Come along. I shall take thee, too!'

'But how wilt thou hold me to carry me along?' asked the lobster.

'I shall take hold of thee with my beak,' said the crane.

'Thou wilt let me fall if thou carry me like that. I will not go with thee!' replied the lobster.

'Thou needst not fear,' rejoined the crane; 'I shall hold thee quite tight all the way.'

"Then said the lobster to himself: 'If this crane once gets hold of a fish, he will certainly never let him go in a lake! Now if he should really put me into the lake it would be splendid; but if he does not, then I will cut his throat and kill him!' So he said to the crane: 'Look here, friend, thou wilt not be able to hold me tight enough; but we lobsters have a famous grip. If thou wilt let me catch hold of thee round the neck with my claws, I shall be glad to go with thee.'

"The crane did not see that the lobster was trying to outwit him, and agreed. So the lobster caught hold of his neck with his claws as securely as with a pair of blacksmith's pincers, and called out: 'Ready, ready, go!'

"The crane took him and showed him the lake, and then turned off toward the varana-tree. 'My dear uncle!' cried the lobster, 'The lake lies that way, but thou art taking me this other way.'

"Answered the crane: 'Thinkest thou so? Am I thy dear uncle? Thou meanest me to understand, I suppose, that I am thy slave, who has to lift thee up and carry thee about with him, where thou pleasest! Now cast thine eye upon that heap of fish-bones at the root of yonder varana-tree. Just as I have eaten those fish, every one of them, just so will I devour thee also!'

'Ah! those fishes got eaten through their own stupidity,' answered the lobster, 'but I am not going to let thee kill me. On the contrary, it is thou that I am going to destroy. For thou, in thy folly, hast not seen that I have outwitted thee. If we die, we both die together; for I will cut off this head of thine and cast it to the ground!' So saying, he gave the crane's neck a pinch with his claws as with a vise.

"Then gasping, and with tears trickling from his eyes, and trembling with the fear of death, the crane besought the lobster, saying: 'O, my Lord! Indeed I did not intend to eat thee. Grant me my life!'

'Very well! fly down and put me into the lake,' replied the lobster.

"And the crane turned round and stepped down into the lake, to place the lobster on the mud at its edge. Then the lobster cut the crane's neck through as clean as one would cut a lotus-stalk with a hunting-knife, and then entered the water!"

-- The Gospel of Buddha, Compiled from Ancient Records by Paul Carus

How a Chinese General fight back the invasion of Tibetan

2011-12-02T03:17:00.001-08:00

A story of Guo ziyi [郭子仪, pronounce 'Go tsey', 697-781 AD].

In 963, As soon as the Tibetan heard of the death of the Tang Emperor Su Zong, they began their march with a formidable army, and advanced with incredible expedition; the irruption was not perceived, till they arrived on the frontiers of the empire. The governors of the Great Pass Da Zhen, of Lan zhou, and of all the countries in the District to the west of Yellow River were surprised, and forced to surrender; and the news arrived at court only by some fugitives. At first the minister could hardly believe the report, yet as it was prudent to take some precautions, he ordered the most skillful General Officer Guo Ziyi who was then at court, to set out at the head of 3000 horse to learn the truth. General Guo was scarcely arrived at Xian yang, a Town near the Court, when he received information that the enemy's army, consisting of 300,000 men, was expected there that day; he immediately dispatched a courier to the minister, praying him to send succours, without which it was impossible for him to make head against the Tibetan, who were ready to fall upon the Capital Chang-an where the Emperor resided.

The minister took no notice of this message; in the mean time, the generals of the enemy's army, who knew the country, were no sooner arrived at Xian yang, but they detached a considerable body of troops to get possession of a bridge which was upon the river. Next day the rest of the army arrive there in good order.

The Emperor, who till then had not been acquainted with the danger, was so surprised with this sudden news, that he abandoned his palace and fled. The Grandees of the Court, the Officers, and people all followed his example.

So that the victorious army entered the palaces of the Emperors and Princes without resistance, where they found immense riches, which they plundered, after which they set them on fire, and at the same time fired several parts of the town.

Guo ziyi was retired with his 3000 horsemen to join the troops, who in the first surprise fled out of Chang-an, and by the means of this union saw himself soon at the head of 40,000 men.

But Guo's army was small and not in good shape by comparison with the great army of Tibet, in order to supply by policy what he wanted in strength, he had recourse to the following stratagem: he ordered a detachment of horse, commanded by one of his best officers, to go and encamp upon the neighbouring hills, to range them in one line, so make a terrible noise of drums, and every night to make great fires in different places within view of the enemy.

This artifice succeeded: The Tibetan were afraid of being surrounded and overpowered by the united forces of the whole Empire, commanded, as they well knew, by a General of great skill and bravery; therefore they turned to the west, and blocked up the town Fong Jiang.

Malin, who commanded in this district, came to the relief of the place, and having forced a body of the enemies army, and killed above a thousand men, he threw himself into the town. As soon as he was entered, he set open all the gates, to let the enemy see he did not fear them. This extraordinary conduct astonished the Tibetan, and confirmed their former suspicions, and they no longer doubted but, that there was some ambuscade to surprise them. On the other hand, said they, this Governor seems not to value his life, it would cost us too dear to make ourselves masters of the town, and as we are weakened already by the fatigues we have undergone, could we stand the shock of an army, perhaps more numerous than our own, and composed of fresh troops? Upon this they resolved to retire, contented with the booty they had gained; and by their retreat they gave the Chinese time to repair the Capital of Chan-an, to which the Emperor returned some months after he had fled from it in such a shameful manner.

