Interesting/Inspirational Stories, Proverb and Saying

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

  One day Nasrudin was walking along a deserted road.  Night was
falling as he spied a troop of horsemen coming toward him.  His
imagination began to work, and he feared that they might rob him,
or impress him into the army.  So strong did this fear become that
he leaped over a wall and found himself in a graveyard.  The other
travelers, innocent of any such motive as had been assumed by
Nasrudin, became curious and pursued him.

  When they came upon him lying motionless, one said, "Can we help
you?  And, why are you here in this position?"

  Nasrudin, realizing his mistake said, "It is more complicated
than you assume.  You see, I am here because of you; and you, you
are here because of me."

(I think this is a Sufi story and it's also applicable in Buddhism)

My reaction:
Sometimes our perception on certain issues might be wrong. Thus, don't assume anything.

Originally posted by DARSITA2 at 24-8-2004 07:43 AM:
Dekat mana nak beli buku cerita macam ni?

Thanks
DAR2

Don't need to buy them. I found a lot of them online. You can search using key words such as sufism , zen stories, interesting stories, etc.

A man approached the Blessed One and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before he would practice. In response, the Buddha said, "It is as if a man had been wounded by a ******** arrow and
when attended to by a physician were to say, 'I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who wounded me.' That man would die before having learned all this. In exactly the same way, anyone who should say, 'I will not
follow the teaching of the Blessed One until the Blessed One has explained all the multiform truths of the world'---that person would die before the Buddha had explained all this."

Source: The Teachings of the Buddha by Jack Kornfield

My Reaction:
We should focus more on improving ourselves this moment than asking question that doesn't help us this present time.

Once there was a monk who was an expert on the Diamond Sutra, and as books were very valuable in his day, he carried the only copy in his part of the world on his back. He was widely sought after for his readings and insight into the Diamond Sutra, and very successful at propounding its profundities to not only monks and masters but to the lay people as well.

Thus the people of that region came to know of the Diamond Sutra, and as the monk was traveling on a mountain road, he came upon an old woman selling tea and cakes. The hungry monk would have loved to refresh himself, but alas, he had no money. He told the old woman, "I have upon my back a treasure beyond knowing -- the Diamond Sutra. If you will give me some tea and cakes, I will tell you of this great treasure of knowledge."

The old woman knew something of the Diamond Sutra herself, and proposed her own bargain. She said, "Oh learned monk, if you will answer a simple question, I will give you tea and cakes." To this the monk readily agreed. The woman then said, "When you eat these cakes, are you eating with the mind of the past, the mind of the present or the mind of the future?"

No answer occurred to the monk, so he took the pack from his back and got out the text of the Diamond Sutra, hoping he could find the answer. As he studied and pondered, the day grew late and the old woman packed up her things to go home for the day.

"You are a foolish monk indeed," said the old woman as she left the hungry monk in his quandary. "You eat the tea and cakes with your mouth."

Source: A lighter side of Buddhism

My reaction:
Mindfulness (Aware of everything you do).

AWAKENED ONE
When one's mind in a deluded state,
he will see "buddhas" and "sentient beings".

When one's mind in a deluded state,
he will tightly hold on views and insights.

If one sees that every one and thing are buddhas,
why does he look down and hurt others while they are buddhas like he is?

When one really is in the awakened state,
neither views nor insights are longer needed.

Why did the Buddha call himself a Buddha?
It's very simple: HE IS ALWAYS AWAKE.
He does not hold any views or insights.
He speaks and does nothing to hurt any other.
He only speaks and does things that bring peace.
In him, Perfect Wisdom, Great Compassion, and Humility are one.
This is why he is always the Buddha.


ChonTri

During a great storm at sea a band of terrified pilgrims huddled in a circle around their Zen master as the vessel pitched and the bulkheads groaned.

"We shall all die," lamented one.

"I wish I had been better to my wife and children," moaned another.

"I had hoped to marry after the pilgrimage," said a young woman. "It is your fault, Master; you led us on this vessel and now we will perish with so many regrets and so many blighted futures."

"Look at this," said the patient master. He took two wooden triangles and placed them with just the tips barely touching.

"This bottom triangle is the past. Nothing can bring it back or change it. This top triangle is the future. It is equally futile to predict it. And, this tiny intersecting speck is the present, which changes with each beat of your heart."

"So..?" the pilgrims said.

"So it's useless to agonize over what is gone or pine for what might be. Live now in the only moment of the world available to you."

"What is that?"

"The present."

"How do we do that?"

"Let's eat," said the master.

"Mother, what is water?" asked the baby fish of the mother fish.

"Water is what you swim in. Water is what you're mostly made of."

"But where is it?"

"All around you."

"But I can't see it," said the baby.

"Of course you can."

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

"And I'm made of water?"

"Mostly."

"And after I die..?"

"You go back to being water," said the mother.

"When you look into a mirror you do not see your reflection. Your reflection sees you."
(AP, Internet, 2/25/99)

Arab proverbs: While the word is yet unspoken, you are master of it; when once it is spoken, it is master of you.
(AP Internet, 9/11/97)

One day a man approached Ikkyu and asked: "Master, will please write for me some maxims of the highest wisdom?"

