Buddhist Stories

Weychin SG

'The 12th century master Geshe Ben was renowned for his goodness and integrity.
Once, while begging for alms, a family of devout Buddhists invited him to their home to be fed. He was so hungry that he found it difficult to wait while his hosts were elsewhere preparing the meal. To his complete shock he found himself stealing food from a jar when no-one was looking. Geshe Ben suddenly burst into loud cries of "Thief! Thief! I've caught you red-handed."
His hosts rushed into the room to find him berating himself and threatening his hand with being cut off it ever behaved like that again.'

Weychin SG

The Golden Plate
[Greed and Honesty]

Once upon a time in a place called Seri, there were two salesmen of pots and pans and hand-made trinkets. They agreed to divide the town between them. They also said that after one had gone through his area, it was all right for the other to try and sell where the first had already been.

One day, while one of them was coming down a street, a poor little girl saw him and asked her grandmother to buy her a bracelet. The old grandmother replied, "How can we poor people buy bracelets?" The little girl said, "Since we don't have any money, we can give our black sooty old plate." The old woman agreed to give it a try, so she invited the dealer inside.

The salesman saw that these people were very poor and innocent, so he didn't want to waste his time with them. Even though the old woman pleaded with him, he said he had no bracelet that she could afford to buy. Then she asked, "We have an old plate that is useless to us, can we trade it for a bracelet?" The man took it and, while examining it, happened to scratch the bottom of it. To his surprise, he saw that underneath the black soot, it was a golden plate! But he didn't let on that he had noticed it. Instead he decided to deceive these poor people so he could get the plate for next to nothing. He said, "This is not worth even one bracelet. There's no value in this. I don't want it!" He left, thinking he would return later when they would accept even less for the plate.

Weychin SG

Meanwhile the other salesman, after finishing in his part of town, followed after the first as they had agreed. He ended up at the same house. Again the poor little girl begged her grandmother to trade the old plate for a bracelet. The woman saw that this was a nice tender looking merchant and thought, "He's a good man, not like the rough-talking first salesman." So she invited him in and offered to trade the same black sooty old plate for one bracelet. When he examined it, he too saw that it was pure gold under the grime. He said to the old woman, "All my goods and all my money together are not worth as much as this rich golden plate!"

Of course the woman was shocked at this discovery, but now she knew that he was indeed a good and honest fellow. So she said she would be glad to accept whatever he could trade for it. The salesman said, "I'll give you all my pots and pans and trinkets, plus all my money, if you will let me keep just eight coins and my balancing scale, with its cover to put the golden plate in." They made the trade. He went down to the river, where he paid the eight coins to the ferry man to take him across.

By then the greedy salesman had returned, already adding up huge imaginary profits in his head. When he met the little girl and her grandmother again, he said he had changed his mind and was willing to offer a few cents, but not one of his bracelets, for the useless black sooty old plate. The old woman then calmly told him of the trade she had just made with the honest salesman, and said, "Sir, you lied to us."

The greedy salesman was not ashamed of his lies, but he was saddened as he thought, "I've lost the golden plate that must be worth a hundred thousand." So he asked the woman, "Which way did he go?" She told him the direction. He left all his things right there at her door and ran down to the river, thinking, "He robbed me! He robbed me! He won't make a fool out of me!"

From the riverside he saw the honest salesman still crossing over on the ferry boat. He shouted to the ferry man, "Come back!" But the good merchant told him to keep on going to the other side, and that's what he did.

Seeing that he could do nothing, the greedy salesman exploded with rage. He jumped up and down, beating his chest. He became so filled with hatred towards the honest man, who had won the golden plate, that he made himself cough up blood. He had a heart attack and died on the spot!

The moral is: "Honesty is the best policy."