Songtsen gampo and Princess Wencheng

2011-11-24T10:47:00.001-08:00

In the seventh Century, Ki tson Long tsang was a very powerful King of the Tou fan. He have had webbed hands and feet, a deformed face and odd skin. He took the throne when he was only thirteen after his father was poisoned by the rebells. The book The Holder of the White Lotus says that he was the reincarnation of the Avalokiteshvara Buddha, of whom the Dalai Lama are similarly believed to be the reincarnation.

Ki tson possessed a vast tract of land. He had even several little tributary kings, to whom he sent patents and golden seals. He was desirous to contract an alliance with China, in the Time of the Emperor Tai tsong of the Dynasty of Tang, one of the greatest Princes that ever enjoyed this monarchy. He sent him a celebrated embassy, with huge presents which include a golden Goose, seven feet high. Tai tsong was pleased with this politeness, and the ambassadors were received and dismissed with the greatest marks of honour and distinction.

Ki tson upon this Encouragement sent a second embassy, to demand a Princess of the Imperial Family for himself. The Emperor's Council thought this a very bold proposition, and rejected it with scorn, without deigning to take it into consideration.

Then Ki Tson came at the Head of 200,000 men to demand the Princess, and having defeated several tributary princes of China who opposed his passage, he penetrated to the frontiers of the Province of Chensi, where the Emperor then kept his Court. The Imperial Council depended on the resistance of there Princes, because a numerous army could pass no other Way. After these first actions of his victorious army, Long tsang sent one of his officers with a proud and haughty letter to the Emperor of Tang; he demanded that the Princess should be immediately given him, with a certain quantity of gold, silver and silks, which was due, as he said, to a spouse of an Imperial Princess, who came to receive her in person with so much pomp and magnificence. The Emperor being offended at this demand, sent orders immediately to assemble the troops on the frontiers; and to give them time for it, he amused the envoy with great hopes, by treating and giving him every day new entertainments. But as soon as he heard that the army was ready to march, he shamefully dismissed the envoy, without giving him an answer to the letter of the King his Master.

The General set out at the same time, and immediately after he arrived at the army, he attacked the army of Long tsang, and gained the victory. The loss was not so great on the Prince's part, but that he found himself in a condition to give his enemy some uneasiness after he had rallied his men. Therefore as he promised to retire if the Princess was sent to him with an equipage suitable to her dignity, the Emperor's Council was of opinion that he should give his consent.

The Princess Wen Cheng was conducted in a pompous manner, and after the ceremonies of the wedding Long tsang retired, and became a faithful ally. He was even of service to the Empire on several occasions; the principal was, when the General Alena usurped a tributary Kingdom of China. Long tsang assisted the Emperor's general with all his forces, he fought himself in person, and had a great share in the victory by killing the rebel Alena.

The Alcoholic

2011-11-16T14:09:00.001-08:00

There was once a man who was too fond of the bottle, he placed some liquor alongside his bed, to be drunk during the night.

On stretching out his hand to reach the flask, he was seized by a demon, and dragged gradually into the earth. In response to his shrieks, his relatives and neighbours only arrived in time to see the ground close over his head, just as though he had fallen into water.

Horror Inn

2011-11-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

Four travellers arrived by night at an inn, but could obtain no other accommodation than a room in which was lying the corpse of the landlord's daughter-in-law.

Three of the four were soon snoring; the fourth, however, remained awake, and very soon heard a creaking of the trestles on which was the dead body dressed out in paper robes, ready for burial. To his horror he saw the girl get up, and go and breathe on his companions; so by the time she came to him he had his head tucked well under the bedclothes.

After a little while he kicked one of the others; but finding that his friend did not move, he suddenly grabbed his own trousers and made a bolt for the door. In a moment the corpse was up and after him, following him down the street, and gaining gradually on him, no one coming to the rescue in spite of his loud shrieks as he ran. So he slipped behind a tree, and dodged right and left, the infuriated corpse also dodging right and left, and making violent efforts to get him. At length, the girl made a rush forward with one arm on each side, in the hope of thus grabbing her victim. The traveller, however, fell backwards and escaped her clutch, while she remained rigidly embracing the tree.

By and by he was found senseless on the ground; and the corpse was removed from the tree, but with great difficulty, as the fingers were buried in the bark so deep that the nails were not even visible. The other three travellers were found dead in their beds.

How to extort the confession of a prisoner

2011-11-15T14:02:00.001-08:00

A magistrate, who after several hearings had failed to discover, among a gang accused of murder, what was essential to the completion of the case, namely, the actual hand which struck the fatal blow, notified the prisoners that he was about to invoke the assistance of the spirits, with a view to elicit the truth.

Accordingly, he caused the accused men, dressed in the black clothes of criminals, to be led into a large barn, and arranged around it, face to the wall. Having then told them that an accusing angel would shortly come among them, and mark the back of the guilty man, he went outside and had the door shut, and the place darkened.

After a short interval, when the door was thrown open, and the men were summoned to come forth, it was seen directly that one of the number had a white mark on his back. This man, in order to make all secure, had turned his back to the wall, not knowing, what the magistrate well knew, that the wall had been newly white-washed.

(THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA, by Herbert A. Giles)

A Woman Who Never Smiled

2011-11-14T12:52:00.001-08:00

There was once a woman who never smiled. Her name was Bao Si and she was a concubine to King You of the Western Zhou dynasty, which flourished in China after 1000 BCE. The King neglected the affairs of government for the sake of the company of this beautiful but melancholy concubine. He wanted so much to see her smile that he scoured the kingdom for entertainers and performing animals; not a flicker of amusement crossed her face.

