Zen Tales
There is a wonderful tradition in Zen Buddhism of using tales to illustrate Buddhist principles. Sometimes these merely record the history of a particular community and teachers. Other times they employ humor, shock, and the unexplained to jolt the reader out of their usual expectations of religion. In this they are less a didactive teaching tool, and more of an experience that makes the reader aware of their own stupidity and ignorance.
I first read these in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, a collection of perhaps the best of these tales. One of my favorite of these tales is called ‘The Other Side’
One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, “Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river”?
The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, “My son, you are on the other side”.
We are collecting links to our favorite Zen tales here. If you have a favorite, send us a link.
You can get the complete Zen Flesh, Zen Bones book at Amazon.
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