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Zen Parable
A Zen parable ... A man came home late one night and as he was approaching his gate he accidently dropped his key on the ground where it was lost in darkness. He walked up to the door and found th...
Heaven and Hell
Zen Parable
A great and powerful warrior came to the head monk of a monastery. He asked the monk to show him the difference between heaven and hell. The monk sneered at the monk and said, "One as arrogant and...
No Questions, No Conflict
Zen Parable
Upon meeting a Zen master at a social event, a psychiatrist decided to ask him a question that had been on his mind. "Exactly how do you help people?" he inquired. "I get them where they ca...
True Love
Zen Parable
Two brothers worked together on the family farm. One was married and had a large family. The other was single. At the day's end, the brothers shared everything equally, produce and profit. Then o...
Trees Don't Compare
Zen Parable
A samurai, a very proud warrior, came to see a Zen Master one day. The samurai was very famous, but looking at the beauty of the Master and the grace of the moment, he suddenly felt inferior. He sa...
The River Of Silence
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Death, whether our own or others, can be a powerful gateway to complete tenderness. The confrontation with the impermanence of all things is perhaps the widest gate to liberation from suffering. Facin...
Sweeping My Heart
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
For me, a dark-skinned person of African descent, cleaning the temple as Zen practice felt inappropriate and uncomfortable when I was at the beginning of my training. When you are an older black woman...
Nothing Left to Fight Against
Zenkei Blanche Hartman
During the Vietnam War, I was a political activist. I fought for peace. There was some contradiction. There wasn’t any peace in me. I hated the people who disagreed with ...
The False Duality Between "Job" And "Service"
Zilong Wang
Around the time when I set off for Asia in July, two of my dearest friends/teachers both went from full-time volunteer work to taking full-time jobs. Their decision to return to the "system"...