One day, Bao Si was watching her maids doing needle-works, one of the maids accidentally torn apart a piece of silk, King You noticed a twitch of her lips and a flicker of smile on her face, and asked if she like the sound of tearing silks. Bao Si said she loved the sound of rent silk. Then the King immediately ordered that many thousands of fine pieces of silk were torn to shreds to gratify her whim. But this couldn't make laugh either.

The king offered a thousand ounces of gold to any one who would make her laugh; whereupon his chief minister suggested that the beacon-fires of wolves' dung should be lighted to summon the feudal nobles with their armies and other inhabitants to arms, as though the royal house were in danger.

The King ordered to try this trick at once. The beacon-fire was ignited, a signal of emergency. Troops poured into the capital in battle array, only to be stopped short and told that the fire had been lit by accident. At this Bao Si smiled; in fact, she began to laugh. The Chief Minister was rewarded thousand oounces of gold.

Keen to repeat his success, the king had bonfires lit over and over again, for in the hurry-skurry that ensued the impassive girl positively laughed outright each time.

Later on, when a real attack was made upon the capital by barbarian hordes, and the beacon-fires were again lighted, this time in stern reality, there was no response from the insulted nobles. The king was killed, and his concubine strangled herself.

How a Knave Buddhist Monk Solicits Alms

2011-11-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

This story was told by Le Comte, the French Missionary in China.

A Bonzee begging alms

I met one day (says my author), in a certain village, with a young bonze of an engaging appearance, and very likely to speed in collecting alms; he stood upright in a close chair pointed thick in the inside with sharp nails, so that he could not stir without wounding himself; two men hired for the purpose carried him with much gravity into the houses, where he besought the people to have compassion on him.

I am, said he, shut up in this chair for the good of your souls, and am resolved never to go out 'till all the nails are purchased, [they were above 2000] they are but sixpence each, and not one of them but will draw down extraordinary blessings upon your houses; for I am not now soliciting for the bonzes, who may expect your charity on other occasions, but for the god Föe himself, to whose honour we are about to build a temple.

I then passed near him, (proceeds my author,) and as soon as the bonze saw me, he made me the same compliment as to the rest: I told him he was very unhappy to give himself such useless torment, and advised him to leave his prison, and go to the temple of the true God to be instructed in divine truth, and to submit to a penance less severe and more salutary.

He replied, without the least emotion, that he was obliged to me for my counsel, but his obligation would be greater, if I would buy a dozen of his nails, which would certainly procure me a fortunate journey.

Here, said he, turning himself on one side, take these which upon the faith of a bonze are the best in my chair, because they give me the least pain, however they are all of the same price.

He pronounced these words (adds Le Comte) with an air and action, which might have provoked my risibility, had not the consideration of his wretched blindness rather excited my compassion.

Why a Buddhist want to become a Christian

2011-11-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Le Comte, a French missionary, related this story from his own knowledge:

The circle of Reincarnation

I was called, one day to baptize a sick person, an old man of seventy, who lived upon a small pension allowed him by the emperor. When I entered his room, he said, I am obliged to you, my father, that you are going to deliver me from a heavy punishment.

That is not all, replied I, baptism not only delivers persons from hell, but initiates them into a state of blessedness.

I do not comprehend, answered the sick man, what it is you say, and perhaps I have not sufficiently explained myself; I must inform you, that for some time I have subsisted on the emperor's bounty, and the bonzes (Buddhist Monks), who are particularly acquainted with what passes in the next world, have assured me, that out of gratitude I shall be obliged to serve him after death, and that my soul will infallibly pass into a post horse to carry dispatches out of the provinces to Court; accordingly they exhort me to perform my duty well in this new capacity, not to stumble, nor wince, nor bite, nor hurt any body, and at the same time to eat little and be patient, in order by these means to excite the compassion of the deities, who often convert a good beast into a man of quality, and make him a considerable mandarin. I own, father, said he, that the thought of this makes me shudder, I dream of it every night, and some-times fancy myself harnessed and ready to start at the first stroke of the whip; I then awake in a violent sweat, and am hardly able to determine whether I am a man or a horse; but alas! what will be the case when I am a horse in reality? This then, my father, is the resolution I am come to. I am told that those of your religion are not subject to these miseries, that they continue to be men in the next world, as they are in this; I therefore beseech you to admit me among you; for though I am told your religion is severe, I am resolved, notwithstanding to embrace it, since at any rate I had rather be a Christian than become a beast.

I could not help pitying, says Le Comte, this discourse of the sick man, but reflecting that God makes use every of simplicity and ignorance to lead men to the truth, I took occasion to undeceive him of his errors, and to direct him in the way of salvation; I gave him instructions a long time, and at length (says he) he believed, and I had the consolation to see him die, not only with the most rational sentiments, but with all the marks of a good Christian.

Buddhist Monk Hanshan

[Buddhist believes reincarnation, that human soul may pass into beasts or into human again after death. You may reborn into a better family with good fortune or poorer family to endure hardship according the merits of this life. A story has been widely retold that Buddhist Monk Hanshan, one day passed by a layman's wedding, he saw the bride was a reincarnation of his grandmother, those drinking and feasting guest at the table were reincarnations of his former beasts, and the pork and mutton in the cooking pot was his former families and relatives. Buddhists also believe Eighteen levels of hell and Western Heaven, which are similar as those in Christian Religion. I suspect this sick old man must be a bad in the eyes of those bonzes. Even if he was baptized into a Christian, he might not be guaranteed to go to heaven at the last day of judgement. -- I am only joking!]

Buddha and Confucius

2011-11-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Buddha was born in a part of the India near Bengal, his father was king of the country, and his mother, who died soon after his birth, dreamt upon conceiving him, that she had swallowed a white elephant.