Weychin SG

The Mouse Merchant
[Diligence and Gratitude]

Once upon a time, an important adviser to a certain king was on his way to a meeting with the king and other advisers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dead mouse by the roadside. He said to those who were with him. "Even from such small beginnings as this dead mouse, an energetic young fellow could build a fortune. If he worked hard and used his intelligence, he could start a business and support a wife and family."

A passerby heard the remark. He knew this was a famous adviser to the king, so he decided to follow his words. He picked up the dead mouse by the tail and went off with it. As luck would have it, before he had gone even a block, a shopkeeper stopped him. He said, "My cat has been pestering me all morning. I'll give you two copper coins for that mouse." So it was done.

With the two copper coins, he bought sweet cakes, and waited by the side of the road with them and some water. As he expected, some people who picked flowers for making garlands were returning from work. Since they were all hungry and thirsty, they agreed to buy sweet cakes and water for the price of a bunch of flowers from each of them. In the evening, the man sold the flowers in the city. With some of the money he bought more sweet cakes and returned the next day to sell to the flower pickers.

This went on for a while, until one day there was a terrible storm, with heavy rains and high winds. While walking by the king's pleasure garden, he saw that many branches had been blown off the trees and were lying all around. So he offered to the king's gardener that he would clear it all away for him, if he could keep the branches. The lazy gardener quickly agreed.

The man found some children playing in a park across the street. They were glad to collect all the branches and brush at the entrance to the pleasure garden, for the price of just one sweet cake for each child.

Along came the king's potter, who was always on the lookout for firewood for his glazing oven. When he saw the piles of wood the children had just collected, he paid the man a handsome price for it. He even threw into the bargain some of his pots.

With his profits from selling the flowers and the firewood, the man opened up a refreshment shop. One day all the local grass mowers, who were on their way into town, stopped in his shop. He gave them free sweet cakes and drinks. They were surprised at his generosity and asked, "What can we do for you?" He said there was nothing for them to do now, but he would let them know in the future.

A week later, he heard that a horse dealer was coming to the city with 500 horses to sell. So he got in touch with the grass mowers and told each of them to give him a bundle of grass. He told them not to sell any grass to the horse dealer until he had sold his. In this way he got a very good price.

Time passed until one day, in his refreshment shop, some customers told him that a new ship from a foreign country had just anchored in the port. He saw this to be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He thought and thought until he came up with a good business plan.

First, he went to a jeweler friend of his and paid a low price for a very valuable gold ring, with a beautiful red ruby in it. He knew that the foreign ship was from a country that had no rubies of its own, where gold too was expensive. So he gave the wonderful ring to the captain of the ship as an advance on his commission. To earn this commission, the captain agreed to send all his passengers to him as a broker. He would then lead them to the best shops in the city. In turn, the man got the merchants to pay him a commission for sending customers to them.

Acting as a middle man in this way, after several ships came into port, the man became very rich. Being pleased with his success, he also remembered that it had all started with the words of the king's wise adviser. So he decided to give him a gift of 100,000 gold coins. This was half his entire wealth. After making the proper arrangements, he met with the king's adviser and gave him the gift, along with his humble thanks.

The adviser was amazed, and he asked, "How did you earn so much wealth to afford such a generous gift?" The man told him it had all started with the adviser's own words not so long ago. They had led him to a dead mouse, a hungry cat, sweet cakes, bunches of flowers, storm damaged tree branches, children in the park, the king's potter, a refreshment shop, grass for 500 horses, a golden ruby ring, good business contacts, and finally a large fortune.

Hearing all this, the royal adviser thought to himself, "It would not be good to lose the talents of such an energetic man. I too have much wealth, as well as my beloved only daughter. As this man is single, he deserves to marry her. Then he can inherit my wealth in addition to his own, and my daughter will be well cared for."

This all came to pass, and after the wise adviser died, the one who had followed his advice became the richest man in the city. The king appointed him to the adviser's position. Throughout his remaining life, he generously gave his money for the happiness and well being of many people.

The moral is: With energy and ability, great wealth comes even from small beginnings.

