Zen Stories

80.The Real Miracle
When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed in salvation through the repetition of the name of the Buddha of Love, was jealous of his large audience and wanted to debate with him.

Bankei was in the midst of a talk when the priest appeared but the fellow made such a disturbance that Bankei stopped his discourse and asked about the noise.

‘The founder of our sect,' boasted the priest, ‘had such miraculous powers that he held a brush in his hand on one bank of the river, his attendant held up a paper on the other bank, and the teacher wrote the holy name of Amida through the air. Can you do such a wonderful thing?'

Bankei replied lightly: 'Perhaps your fox can perform that trick, but that is not the manner of Zen. My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel thirsty I drink.'

80. Just Go to Sleep
Gasan was sitting at the bedside of Tekisui three days before his teacher's passing. Tekisui had already chosen him as his successor. A temple recently had burned and Gasan was busy rebuilding the structure.

Tekisui asked him: 'What are you going to do when you get the temple rebuilt?'
'When your sickness is over we want you to speak there,’ said Gasan.

'Suppose I do not live until then?'
‘Then we will get someone else,' replied Gasan.

Suppose you cannot find anyone?' continued Tekisui.
Gasan answered loudly: 'Don't ask such foolish questions. Just go to sleep.'

82. Nothing Exists
Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.'

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry. 'If nothing exists,' inquired Dokuon, 'where did this anger come from?'

83. No Work, No Food
Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labor with his pupils even at the age of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds, and pruning the trees.

The pupils felt sorry to see the old teacher working so hard, but they knew he would not listen to their advice to stop, so they hid away his tools.

That day the master did not eat. The next day he did not eat, nor the next. 'He may be angry because we have hidden his tools,' the pupils surmised. 'We had better put than back.'

The day they did, the teacher worked and ate the same as before. In the evening he instructed them: 'No work no food.'

84. True Friends
A long time ago in China there were two friends, one who played the harp skillfully and one who listened skillfully. When the one played or sang about a mountain, the other would say: 'I can see the mountain before us.'

When the one played about water, the listener would exclaim: 'Here is the running stream!' But the listener fell sick and died. The first friend cut the strings of his harp and never played again. Since that time the cutting of harp strings has always been a sign of intimate friendship.