As soon as he was brought into the world, he sprang upon his feet and walked seven paces, pointing with one hand to the heavens and wish the other to the earth, pronouncing distinctly the following words, There is none but myself in heaven or on earth that ought to be adored.

At the age of seventeen he married three wives, whom at nineteen he forsook together with all worldly cares, and withdrew into a solitary place where he put himself under the guidance of four philosophers called by the Indians Joghi; at thirty he was wholly inspired by the divinity, and commenced Fo or Pagod; he then applied himself with much zeal to propagate his doctrine, and performed many wonderful things which served to strike the people with dread, and procure great veneration to himself.

Confucius was born about the year 551, was almost contemporary with Buddha. Confucius was often heard to repeat these words, Si fang yeou ching gin, the meaning of which is, that in the West the Most Holy was to be found.

Confucius, Shakyamuni, and Lao tzu

Five hundred years later, it is recorded that Ming-ti the fifteenth emperor of the family of Han, was so struck with this declaration, and the image of a man who appeared to him in his sleep, that he sent two of his grandees towards the West, whence the vision seemed to have come, with orders not to return before they had found this Holy Person, whom heaven had given him some knowledge of, and till they had learned the doctrine which he taught.

The messengers, endured with the dangers and fatigues of the journey, at last arrived in the place where is the present Afghanistan. They met a Buddhist Monk and learned the doctrine, came back with many Sutra and some pagoda on a white horse. The Han Emperor received them with great respect, built a great temple to store these books. This temple was hence named White Horse Temple, which is still preserved in Si´an till today. That´s how Buddhism has been spread it throughout the empire.

The story of Chopsticks

2011-09-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

When the first English Seaman set his foot on the beach of the Yangtze River near Shanghai, he saw some Chinese fisherman having their lunch. Those fishermen invited him to join in, and gave him a bowl of boiled rice and a pair of bamboo sticks, and they shared a pot of chicken stew.

When the English seaman was watching interestingly how those Chinese fishermen pick up rice and chicken from the pot using a pair of bamboo sticks. Those fishermen waved their chopsticks, saying: "Chop, Chop. "(Eat, eat!) Then they showed him how to pluck chicken meat off the bone by the chopsticks. What they meant actually was to encourage the seaman to start eating, but the English seaman mistook it as the name of bamboo sticks. So he wrote in his sea diary: Chinese don't eat with forks and knives, they use chopsticks instead!

That's how this English word chopsticks has been invented. Actually, the Chinese word for Chopsticks was "Zhu", which sounds similar to the word "stop", so it became a taboo among the superstitious fishermen on the ship. They wish their boat sailing quickly, so they call chopsticks "Kuai", which means "quick". As such "Kuai zi" eventually replaced the original word "zhu".

Ying C Compestine invented a story for the origin of chopsticks in her book, and said "all Chinese people ate with their hands", and she gives credit for the invention of chopsticks to a hungry boy named "Kuai zi", who "pulled two sticks from the kindling pile and used them to spear chunks of hot food."

I wonder why Mrs. Compestine invents this story which is neither witty nor humorous, nor lacks of culture meaning. Actually, why do we need a human brain to use a stick to fish out food from a hot pot? The world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, Dr. Goodall observed that even a chimpanzee can use thin sticks to fish termites out of a termite mound, and they even use sticks to measure the depth of water and as "walking sticks" to support their posture when crossing.

Western people don't know how to use chopsticks, because they have been evolved too far away from their ancestor, and totally forgot how Adam and Eve ate with a pair of sticks, for there is no records in the Bible. But Chinese people continue to use chopsticks generation after generation, and they decorate the chopsticks with delicate calligraphy, pictures of dragons and phoenixes, and images of Chinese opera and landscapes. We use different materials such as wood, bamboo, silver, gold and ivory. We turn chopsticks into wonderful artworks, a pair of chopsticks are not only just eating tools, but also collectible art which bears five thousand years of culture and history.

It's said that the tyrant King Chou of Shang dynasty first ordered his craftsman to make chopsticks out of ivory, but we now know that there are no elephants around the Yellow River basin in the North China. Archeologists develops a theory of climate change on Central Kingdom, where once was a very warm area such as India. But most of the historians belive that the ivories which King Chou used had been tributed by nations from the south.

Ancient forensic also used silver needle to detect poisons such as arsenic, so it's wide spread belief that that silver chopsticks can detect poison for they may turn their silver colour into black when they came in contact with poisonous food. The fact was that the arsenic was not pure due to poor refinery technology, which contains traces of sulphur or sulphide which can produce a layer of silver suphide by chemical reaction, so that change the colour of silver.

Chopsticks is also a lethal weapon as deadly as knives and forks in the hands of Chinese kungfu master. I am not kidding, and it's one of real hidden weapons, and even more difficult to defense because the kungfu master don't have to take out flying darts, he simply shoots out his chopsticks while he's feasting with his enemy. A normal bamboo chopstick can penetrate a metal washing basin, you can imagine how it may happen when it hit human flesh!

We all know that you can easily break one chopsticks, but it's quite difficult to break a bunch of chopsticks. This is so called "unity is strength", and this story has been handed down generation after generation. Once upon a time, an ancient King who had twenty sons, every one of them has one merit or another, but they always fought against each other. One day, the King was lying in his deathbed, he summoned all his sons to his room, and gave one chopstick each, and ordered them to break it. The sons did easily. Then he gave them each a bunch of chopsticks, and again asked them to break it. But the sons found it was very difficult to do so, almost impossible. The King looked at them meaningfully, and breathed his last. The princes understood what their father was trying to teach them, and they stopped fighting each other, and worked together to create a powerful dynasty.