Weychin SG

Ages ago, there was a beautiful and dense forest known as Jetavana at Savatthi in India . Buddha, in those days, was staying in that peaceful forest. One day, some people came running to Buddha and said, “O' great one, an owl has gone crazy. It is chasing crows and killing them!” Buddha said, “You all know that crows and owls are sworn enemies. They just cannot stand each other.” “But, why?” asked someone. Buddha then told them the story how owls and crows became enemies.

The story of their animosity dates back to the earliest of times. One day, all living beings got together to choose their king. Humans chose a perfect, healthy and handsome man to lead them as king. The animals looked for the strongest and royal animal, and found no one better than the lion. So, the lion was named the king of the animals. When it came to the fishes, they chose a beautiful and large fish named Ananda .

Birds have many beautiful species. So, they had a tough time choosing the best among them all. Finally, they decided to name the wise owl as their king. All birds seemed to like the choice except the crow. When the owl's name was announced, the crow did not like it and he started to protest loudly. The crow shouted, “How can you make an angry-looking bird our king? Do we not have any wiser and better choices?” The crow's comments hit the red-faced owl hard. He got mad with anger. The crow saw that and flew away. The owl chased the crow, and ever since owls and crows are enemies.

The birds did not like the owl's behavior and decided to choose another bird. They finally crowned the beautiful and graceful swan their king, who was none other than the Buddha.

Moral : Anger makes you lose control over yourself, causing harm to others and yourself too

Weychin SG

Once there was an old man who lived at the top of a very high and dangerous precipice. Every morning he would sit at the edge of the cliff and view the surrounding mountains and forest. One day, after he set himself down for his usual meditation, he noticed something shiny at the very bottom of the precipice. Now even though it was very far below him, the old man had keen eyes and could just barely make out what it was. It looked like a rather large, black chest with gold trimmings - just sitting there atop a rock. "Where did it come from? What could be inside it?" the old man thought to himself...

Nothing captures our attention quite like a good story. Long before there was television, movies, radio, and even books, people told stories as a way to entertain and educate. Storytelling was as important to prehistoric cave-dwellers eating antelope around a fire as it is to corporate executives doing lunch. It's in our human blood. We love the development of plot and character, the climax, the resolution, the vicarious thrill of living and learning through tales of others sufferings and triumphs. All of literature and media is but an extension of the more basic urge to tell a good story. The advantage of storytelling, though, is that you do it in person - right there, right in front of people, so you get to see, hear, and feel their reactions. Unlike books and television, storytelling is much more interactive and personal. You don't do it alone, unless you're quite psychotic.... but that's another story.

This web site is a collection of stories from the Orient, mostly Zen and Taoist tales. Why am I suggesting that you tell these stories to your neighbors? Is it because these are among the oldest stories in human history and have withstood the test of time? Is it because Zen and Taoism are ancient religions offering profound insights into human nature, the cosmos, and spirituality?... Maybe. Or maybe it's just because they are fun to tell. Without a doubt, these stories capture all sorts of truths about life and death. But they are also witty, entertaining, humorous, and at times puzzling, even mind-bending. And they are not just the secret lessons of monks sequestered away in mountain monasteries. The ancient teachers intended these stories to be used by everyone, everywhere. On the train to work, during dinner at a restaurant, leaning over the backyard fence as you talk to your neighbor - all of these situations and more lend themselves to these stories. Once you read and learn a few of them, you will see opportunities to tell them popping up everywhere with your family, friends, and coworkers. Think of these tales as conversation pieces, as handy tools that you can lift out of your pocket to help you and others talk, think, and laugh about the wondrous and mysterious details of this thing we call Life.

To help you with your storytelling, I've done a little bit of background work for you. I've collected many people's reactions to these stories. These people include students from the psychology classes I teach, my friends and relatives, and cybernauts who have visited this site. As you will see, people interpret each story in very different ways. That's what makes them so interesting. You may have heard some of these tales before and believe you know what they "mean." But if you read these people's reactions - or tell the stories to your neighbors and hear their reactions - I think you'll be amazed at how these tales strike a different chord in everyone. The stories have many meanings.Talking about those meanings with your friends and family can be a truly educational experience.

