March 11th, 2008
After winning several archery contests, a young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master, who was renowned for his skill as an archer.
To show off his remarkable proficiency, the young archer hit a distant bull’s eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot. “Now, ” he said to the master, “see if you can match that!” Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather asked the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow’s intentions, the young champion followed him. At last, they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. “Now it is your turn,” he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target.
“You have much skill with your bow,” the master said, sensing his challenger’s predicament, “but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot.”
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March 8th, 2008
Two monks are watching a flag flapping in the wind.
One said: ” The flag is moving!”
The one said: ” No, the wind is moving.”
Master Huineng walked by and heard the conversation. He said to the two monks: ” Neither the flag nor the wind moves, it is your minds which are moving. “
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March 8th, 2008
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”"Like this cup,”
Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
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