Unending Story

2011-09-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was a temple, and in the temple there was an old monk and a little monk. One day, the old monk said to the little monk: 'I tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was a temple, and in the temple there's an old monk and a little monk. One day, the old monk said to the little monk: 'I tell you a story...'

THE PEOPLE OF TAO-CHOU

2011-08-13T03:18:00.001-07:00

In Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), in the land of Tao-chou (now in county Tao in Hunan Province), many of the people are dwarfs; The tallest of them never grow to more than three feet. They were sold in the market as dwarf slaves and yearly sent to Court; Described as "an offering of natural products from the land of Tao-chou."

That custom of tribute dwarfish slave to the court has been in existence before Tang dynasty, and the local governor made a great profit of it, but the people suffered great, because that parted men from those they loved, never to meet again! Old men — weeping for their grandsons ; mothers for their children !

One day — Yang Ch'eng came to govern the land as the governor; He refused to send up dwarf slaves in spite of incessant mandates. He replied to the Emperor, "All people of Tao-chou are short, I don't which to chose and send to the court," and he also quoted from the ancient Sacred Books, and said, " Your servant finds in the Six Canonical Books ' In offering products, one must offer what is there, and not what isn't there ' On the waters and lands of Tao-chou, among all the things that live I only find dwarfish people ; no dwarfish slaves."

The Emperor's heart was deeply moved and he sealed and sent a scroll "The yearly tribute of dwarfish slaves is henceforth annulled."

The people of Tao-chou, old ones and young ones, how great their joy! Father with son and brother with brother henceforward kept together; From that day for ever more they lived as free men. The people of Tao-chou still enjoyed the great gift of their governor. When they speak of the Governor. tears start to their eyes. And lest their children and their children's children should forget the Governor's name, when boys are born the syllable "Yang" is often used in their forename.

The people of Tao-chou also set up temples to remember Yang-cheng, and called him the God of Happiness, which was of the three gods: -- the god of fortune, the god of longevity and the god of happiness.

Three son-in-laws

2011-08-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

There was once a Chang family, three daughters were all very beautiful and filial, but unfortunately all their husbands had little ailments. The eldest son-in-law had leprosy body, the second had scalp disease, and the third had red eyes disease. Though the affected places were different, they were all itchy scratchy.

Three son-in-laws met together, it was quite a spectacular scene. They just couldn’t keep themselves still, especially during the feast, they couldn’t sit still and eat a proper meal, scratching, rubbing or wiggling, until their father was so disgusted and totally lost appetite.

Another Chinese New Year festival, according to the customs, their daughters and son-in-laws came to pay visit on the Second Day in the First Moon. They were drinking, eating, merry-making, everything went well except that their father couldn’t tolerate their never stopping scratch, so he warned them that nobody would scratch at the dinner, or else they had to leave, and never allowed to enter his door. Three son-in-laws promised they would have good table manner.

They went into the dinner hall, which had the large door and windows opening to the garden and over garden were a green hill covered all kinds of woods and vagitations. They sat at the Eight-Immortal tables, all kinds of delicacies were put on the table. After several urging and declining that were according to the ancient propriety rules, they started to eat, and soon they began to wiggle, gradually they seemed couldn’t bear any longer, but they had promised their father not to scratch. At last, the eldest son-in-law had an idea. He lifted up his head and watched out of the windows, exclaiming: “Look, there is a deer over there!”

They all looked out of the window, but nobody saw any deer. They asked simultaneously, “Where?”

“It’s over the hill, behind the big pine tree! See, the deer with beautiful spots all over her body,” he started to rub his body, arms and legs, “and on his arms and legs too!”

Immediately the second son-in-law took the hint, and said, “Oh, yeah, I see. Let’s catch it. I will hit his head like this,” he patted his head several times, fiercely hard, you can see dust and dandruff dropping off on the table and flying into the dishes.

The third son-in-law was a bit slow, but at that time he knew what was going on, and said, “If I catch him, I will scoop out his eyes like this!” He rubbed his eyes with both point fingers.

Woodcutter and the Silver Cave

2011-08-02T04:01:00.001-07:00

There was once a woodcutter named Chang, he went to the South Mountain every day to cut wood, and burn charcoal. His father was a charcoal seller, he started to cut wood and burn charcoal with his father when he was a boy, now his hair had turn to grey, his face stained with dust and ashes, his ten fingers are black. He transport charcoal in an ox-drawn cart and sold in the market for the price of a silver coin, which was just enough to clothe his limbs and put food in his mouth. Although he worked very hard, he was still very poor.

One morning, he took a break as usual; he sat down under a huge pine tree beside a spring, ate his stale bread, drank water from the spring, and sighed: “Oh, the Spirit of the South Mountain, why I work so hard, I am still very poor. Is it my fate? ” Just then he noticed a hole in the precipice behind the pine tree, a beautiful golden bird standing at the edge of the entrance, look left and right cautiously, then flew away.

“That was a strange bird I have ever seen,” he said to himself, “I wonder if I could find some eggs in its nest.”

He climbed up the precipice, and put his hands in the hole. There were no eggs, but he could felt something that seemed like metal. He grabbed it out, and looked, it was a silver coin! He put his hand inside the hole again, hoped to find another one, but nothing more.

The next day, he went there cut wood as usual, and tried his luck again at the morning break. To his surprise, he found another silver coin! And the same thing happened the day after that.

“I can only earn a silver coin everyday at my best.” The woodcutter thought, now I needn’t to cut wood anymore.

So he went to the mountain every day, and got his silver coin, and felt very happy. But soon he was not satisfied by only one coin a day. “I wish I could get more silver coins a day instead of one, I would blow up the hole, and find more treasure at one, and need not come here every day, “ he thought, “and then I could buy a house, and become rich.”