So read on. Pick out the stories that sound interesting. Read this hypertext book from "cover" to "cover," or at random, or use the links at the bottom of each story to connect to other stories with similar themes. There's no right or wrong way to do this. Pick the method that works best for you. And perhaps, like the old man at the top of the precipice, you will see something surprising.

Weychin SG

The wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me. Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will come back to haunt you."

For several months after her death, the husband did avoid other women, but then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared to him. She blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he couldn't sleep at all.

Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" The master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what to do the next time you see it."

That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the master had advised. "You are such a wise ghost," the man said, "You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my life." "Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how many beans there are in my hand."

At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.

"Ghosts are just human and can't know or do anything that a human can't."

"No one knows everything. Not even a spirit. You can be wise in some ways, but not in all ways."

"The ghost kept coming back because the man was always impressed by how it seemed to know everything. It had power over him. But when he finally stood up to it, and challenged it, the ghost disappeared forever."

"The ghost is actually a part of the man. So it couldn't know anything that the man himself didn't know."

"The ghost comes from the man's own mind. He created it. It is his own guilt that came back to haunt him."

"The reason something haunts us is because we keep our attention on it. When we move on beyond it it will disappear."

"To me, this story just shows that souls have memories, but not enlightenment."

"I don't like the ending. I read the story with high expectations, but felt let down in the
end."

"Why didn't the ghost know that the man had seen a Zen master?"

"If the wife really loved the husband, how could she subject him to such a promise?"

"Everything the ghost knew didn't amount to a handful of beans!"

Weychin SG

A BUDDHIST STORY

Key Ideas: Buddhism, celebrations, the naming of years after animals

The Buddha was looking forward to his birthday. He wanted to make it a very special occasion, so he decided to have a party. For such a special party he wanted to invite very special guests. So he decided to ask all the animals to help him celebrate his birthday.

The preparations were made, and the guests began to arrive. First came the little rat who was quickly followed by the big buffalo. Behind the buffalo came the stripy tiger, then up hopped a furry rabbit. A dragon came breathing fire just before the snake slithered in. There was a loud neigh, and the horse announced his arrival. Almost hidden behind was the ram with his curly horns and even curlier coat. The monkey swung down from the trees, and the cockerel strutted around proudly. Next, wagging his tail came the dog, and last of all the pig joined the company of animals.

The Buddha was delighted that all those guest had come to celebrate his party. He was so pleased, that he decided all the animals who came to his party should be remembered in turn each year. Even today, in China, every year has the name of the animals that came to the party.

Weychin SG

"A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came who burned down the whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. The took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organised a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.
Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" The child answered, it is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and continued to cry. After some time, the child left.
Father and son never saw each other again."
After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it.

Weychin SG

The Price Maker
[Foolishness]

Long ago and far away, their was a king who ruled in Benares, in northern India. One of his ministers was called the Royal Price Maker, and he was a very honest man. His job was to set a fair price for anything the king wanted to buy or sell.

On some occasions, the king did not like his price making. He did not get as big a profit as he wanted. He did not want to pay so much when he bought, or sell for what he thought was not enough. So he decided to change the price maker.

One day he saw a nice looking young man and he thought, "This fellow will be good for my price making position." So he dismissed his former honest price maker, and appointed this man to be the new one. The man thought, "I must make the king happy by buying at very low prices and selling at very high prices." So he made the prices ridiculous, without caring at all what anything was worth. This gained the greedy king a lot of money, and made him very happy. Meanwhile, all the others who dealt with the new price maker, including the king's other ministers and ordinary people, became very unhappy.

