Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung. The other monk asked him, “Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know it’s nature is to sting?” “Because,” the monk replied, “to save it is my nature.”
A student went to her meditation teacher and said, “My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I’m constantly falling asleep. It’s just horrible!” “Is that so? Do not worry, it will pass,” the teacher said unemotionally. A week later, the student came back to her teacher. “My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It’s just wonderful!’ The teacher replied once again, “Is that so? Do not worry, it will pass.”
“Master, I have been contemplating something” said the disciple. “What have you been contemplating?” replied the master. “I have been contemplating who I am” the disciple said softly. “A most worthwhile question disciple Cho, and what is your answer?” “I do not know” said disciple Cho, “and it troubles me.” The master replied “Perhaps I can be of help. There is a scroll in our temple that an ancient master left us. It contains a poem. I shall recite it to you.”
I am the wind on the sea
I am the ocean wave
I am the sound of rustling leaves
I am the dog romping through the grass
I am the hawk on the cliff
I am the dewdrop in sunlight
I am the fairest of flowers
I am the powerful bear.
I am the softest whisper
I am the manta ray in the deepest waters
I am the frozen lake in winter
I am the fire providing warmth
I am the summer rain
Who levels the mountain?
Who speaks the age of the moon?
Who has been where the sun sleeps?
Who, if not I?
For I am one with the universe
“That is beautiful master” said the disciple. “I wish I could be all of that.” The master smiled, “You already are. You need only realize it.”
A Tao master when traveling stopped for the night at a local inn. The proprietor recognized him and asked him: “Is it true honorable one that a man can never be more than a man? If so, why do people crave fame?” The master answered: “If they do so their goal is to become rich.” Yes, but when they have become rich, why do they not stop at that?” inquired the host.
The master said: “They aim is to gain honors.” The host continued “Why then do they not stop when they have got them?” The master smiled and said “On account of their death.” The host paused and said “I do not understand, what can they possibly desire still after their death?” The master replied “They think of their legacy.” “How can their fame be available to their legacy” said the host. “For the sake of fame, they endure all kinds of hardship and mental pain. This fame however is sure to vanish like writing on the sand to which the tides will erase. The ignorant, while seeking to secure and keep their fame, sacrifice reality. By doing so they will have to regret that nothing can rescue them from sickness and death. This realization comes very late or even worse not at all, and people die frightened by what they do not understand.” explained the master. With that, the master retired to his room for the evening.
A large typhoon roared through the village causing much destruction. After the storm, several disciples walked over to the master’s hut to check on him. They found him sitting on the floor. “Master, this is terrible. The roof of your hut has been torn off.” The master smiled and said “Yes, and now I can see the moon much better.”
A disciple once asked the master how he should contemplate the Tao. The master told him “Realize rather than analyze. Seek the way of the Tao. What is the good of theoretical musings and hypothesis that cannot be proven? Does any good come from making vain calculations? The vain man of intellect is uselessly busy in finding out the ‘why and wherefore’ of the Tao, while the humble man of wisdom makes acquaintance with the Tao and enjoys serenity in this world.”
Two hungry men came upon an orange grove. The clever man decided to hop the fence without being seen and snagged his pants on the razor wire and cut his hands and legs trying to get free. No sooner did he enter the orange grove than he began eating as many oranges as he could before the owner caught him. Soon, he felt sick and began vomiting. The other went to the owner, made his acquaintance, and quietly went under an orange tree and began to pluck only enough fruit to satisfy his hunger and eat it with the owner’s consent. Now who is the wiser of the two? The clever man avoided the virtue of honesty and wound up sick and in pain. The honest man stayed true to virtue and asked the owner for permission and enjoyed his fruit leisurely while making a new friend.
One time at a meditation retreat, a master was sitting at a table drinking some tea. A new student came up to him and gushed “Master, I was sitting in meditation all morning and I had a breakthrough. I felt my ego melting away and I sat in a lasting state of rapture as my body sparked with energy and my mind swirled with ecstasy“. The master replied “Very good. Have you cleaned the toilets yet?”
A new disciple was greeted by his master and shown to his hut where he was to meditate and practice. After a while, he noticed some students nearby were talking and laughing and not behaving as they should. He went to see the master and told him about the distractions and asked for the best place where he could deeply cultivate his meditation and practice. The master listened and then drew up a map of a hut he was then supposed to go to. The disciple walked out of the master’s hut and began following the map; through the grounds of the temple and then through the gardens. At last, he came to the hut where he was to go. He looked up and realized; it was the same hut he had complained about! So as Suzuki Roshi once said, you can leave if you want, but there is nowhere else to go.
A young monk was sent to meditate alone in a cave. He mediated for ten years, and developed all kinds of mystical powers, he could fly through the air, he could become invisible, he could dip under the earth, and so-forth. After ten years he returned to his master, and said “Master, see what I have learned.” And then he proceeded to show the master all of his exotic powers. The master frowned and said: “You’ve missed the point. Go back to the cave and start again.”
As to the co-existence of Taoism and Zen, look no further than the words of the great Zen scholar, Professor D.T. Suzuki, who said, "To ask a question about Zen is to ask a question about the Tao."