So the next day he brought a chisel, a hammer, and some dynamite. He made a bigger hold in the precipice, and stuffed the hole with dynamite, light it, and “bang!” He blew down the precipice. What would you expect the ending? Did he find nothing, not even one silver coin, just like the man who owned the golden goose in Aesop’s tale? No! The wood cutter found a huge silver mine!

Wang Yang-ming

2011-06-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wang Yang-ming (王陽明)was born in the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Ch'eng Hua(1472, 明宪宗成化八年), in the ninth month and the thirtieth day, having been carried by his mother for fourteen months. His father’s mother, named Ts’en, in a dream saw a spiritman clothed in dark red silk decorated with precious stones, playing and drumming in the clouds as he brought the child. When she awoke the child was already crying. His grandfather accordingly called him Yün (雲cloud) and the neighbors called the place Auspicious Cloud Loft(瑞雲樓).
Early life

In the twelfth year of Ch’eng Hua, at the age of five, he was still unable to speak. A passing Buddhist priest beholding him said, "A good child, but unfortunately his name has been made known." Influenced thereby, his grandfather changed his name to Shou-jen(守仁), and forthwith he was able to speak. The boy often secretly repeated the contents of his grandfather s books. When his surprised grandfather asked him how this was possible, he said, "I remembered what I heard you read. In the seventeenth year of Ch eng Hua, when he was ten, his father became a Chinshih (進士).

When the boy was eleven his father went to the capital, Peking, to be an official, and the grandfather, who accompanied him, took Yang-ming along. When they passed Chinshan, near Chinkiang, the grandfather and a friend were writing a poem. As they did not finish it, Yang-ming helped with four sentences. The friend, greatly astonished, gave the boy the subject, "The Mountain Hides the Moon," and forthwith the child gave a verse, which is published in his writings.

The next year he was studying in the capital city. One day when walking on the Ch’angan Street with some companions, he met a fortune teller, who said, "I will tell your fortune. When your beard reaches your collar, you will enter the realm of the sage ; when it reaches your diaphragm, your knowledge will have begun; and when it reaches your abdomen, your knowledge will be complete." Wang was profoundly influenced by these words, and when he returned to school asked his teacher, "What is the most important thing in life?" The teacher said, "Study to become a Chinshih. " Yang-ming replied. "Perhaps not. Study to become a sage: that is the first and the greatest occupation.

When he was thirteen, his mother died. In the twenty- second year of Ch’eng Hua, when he was fifteen, a rebel lion occurred in the capital, led by Shih Ying and Wang Lung, and another in the province of Shansi, led by Shih Ho-shang and Liu Ch’ien-chin. At that time Yang-ming lived at Chüyungtuan and learned to ride horseback and to use the bow and arrow. He also asked the barbarous tribes there how they protected themselves against their enemies. At this occupation he spent a month before re turning. In a dream he visited the temple of General Ma Yüan and while there wrote a poem, which is published in his works. Deploring the condition of the times, he wished to present a memorial to the throne, but his father refused to allow it.

Marriage

In the first year of Hung Chih, 4 the Teacher (Wang Yang-ming) was seventeen years of age. In the seventh month of that year he went to Hungtu, where he married a woman named Chu, the daughter of a state counselor. 5 The day the betrothal presents were sent he happened to enter a temple called T’iehchukung, and seeing a Taoist priest sitting with crossed legs, greeted him and sat down opposite him. As he forgot to return, his wife’s father sent men in search of him, but failed to find him. He did not return until the next day.

In the yamen y there were a number of boxes of paper which he soon used up. for he wrote daily and his knowledge of writing characters rapidly increased. He frequently said, "When I first wrote characters, I followed the ancient models carefully and got merely the form of the letters. Afterwards I added thought to my effort and kept the shape of the characters in mind. In that way after a long time I succeeded in understanding the method. This continued until I had read the elder philosopher Ch’eng who said, When I write characters I am very reverent. It is not that I wish to write well, but because reverence itself is knowledge. Then I said, Since he did not wish the writing to be excellent, why did he learn to write? However, I see this, that the ancients at all times and in all things learned from the mind itself. If the mind is dis criminating and clear, skill in the writing of characters will be included." Later, when he spoke of philosophy to his students, he often referred to this.

Zen Master Rinzai

2011-06-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Rinzai was born in Caozhou, and his master was Obaku, who was born in Fujian, in the Tang dynasty. Obaku taught wisdom with his fists.

Once, Obaku happened to be in the chapel prostrating himself before an image of Buddha. The Emperor, who thought he had learnt the lesson of Zen idealism, said to him: “There is nothing to be got from Buddha, nothing from the Church, nothing from Man; for nothing exists. What do you mean by praying at your age? ”

Obaku answered him: “I seek nothing of Buddha, the Church, or of Man. I am in the habit of praying.” The Emperor said: “What do you do it for?” Obaku lost patience and struck him with his fist. “You rude fellow,” cried the Emperor. “Since nothing exists, what difference does it make to you whether I am rude or polite?” and Obaku struck him again. The Emperor retreated hastily.

Once the novice Rinzai came to Obaku and asked him what was the fundamental idea of Buddhism, Obaku hit him three times with his stick. Rinzai fled and presently met the monk Daigu.

Daigu: Where do you come from?

Rinzai: From Obaku.

Daigu: And what stanza did he lecture upon?

Rinzai: I asked him thrice what the fundamental doctrine of Buddhism was and each time he hit me with his stick. Please tell me if I did something I ought not to have done?

