Zen is a school of Buddhism that originated in China . The word Zen means meditation. Zen teachings emphasize the value of meditation and intuition rather than ritual worship or study of scriptures. It offers a method of self-searching .
Zen stories are great lessons for life. The lesson can be anything about life which can be discovered through a life devoted to looking within yourself.
Zen lesson about ‘Time’
Gasan , a japanese Zen master instructed his pupils one day ” Those who speak about killing and who desire to save the lives of all conscious beings are right . It is good to protect animals and insects . But what about those who are killing time ? Furthermore , what about the one who preaches without enlightenment ? Isn’t he killing Budhism ?”
The story teaches us the value of time . Time is wealth and once it is gone , you can’t bring it back . So one should make the best use of Time . Begin Today .
Zen lesson about ‘Temper’
A student went to his Zen master and complained ” Master , I have an uncontrollable anger . How can I control it ?”
“Let me see what you have ” asked the master
“I can’t show it to you right now ” replied the student
“Then when can you show it to me ” asked the master
“Actually it arises unexpectedly” the student said
“Then , it must not be your true nature . If it were you could show it to me at any time . Just think it over”
The story reminds us that our true nature is not what we are living today . We are busy in comparison , hatred , jealousy , anger and materialism. But our true nature is love . We need to rethink and purify ourselves .
Zen lesson about ‘Prosperity’
A rich man asked his Zen master Sengai to write something for the prosperity of the family so that it can be treasured from generation to generation.
Sengai took a paper and wrote ” Father dies , son dies , grandson dies “
The rich man became angry “I asked you to write about happiness of my family and you are making fun of it ?”
Sengai explained ” I am not making any fun . If your son dies before you yourself , this would grieve you badly . If your grandson dies before your son , it would be such a big loss . But if your family , generation after generation passes away in the order I have named , I call this prosperity .”
The story teaches us that everything is perishable . It’s a natural course of life that old flowers die and new blossom .
Zen lesson about ‘Habits’
A horse suddenly came galloping quickly down the road. It seemed as though the man had somewhere important to go.
Another man, who was standing alongside the road, shouted, “Where are you going?” and the man on the horse replied,
“I don’t know! Ask the horse!”
The horse in this story symbolizes our habit energy. The story explains the way we usually live, at the mercy of our old habit energies . The horse is pulling us along, making us run here and there. If you don’t want the habit horse to gallop your life , start making changes in your habits .
I was participating in #BlogchatterA2Z 2019 and my theme was:
#Prerna-Inspire yourself
This is the last post as my effort in spreading inspiration around .
For other posts under #Prerna go here
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