My attempt at a Zen story

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Guy
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Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 4:05 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

My attempt at a Zen story

Post by Guy »

I know this is a Theravada forum but I thought I would share a "Zen" story that I just wrote...
Once upon a time there was a very wealthy young man who had enough money to buy whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. For a long time he was living very happily just doing as he pleased until one day when a poor old man approached him on a busy street.

"Excuse me, young man, do you happen to have the time?"

The young man noticed that the old man had a shiny gold wrist watch on and was puzzled why this old man was asking him for the time. He also wondered how this poor old man living in rags could have afforded such an expensive wrist watch.

"Old man, you have a wrist watch already, and quite a nice one I might add, why would you ask me for the time?" Replied the young man.

"Young man, my eyes don't work as well as they used to, I can no longer see the face of my wrist watch." Said the old man.

In classic Zen-like fashion, the young man became awakened.
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
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Ben
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Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: My attempt at a Zen story

Post by Ben »

Yes, but did he tell the old guy the time?
And what is the time, guy?
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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Guy
Posts: 762
Joined: Fri May 22, 2009 4:05 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: My attempt at a Zen story

Post by Guy »

The time (for Dhamma practice) is now, it was the old man who taught the young man this.
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
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Dan74
Posts: 4529
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:12 pm
Location: Switzerland

Re: My attempt at a Zen story

Post by Dan74 »

I like the story, but I wouldn't say it's a "Zen story" because I think Zen stories are actually extremely direct (that's what makes them hard to understand - they are not conceptual) and this story is kind of oblique.

Still a nice story!

Kind of has more of a Sufi feel to me (like Nasruddin's stories).

_/|\_
_/|\_
8fold
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:01 am

Re: My attempt at a Zen story

Post by 8fold »

I give the story an A+.
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