No Objective World
Once, there was a monk who specialised in the Buddhist precepts, and he kept to them all his life. Once, when he was walking at night, he stepped on something. It made a squishing sound, and he imagined he had stepped on an egg-bearing frog.
This caused him no end of alarm and regret, in view of the Buddhist precept against taking life, and when he finally went to sleep that night he dreamed that hundreds of frogs came demanding his life.
The monk was terribly upset, but when morning came he looked and found that what he stepped on was an overripe eggplant. At that moment his feeling of uncertainty suddenly stopped, and for the first time he realized the meaning of the saying that “there is no objective world.” Then he finally knew how to practice Zen.
Four people were given a piece of money.
The first was a Persian. He said: 'I will buy with this some angur.'
The second was an Arab. He said: 'No, because I want inab.'
The third was Turk. He said: 'I do not want inab, I want uzum.'
The fourth was a Greek. He said: 'I want stafil.'
Because they did not know what lay behind the names of things, these four started to fight.
They had information but no knowledge.
One man of wisdom present could have reconciled them all, saying: 'I can fulfil the needs of all of you, with one and the same piece of money. If you honestly give me your trust, your one coin will become as four; and four at odds will become as one united.'
Such a man would know that each in his own language wanted the same thing, grapes.
Sufi Jalal-Uddin Rumi
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves.
“One is evil — he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
“The other is good — he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
“This same fight is going on inside you — and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
“Which wolf will win?”
The old chief simply replied,
“The one you feed.”
A withered tree trunk stood by the road. A thief passed by at night and was frightened: he thought it was a policeman waiting for him. A young man in love passed by and his heart beat joyfully: he mistook the tree for his beloved. A child, frightened by scary fairy tales, saw the tree and cried: he thought it was a ghost. But in all cases, the tree was only a tree.
We see the world as we see ourselves.
Hindu parable
Bodhidharma was once asked, ‘What is the difference between the life of a great sage and the ordinary life of an ordinary man?’ .
Bodhidharma replied, ‘It is like the autumn web. Some mistake it for vapour, but in reality it is a spider's web floating in the air. An average person sees a sage and considers his life as ordinary as his own, while an enlightened person sees something holy in the life of an average person.’
- One can learn by looking at any thing,’ the Rabbi of Sadigor told his Hasidim.
- Everything in this world exists to instruct us. Not only what the Blessed One has created, but also what people have made, teaches a person.
- What does the railway teach us,’ asked a Hasid with doubt, ’what does it teach us?
- That if you are a moment late, you can miss everything.
- And the telegraph?
- That every word is accounted for.
- And the telephone?
- That they hear everything we say here.
Hasidic parable
A traveler passed a stone quarry and saw three men working. He asked each man: ‘What are you doing here?
The first man stopping and wiping his sweat and replied tiredly, " I am carrying stones".
The same question was put to the second.
He replied: - "I earn money to buy food for my family".
The third man, hearing the same question, smiled and replied:
- I am building a Temple!
