Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors Why tell a Zen story? Please ReadMe! Frames Version Send a Story to a Friend *** the stories: Banishing a Ghost Bell Teacher Books Christian Buddha Chasing Two Rabbits Cliffhanger Concentration Destiny Dreaming Egotism Elephant and Flea Empty Your Cup Enlightened Full Awareness Gift of Insults Going with the Flow Gutei's Finger Holy Man I Don't Know Is That So? It Will Pass Just Two Words Knowing Fish Learning the Hard Way Masterpiece Maybe The Moon Cannot Be Stolen More Is Not Enough Most Important Teaching Moving Mind The Nature of Things Nature's Beauty No More Questions Not Dead Yet Obsessed Paradise Practice Makes Perfect Present Moment Prosperity Ritual Cat Searching for Buddha Self-Control Sounds of Silence Spider Successor Surprising the Master Tea Combat Tea or Iron Transient True Self Useless Life Wanting God When Tired Without Fear Working Very Hard Do you have a good story to contribute? Do you have a different reaction to a story? Let me know || Incoming Mail and FAQs || Westerners Speak Out on Zen Stories || || About John Suler || About Rider University || *What is This Thing Called Self?* - Kudos - http://www.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/zenstory.html [03-03-28 17:39:26] Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors Why Tell a Zen Story? Once there was an old man who lived at the top of a very high and dangerous precipice. Every morning he would sit at the edge of the cliff and view the surrounding mountains and forest. One day, after he set himself down for his usual meditation, he noticed something shiny at the very bottom of the precipice. Now even though it was very far below him, the old man had keen eyes and could just barely make out what it was. It looked like a rather large, black chest with gold trimmings - just sitting there atop a rock. "Where did it come from? What could be inside it?" the old man thought to himself... Nothing captures our attention quite like a good story. Long before there was television, movies, radio, and even books, people told stories as a way to entertain and educate. Storytelling was as important to prehistoric cave-dwellers eating antelope around a fire as it is to corporate executives doing lunch. It's in our human blood. We love the development of plot and character, the climax, the resolution, the vicarious thrill of living and learning through tales of others sufferings and triumphs. All of literature and media is but an extension of the more basic urge to tell a good story. The advantage of storytelling, though, is that you do it in person - right there, right in front of people, so you get to see, hear, and feel their reactions. Unlike books and television, storytelling is much more interactive and personal. You don't do it alone, unless you're quite psychotic.... but that's another story. This web site is a collection of stories from the Orient, mostly Zen and Taoist tales. Why am I suggesting that you tell these stories to your neighbors? Is it because these are among the oldest stories in human history and have withstood the test of time? Is it because Zen and Taoism are ancient religions offering profound insights into human nature, the cosmos, and spirituality?... Maybe. Or maybe it's just because they are fun to tell. Without a doubt, these stories capture all sorts of truths about life and death. But they are also witty, entertaining, humorous, and at times puzzling, even mind-bending. And they are not just the secret lessons of monks sequestered away in mountain monasteries. The ancient teachers intended these stories to be used by everyone, everywhere. On the train to work, during dinner at a restaurant, leaning over the backyard fence as you talk to your neighbor - all of these situations and more lend themselves to these stories. Once you read and learn a few of them, you will see opportunities to tell them popping up everywhere with your family, friends, and coworkers. Think of these tales as conversation pieces, as handy tools that you can lift out of your pocket to help you and others talk, think, and laugh about the wondrous and mysterious details of this thing we call Life. To help you with your storytelling, I've done a little bit of background work for you. I've collected many people's reactions to these stories. These people include students from the psychology classes I teach, my friends and relatives, and cybernauts who have visited this site. As you will see, people interpret each story in very different ways. That's what makes them so interesting. You may have heard some of these tales before and believe you know what they "mean." But if you read these people's reactions - or tell the stories to your neighbors and hear their reactions - I think you'll be amazed at how these tales strike a different chord in everyone. The stories have many meanings.Talking about those meanings with your friends and family can be a truly educational experience. So read on. Pick out the stories that sound interesting. Read this hypertext book from "cover" to "cover," or at random, or use the links at the bottom of each story to connect to other stories with similar themes. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Pick the method that works best for you. And perhaps, like the old man at the top of the precipice, you will see something surprising. http://www.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/whytell.html [03-03-28 17:39:30] Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors An Important Note to Visitors! I feel a bit like the farmer in the story "Maybe." Recently, the number of visitors to this site has increased tremendously. A good thing?... Maybe. On the one hand, I am delighted that people like the site and I welcome your e-mail in which you describe your reactions to the stories. On the other hand, I am sometimes overwhelmed by how much mail I am getting. It's the old Yin and Yang of it all. To help me, please indicate the name of the story in the title of your email in which you offer your ideas about a story. As I mention in the FAQs, these web pages look great on my Mac computer system, but may not display well on your system . For example, the blue background creates problems for some people. If you have any problems, let me know - though I can't promise that I'll be able to remedy it. It's very hard for me to fix what I can't see. And besides, you can please some computers all of the time, and all computers some of the time, but you can't please all computers all of the time. Some people report that they don't like seeing other people's responses to the stories. I understand that they prefer to form their own impressions without being spoiled by what others think. Nevertheless, I've decided to include those responses.... I like them, and that's one feature of this site that makes it unique. - John Suler http://www.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/readme.html [03-03-28 17:39:34] Zen Stories to tell Your Neighbors Why tell a Zen Story? Please Readme Why Tell a Zen Story? Turn off Frames the stories: Banishing a Ghost Once there was an old man who lived at the top of a very high and dangerous precipice. Every Bell Teacher morning he would sit at the edge of the cliff and Books view the surrounding mountains and forest. One Christian Buddha day, after he set himself down for his usual Chasing Two Rabbits meditation, he noticed something shiny at the very Cliffhanger bottom of the precipice. Now even though it was Concentration very far below him, the old man had keen eyes Destiny and could just barely make out what it was. It Dreaming looked like a rather large, black chest with gold trimmings - just sitting there atop a rock. "Where Egotism did it come from? What could be inside it?" the Elephant and Flea old man thought to himself... Empty Your Cup Full Awareness Enlightened Nothing captures our Full Awareness attention quite like a good Gift of Insults story. Long before there Going with the Flow was television, movies, Gutei's Finger radio, and even books, people told stories as a Holy Man way to entertain and I Don't Know educate. Storytelling was Is That So? as important to prehistoric It Will Pass cave-dwellers eating antelope around a fire as it is to corporate Just Two Words executives doing lunch. It's in our human blood. We love the Knowing Fish development of plot and character, the climax, the resolution, Learning the Hard Way the vicarious thrill of living and learning through tales of others Masterpiece sufferings and triumphs. All of literature and media is but an extension of the more basic urge to tell a good story. The Maybe advantage of storytelling, though, is that you do it in person - The Moon Cannot Be right there, right in front of people, so you get to see, hear, and Stolen feel their reactions. Unlike books and television, storytelling is More Is Not Enough much more interactive and personal. You don't do it alone, Most Important unless you're quite psychotic.... but that's another story. Teaching Moving Mind This web site is a collection of stories from the Orient, mostly The Nature of Things Zen and Taoist tales.