The Truly Wise Old Monk | A Short Zen Story

A young Zen monk was recognized by his teacher as having experienced an initial breakthrough enlightenment. His teacher then told the young man that, for realizing complete, irreversible enlightenment, he would need to study under a certain wise old master whose small temple was situated in another part of the country. And so the young man set off to meet the old master. After several weeks of travel, he finally arrived at the remote temple.

The sentry told him that all the other monks were working at their daily chores, and sent the young man straightaway to the meditation hall to meet the venerable master.

Entering the meditation hall, the young monk espied an old man doing repeated prostrations to a simple statue of the Buddha, softly chanting the name of Buddha Amida (who saves all sentient beings from suffering).

The young man was shocked. Having realized from his teacher the basic truth that the Self or Buddha-nature is formless openness-emptiness, utterly transcendent and all-pervasive, he was a bit disturbed to see the old man apparently still caught up in such “dualistic” practices—ritually bowing to an idol and chanting with devotion to a mythical Buddha.

And so he came up to the aged monk, introduced himself, and, from his “truly enlightened” perspective, proceeded to lecture the old man on the futility and stupidity of worshiping mere forms. Finally, his brief rant over, he realized that, having traveled such a long way to meet the “master,” he should probably ask the old monk for whatever wisdom he had to share. “So, old man, what can you tell me about full enlightenment?”

In response, the master resumed sincerely bowing in gratitude before the statue of the Buddha, gently invoking the Name of Amida on behalf of all beings….

And, in a flash, the young man fully understood the way of true spirituality.

Enter The Silent Temple | A Short Zen Story

Hainan, PR China

Been looking in to Buddhist culture a lot more since my visit to the Monastery in Hainan. My background has really been a simple Zen approach without chanting sutras and meditation routines. 

It seems that this varies from teacher to teacher and not just from culture to culture. What structure have you in place?

Reminds me of this story.

Shochi was a one-eyed teacher of Zen, sparkling with enlightenment. He taught his disciple 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.

What the master passed away, an old neighbor heard the ringing of bells and the recitation of sutras. Then she knew.

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Buddha's Zen

This Buddha chap was quite a poet. I would love to know the Sutras in Sanskrit where so elegant.

Buddha said:

'I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasure of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot.

I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of, magicians. I discern the highest conception of emancipation as golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated one as flowers appearing in one's eyes.

I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgement of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.'

Little Monk Portrait

This piece took 3 hours in Adobe Illustrator. I added the metropolis-esk landscape just because it felt right at the time. 

No idea what the floppy sleeves are all about. :)

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The Secret to Ryonen's Clear Realization | A Short Zen Story

Check out this wonderful story about Ryonen. And how she gave enough to for-fill her life's quest.

The Buddhist nun known as Ryonen was born in 1797. She was a granddaughter of the famous Japanese warrior Shingen. Her poetical genius and alluring beauty were such that at seventeen she was serving the empress as one of the ladies of the court. Even at such a youthful age fame awaited her.


The beloved emperor died suddenly and Ryonen's hopeful dreams vanished. She became acutely aware of the impermanency of life in this world. I was then that she desired to study Zen.


Her relatives disagreed, however, and practically forced her into marriage. With a promise that she might become a nun after she had borne three children. Ryonen assented. Before she was twenty-five she had accomplished this condition. Then her husband and relatives could no longer dissuade her from her desire. She shaved her had took the name of Ryonen which means to realize clearly, and stated on her pilgrimage. She came to the city of Edo and asked Tetsugyu to accept her as a disciple. At one glance the master rejected her because she was too beautiful.

Ryonen then went to another master, Hakuo. Hakuo refused her for the same reason, saying that her beauty would only make trouble. Ryonen obtained a hot iron and placed it against her face. In a few moments her beauty had vanished forever.

Hakuo then accepted her as a disciple.

Commemorating this occasion. Ryonen wrote a poem on the back of a little mirror:

"In the service of my Empress I burned incense to perfume my exquisite clothes,
Now as a homeless mendicant I burn my face to enter a Zen temple." Ryonen

When Ryonen was about to pass from this world she wrote another poem:

"Sixty-six times have these eyes beheld the changing scene of autumn.
I have had enough about moonlight,
Ask no more.
Only listen to the voice of pines and cedars when no wind stirs." Ryonen

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Warning: Black-Nosed Buddha | A Short Zen Story

A nun who was searching for enlightenment made a statue of Buddha and covered it with gold leaf. Wherever she went she carried this golden Buddha with her.

Years passed and, still carrying her Buddha, the nun came to live in a small temple in a country where there were many Buddha’s, each one with its own particular shrine.

The nun wished to burn incense before her golden Buddha. Not liking the idea of the perfume straying to the others, she devised a funnel through which the smoke would ascend only to her statue. This blackened the nose of the Golden Buddha making it especially ugly.

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Now You Can Have A Beautiful Vision | A Short Zen Story

Hakuun Yasutani declared: “To see a beautiful vision of a celestial Buddha does not mean that you are any nearer to becoming one yourself!”

Now You Can Have A Beautiful Vision