Daigu : You go to Obaku and torture him by your questions, and then ask if you have done wrong !

At that moment Rinzai had a Great Enlightenment.

Rinzai inherits his master’s mantle and alms bowl, and he also uses striking to teach his disciples.

Once Rinzai saw a monk coming and held his fly whisk straight up. The monk made a low bow, whereupon the Master struck him a blow. The Master saw another monk coming and again held his fly whisk straight up. The monk paid no attention, whereupon the Master struck him a blow as well.
Rinzai carry his master’s teaching method a step further, he not only uses striking but also roaring to his students, in order to bring about moment of enlightenment. He abuses Buddha and scolds all Patriarchs of Zen. He said Buddha is filth in the latrine, and Bodhi (knowledge or enlightenment) and nirvana are hitching posts for donkeys.
He deliberately destructs all obstacles on the way to enlightenment, even include Buddha himself. He said: “Followers of the Way, if you want to get the kind of understanding that accords with the Dharma never be misled by others. Whether you're facing inward or facing outward, whatever you meet up with, just kill it! If you meet a Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch. If you meet an Arhat, kill the Arhat. If you meet your parents, kill your parents. If you meet your kinfolk, kill your kinfolk. Then for the first time you will gain emancipation, will not be entangled with things, and will pass freely anywhere you wish to go.”

Rinzai often shouted meaningless syllables at his disciples; roared like a lion or bellowed like a bull. This "howling" became a regular part of Zen practice, although nowadays, people may think all Zen masters are bullies.

Upon his deathbed Rinzai summoned his disciples round him and asked which of them felt capable of carrying on his work. Sansho volunteered to do so. "How will you tell people what was Rinzai's teaching? " asked Rinzai. Sansho threw out his chest and roared in a manner which he thought would gratify the master. But Rinzai groaned and cried out, “To think that such a blind donkey should undertake to hand on my teaching!”

Zen Master Baso

2011-06-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Baso was a Zen master of the ninth century. One day he was sitting with his feet across the garden-path.

A monk came along with a wheel-barrow. "Tuck in your feet," said the monk.

"What has been extended cannot be retracted," answered Baso.

" What has been started cannot be stopped," cried the monk and pushed the barrow over Baso's feet.

The master hobbled to the monastery and seizing an axe called out " Have any of you seen the rascal who hurt my feet? "

The monk who had pushed the barrow then came out and stood "with craned head."

The master laid down his axe.

(The wheelbarrow is here a symbol of the Wheel of Life and Death.)

The Sixth Patriarch of Zen: Eno

2011-06-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

The first Patriarch of Zen was Bodhidharma, who passed his mantle and alms bowl to the Second Zen Master Shen Guang(神光), then to Seng Can(僧璨)、Dao Xin (道信), Konin ( 弘忍), and then the to the Sixth Zen Master Eno(慧能)。

Eno lived in the seventh century A.D. He lost his parents when he was young and earned his living by gathering firewood. One day when he was in the marketplace he heard someone reading the Diamond Sutra. He asked where such books were to be had and was told “From Master Konin on the Yellow Plum-blossom Hill." Accordingly he went to Konin's Monastery in Anhui and presented himself before the Master. "Where do you come from?" "From the South." "Bah! In the South they have not Buddha in their souls." "North and South," replied Eno, “are human distinctions that Buddha knows nothing of."

Konin accepted him as a lay-brother and put him to pound rice in the bakery.

Konin was growing old and wished to choose his successor. He therefore instituted a poetical competition in which each monk was to epitomise in a quatrain the essence of Zen. The favourite candidate was the warden Shinshu, who sent in the following verses:

The body is the trunk of the Bodhi-tree;
The mind is the bright mirror’s stand;
Scrub your mirror continually,
Lest the dust eclipse its brightness.

Eno, as a lay-brother, was not qualified to compete. Someone told him of Shinshu's quatrain. “Mine would be very different," he exclaimed, and persuaded one of the boys employed in the bakery to go stealthily by night and inscribe the following poem on the monastery-wall:

Bodhi is not a tree;
The Mirror has no stand;
Since nothing exists.
How could dust rise and cover it?

The authorship of the poem was discovered and the abbot Konin visited Eno in the bakery. “Is your rice white or no?" he asked. "White?" answered Eno, "it has not yet been sifted." Thereupon the abbot struck three times on the rice-mortar with his staff and departed. Eno understood his meaning. That night at the third watch he came to Konin's cell and was invested with the abbot's mantle, thereby becoming the Sixth Patriarch of the Zen Church. He died in 712 a.d., without having learned how to read or write.

Bodhidharma: The First Patriarch of the Zen

2011-06-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

Once when Buddha was preaching, he plucked a flower and smiled. Among his thousands of followers, only the disciple Kashyapa understood the significance of this act. Between him and the Buddha there passed a wordless communication of Absolute Truths. This communication was silently passed on by Kashyapa to his disciple, and so ultimately to Bodhidharma, who brought it to China.

Bodhidharma was the younger son of an Southern Indian Prince. He arrived at Canton in the year 520 A.D.

The reigning Emperor of China was a munificent patron of Buddhism. He had built monasteries, given alms, distributed scriptures, and defended the faith. Hearing that a Buddhist prince had arrived from India he summoned him at once to his Capital. The following conversation took place in the Palace at Nanking:

Emperor: What are you, who have come before my Throne?

Bodhidharma: I do not know.

Emperor: You will be interested to hear that I have built many monasteries, distributed scriptures, given alms, and upheld the Faith. Have I not indeed acquired merit?

Bodhidharma: None at all.

Emperor: In what then does true merit consist?

Bodhidharma: In the obliteration of Matter through Absolute Knowledge, not by external acts.