Then one day a horse merchant arrived in Benares with 500 horses to sell. There were stallions, mares and colts. The king invited the merchant to the palace, and called upon his Royal Price Maker to set a price for all 500 horses. Thinking only of pleasing the king, he said, "The entire herd of horses is worth one cup of rice." So the king ordered that one cup of rice be paid to the horse dealer, and all the horses were taken to the royal stables.

Weychin SG

One day a kid climbed on the roof of a house, and this made him feel very proud and brave. As he was looking around and thinking how high he was, he saw a wolf in the yard below. He knew that the wolf could not get him, and so he began to call him names and make fun of him.

"Well, well!" said the wolf; "you are not half as brave as you seem to be. It is not you that laugh at me; it is the high roof where you stand."

http://oaks.nvg.org/bun.html#kid

Weychin SG

ONCE on a time three fishes lived in a far-away river. They were named Thoughtful, Very-Thoughtful, and Thoughtless.

One day they left the wild country where no men lived, and came down the river to live near a town.

Very-Thoughtful said to the other two: "There is danger all about us here. Fishermen come to the river here to catch fish with all sorts of nets and lines. Let us go back again to the wild country where we used to live."

But the other two fishes were so lazy by now that they kept putting off their going from day to day.

But one day Thoughtful and Thoughtless went swimming on ahead of Very-Thoughtful and they did not see the fisherman's net and rushed into it. Very-Thoughtful saw them rush into the net.

"I must save them," said Very-Thoughtful.

So swimming around the net, he splashed in the water in front of it, like a fish that had broken through the net and gone up the river. Then he swam back of the net and splashed about there like a fish that had broken through and gone down the river.

The fisherman saw the splashing water and thought the fishes had broken through the net and that one had gone up the river, the other down, so he pulled in the net by one corner. That let the two fishes out of the net, and away they went to find Very-Thoughtful.

"You saved our lives, Very-Thoughtful," they said, "and now we are willing to go back to the wild country."

So back they all went to their old home where they lived safely ever after.

http://oaks.nvg.org/bun.html#kid

sinweiy SG

要八风吹不动

A story by Ven Master Hsing Yun, from Merit Times:

Su Dongpo (a famous Buddhist poet) of the Song Dynasty was assigned to an official post at Guazhuo, which was situated at the northern shore of the Yangtze River. Across the river, on its southern shore, was Jinshan (Golden Mountain) Temple where Chan Master Foyin presided. One day, Su Dongpo, feeling quite advanced in his practice, wrote a poem and asked his attendant to send it to Chan Master Foyin for verification. The poem went as following:

"Bowing with my highest respect
To the deva of devas,
Whose fine light illuminates the whole universe,
The eight winds cannot move me,
For I am sitting upright on the golden purple lotus blossom."

("The deva of devas" here figuratively refers to "the Buddha", who is actually not a god, but surpasses all the gods and is "Teacher of men and gods." The "eight winds" are the eight worldly conditions - gain and loss, fame and defame, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. "The golden purple lotus blossom" is a symbol of purity and a "throne" of spiritual attainment.)

After receiving the poem from the attendant and reading it, Chan Master Foyin picked up the brush and wrote down one word as his comment. When the attendant came back with the poem, Su Dongpo, expecting words of praise from the Chan Master, quickly opened it to read the comment. However, on that page, nothing was written except the word "Fart!" ("Pi" in Chinese, which means "utter nonsense") Upon seeing such an insult, Su Dongpo was ablaze with the fire of anger. Immediately, he boarded a boat and crossed the Yangtze River to argue with Chan Master Foyin.

Before the boat even pulled onto the shore, Chan Master Foyin was already standing there waiting for Su Dongpo. Upon seeing Foyin, Su Dongpo said, "Chan Master, we are such intimate Dharma friends! It is fine that you do not compliment my practice or my poem. But how can you insult me like this?"

Innocently, as if nothing had happened, the Chan Master asked, "How have I insulted you?" Without saying another word, Su Dongpo simply showed the word "Fart" to Chan Master Foyin.