Ikkyu took his brush and wrote: "Attention."
"Is that all?" asked the man.
Ikkyu then wrote: "Attention, Attention."
"Well," said the man, "I really don't see much depth in what you have written."
The Ikkyu wrote the same word three times: "Attention, Attention, Attention."
Half-angered, the man demanded: "What does that word 'Attention' mean, anyway?"
Ikkyu gently responded, Attention means attention."

After Bankei had passed away, a blind man who lived near the master's temple told a friend:
"Since I am blind, I cannot watch a person's face, so I must judge his character by the sound
of his voice. Ordinarily when I hear someone congratulate another upon his happiness or
success, I also hear a secret tone of envy. When condolence is expressed for the misfortune
of another, I hear pleasure and satisfaction, as if the one condoling was really glad there was
something left to gain in his own world.

"In all my experience, however, Bankei's voice was always sincere. Whenever he expressed
happiness, I heard nothing but happiness, and whenever he expressed sorrow, sorrow was all
I heard."

Transient
A famous spiritual teacher came to the front door of the King's palace. None of the guards tried to stop him as he entered and made his way to where the King himself was sitting on his throne.
"What do you want?" asked the King, immediately recognizing the visitor.
"I would like a place to sleep in this inn," replied the teacher.
"But this is not an inn," said the King, "It is my palace."
"May I ask who owned this palace before you?"
"My father. He is dead."
"And who owned it before him?"
"My grandfather. He too is dead."
"And this place where people live for a short time and then move on - did I hear you say that it is NOT an inn?"

Once there lived a drummer near Varanasi. Hearing that a festival was being celebrated in the city of Varanasi, he went there along with his son to play drums before the crowd. Thus, he earned a great deal of money.

On his way back he had to cross a dense forest infested with bandits. His son, however, overjoyed with his earnings kept on playing the drum incessantly. The father, however, cautioned him against the possible attraction of the bandits by the excessive drumming. He instead advised him for the occasional drumming, which could keep the robbers away by thinking that some local chieftain was on a journey along with his armed men.

The son did not listen to the advice of his father and kept on drumming in his joyous mood. Soon the robbers noticed the sound and caught them. They then beat them and ripped them off what they had.

Thus what was gained by the skilful drumming

Was lost by the excessive drumming.

It is therefore said that excessiveness is bad; and restraint is a virtue.

I hope you'll learn something from this.

Kazuo

Originally posted by lyhmsia at 2004-6-22 12:50 PM:
It's sad that a lot of people mixed up Buddhism with Taoism.

so what is the difference?  maybe i'll start a new thread.

DARSITA

ello wiser man ...


tolong baca thread ni: http://forum.cari.com.my/viewthread.php?tid=132254&fpage=1


tq
dar

Craving Creates Suffering

From craving spring grief, from craving springs fear; for him who is wholly free from craving there is no grief, much less fear.
~Buddha, DH.~

Who is the real fool?
The fool who does not admit he is a fool, is a real fool.

And the fool who admits he is a fool is wise to that extent at least.
~Buddha, DH.~

Mind Your Own Business

Once, some woodcutters were cutting a fallen tree trunk. They began splitting the trunk down the middle. To make their work easier, they inserted a wedge between the two parts as they proceeded. As it was almost noon, they decided to take a break, leaving the tree trunk with the wege still in place. Just then a monkey came along. He wanted to know what the wedge was doing there, so he sat astride the trunk, with his tail (and other organs!) hanging between the split trunk. After shaking the wedge vigorously, he succeeded in removing it, but in doing so, the two side of the trunk slammed shut crushing his tail and his other organs an killing him.

Once dwelling in Savatthi, the Buddha extolled the virtue of charity by way of the popular tale, which narrates the traditional account of the mark of the hare on the moon. In one of his pervious births the Bodhisatta was born as a hare in Varanasi. He had three friends - a monkey, a jackal and an otter. Together they resolved to practise charity on the Uposatha day (the day of fast), that was to occur on the following day. In the tradition it was believed that one who stood fast in moral practice and alms-giving on that day would earn a great reward.
Next day, the otter brought seven red fishes abandoned on the bank of the Ganga river. The jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd from somebody抯 house. The monkey brought a bunch of mangoes. All these three were willing to offer their gifts to some beggar as act of charity. But the hare, when browsing the grass, felt that the grass would not be a good item for alms-giving. He, therefore, decided to offer his entire body in charity.
The hare抯 resolve disturbed Lord Sakka (Indra), the king of the deva-s. To examine the hare抯 virtue he came down on the earth in the guise of an ascetic and accosted the hare for food. The hare was delighted, because this provided him an opportunity to exemplify his highest act of sacrifice, which a mortal could ever perform. So, he asked the ascetic to pile the logs of wood and kindle the fire, where he would jump to offer his roasted meat to the latter.
When Sakka caused the heap of burning coals to appear, the hare shook himself thrice lest there were any insect in his fur. Thus, offering his whole body he fell on the heap of the burning twigs.
The fire, however, did not burn him. Impressed with the act, Sakka revealed his identity and applauded the hare抯 virtue. He said `O wise hare! Be thy virtue known through out this whole aeon!

Time to Die

Ikkyu, the Zen master, was very clever even as a boy. His teacher had a precious teacup, a rare antique. Ikkyu happened to break this cup and was greatly perplexed. Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, he held the pieces of the cup behind him. When the master appeared, Ikkyu asked: "Why do people have to die?"

"This is natural," explained the older man. "Everything has to die and has just so long to live."

Ikkyu, producing the shattered cup, added: "It was time for your cup to die."