Emperor: Which is the Divine and Primal Aspect of Reality?

Bodhidharma: Reality has no aspect that is divine.

The Emperor could make nothing of him. Monasticism, a huge vested interest, decried him, and after a short stay in Nanking he started northward, towards the Capital of the Wei Tartars, who then ruled over a large part of China. The Wei Emperor, like his Chinese confrere, was also a great patron of Buddhism, and he, too, desired an interview with the Indian priest. But Bodhidharma had done with Emperors, and settled in a small country temple, where he lived till his death nine years later. According to the legends, Boddhidarma sat with his face to the wall in silence for nine years in the Shorin Monastery on Mount Sung. Some say that he tried to visit the Capital of the Weis, but was prevented by the intrigues of the monks there.

He left behind him a few short tractates, the substance of which is as follows:

There is no such person as Buddha. Buddha is simply a Sanskrit word meaning “initiate." The Absolute is immanent in every man's heart. This "treasure of the heart" is the only Buddha that exists. It is no use seeking Buddha outside your own nature. Prayer, scripture-reading, fasting, the observance of monastic rules -- all are useless. Those who seek Buddha do not find him You may know by heart all the Sutras of the twelve divisions, and yet be unable to escape from the Wheel of Life and Death. One thing alone avails -- to discover the unreality of the World by contemplating the Absolute which is at the root of one's own nature.

Someone asked him: “Why may we not worship the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? “He answered:

Ogres and hobgoblins can at will assume the outward form of Bodhisattvas; such are heretical and not of the true Buddha. There is no Buddha but your own thoughts. Buddha is the Way. The Way is Zen. This word Zen cannot be understood even of the wise. Zen means ' for a man to behold his fundamental nature.' "

The highest truths cannot be written down or taught by speech. A man who cannot write a word, can yet contemplate his own heart and become wise. Knowledge of 1,000 Sutras and 10,000 Shastras cannot help him to realise the Absolute within him.

He was asked: “Can a layman with wife and children, one given over to the lusts of the flesh, achieve Buddhahood?”

He answered:“Provided he contemplates his own inner-nature, he will achieve Buddhahood. It does not matter about his lusts. Even a butcher can achieve Buddhahood, if he searches in his own heart."

“What," cried his listeners, "a butcher, who lives by taking life, and he achieve Buddhahood?" The master replied:

"It is not a question of the man's trade. If he has learnt to know his own nature he will be saved.

“I have come from India only to teach you that Buddha is Thought. I care nothing for monastic rules or ascetic practices. As for walking on water or through fire, climbing sword-wheels, fasting, sitting upright for hours without rest -- all such practices are heretical; they belong to the World of Being.

"Thought, Thought, Thought! It is hard to seek. Expanding, it covers the whole world ; shrinking, it is too small to lodge a pin.

“I seek the heart ; I do not seek Buddha. For I have learnt to know that the outer world is empty and untenanted."

Such was the teaching of Bodhidharma. Yet though his whole teaching turned on this “meditation” or “Zen," he left behind him no exact directions for the practice of it. Having shown the end, he left it to each individual to find his own means.Rules, dogmas and definitions were precisely what he set out to destroy. (ARTHUR WALEY)

How Tzu Lu met a recluse

2011-06-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Once when Tzu Lu was following the Master on a journey he happened to fall behind. Meeting an old man carrying a basket on his staff, Tzu Lu asked him, "Have you seen my Master, sir?" "You," said the old man, "whose four limbs know not toil, and who cannot distinguish the five grains, who may your Master be? " With that he planted his staff in the ground and commenced weeding.

Tzu Lu joined his hands together in salutation and stood waiting.

The old man kept Tzu Lu for the night, killed a fowl, prepared millet, and gave him to eat, introducing also his two sons.

Next morning Tzu Lu went his way and reported his adventure; "He is a recluse," said the Master, and sent Tzu Lu back again to see him, but on his arrival the old man had gone.

Whereupon Tzu Lu said to the sons: "It is not right to refuse to serve one's country. If the regulations between old and young in family life may not be set aside, how is it that he sets aside the duty that exists between a Prince and his ministers? In his desire to maintain his own personal purity, he subverts one of the main principles of society. A wise man in what ever office he occupies, fulfils its proper duties, even though he is well aware that right principles have ceased to make progress."

How to recommend a friend to a job

2011-05-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ch'in Hsi recommended Pa Li Hsi to Duke Mu who, however, did not pay attention to it.

Then Ch'in Hsi went out of the front door, bowed down his head, and knocked it on the ground, so that it broke to pieces, and died.

This affected Duke Mu so deeply, that he took Po Li Hsi into his service.

The meaning of this story is that a worthy in recommending a good man did not spare his own life, knocking his head on the ground, that it broke, and died, all with the object to further his friend.

Li Kuang Shoots Tiger

2011-05-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a remarkable archer, Hsiung Ch'u Tse of Ch'ü, he could shoot at an weeping willows leaf a hundred steps away, with a hundred shots he hit it a hundred times.

One night, he went back home from a feast, a bit drunk. In the dark he saw a stone lying on the ground, which he took for a crouching tiger. He grasped his bow, and shot at it. The arrow disappeared up to the feathers.

The next morning, he came back to the spot where he shot the tiger, intending to take back his trophy. To his surprise, there was no tiger there rather than a stone. Out of fright the arrow was shot with such a force, that it entered deep into the stone!

Some said that the archer was actually Yang Yu Chi of Ch'u State, others speak of Li Kuang, who was a general of Han dynasty. Instead of a tiger, some speak of a rhinoceros, anyway, both being fierce animals, it amounts to the same.