Laughing wholeheartedly, the Chan Master said, "Oh! Didn't you say that the eight winds cannot move you? How come you are sent across the river with just a fart?" Hearing what Foyin said, Su Dongpo was extremely embarrassed."

~ Excerpt taken from buddhism.kalachakranet.org

realization SG

I also like this one.

"Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty went to meditate with Ch'an Master Foyin at Golden Mountain Temple. After Su Dongpo had experienced a total relaxation of body and mind, he asked Ch'an Master Foyin, "Master, what do you think of my sitting posture?"

"Very magnificent. Like a Buddha!"

Su Dongpo was very delighted to hear that. Master Foyin then asked him, "Scholar, what do you think of my sitting posture then?"

Su Dongpo, never giving up any chance to tease and jeer at Master Foyin, immediately replied, "Like a pile of bullsh**." Master Foyin was very delighted to hear the answer and did not utter another word.

Su Dongpo thought he had beaten Master Foyin because the Master was wordless while being compared to a pile of bullsh**. He was so proud of himself that he told everyone he met, "Today I won."

This news soon reached Su's sister Su Xiaomei. She asked him, "Brother, how was it that you beat Master today?" Su repeated the whole story vividly to his sister. Su Xiaomei, talented and smart as she was, told Su Dongpo straight to his face, "Brother, you actually lost. It is because Master's mind is actually that of a Buddha that he could see you as a Buddha. As your mind is like a pile of bullsh**, you, of course, saw him as a pile of bullsh**." Su Dongpo, realizing his Chan practice was far inferior to Master Foyin's, was speechless.

Moral: Ch'an does not depend on knowledge but upon the capacity to awake. Ch'an is not about eloquent debate but intuitive wisdom. Don't think all Ch'an masters handle encounters with sharp words. Sometimes, when they are silent and don't communicate via words and language, they can still utter the same deafening Dharma sounds."

- taken from: http://viewonbuddhism.org/buddha.html#3

Weychin SG

A student confided in Suzuki Roshi that she had tremendous feelings of love for him, and that it confused her.
"Don't worry," he said. "You can let yourself have all the feelings you have for your teacher. That's good. I have enough discipline for both of us."

http://viewonbuddhism.org/resources/buddhist_stories.html

Weychin SG

Little Prince No-father
[The Power of Truth]

Once upon a time, the King of Benares went on a picnic in the forest. The beautiful flowers and trees and fruits made him very happy. As he was enjoying their beauty, he slowly went deeper and deeper into the forest. Before long, he became separated from his companions and realized that he was all alone.

Then he heard the sweet voice of a young woman. She was singing as she collected firewood. To keep from being afraid of being alone in the forest, the king followed the sound of the lovely voice. When he finally came upon the singer of the songs, he saw that she was a beautiful fair young woman, and immediately fell in love with her. They became very friendly, and the king became the father of the firewood woman's child.

Later, he explained how he had gotten lost in the forest, and convinced her that he was indeed the King of Benares. She gave him directions for getting back to his palace. The king gave her his valuable signet ring, and said, "If you give birth to a baby girl, sell this ring and use the money to bring her up well. If our child turns out to be a baby boy, bring him to me along with this ring for recognition." So saying, he departed for Benares.

In the fullness of time, the firewood woman gave birth to a cute little baby boy. Being a simple shy woman, she was afraid to take him to the fancy court in Benares, but she saved the king's signet ring.

In a few years, the baby grew into a little boy. When he played with the other children in the village, they teased him and mistreated him, and even started fights with him. It was because his mother was not married that the other children picked on him. They yelled at him, "No-father! No-father! Your name should be No-father!"

realization SG

Tales of the Buddha's Former Lives (stories 51 - 100)

PDF ebook: http://media.kmspks.org/files/2010/05/BFLTales_1-100.pdf

« Previous Page Next Page »