Chicken Soup for the Buddhist and Sincere

bohiruci SG

Why sincere ? whoever comes here who is a non-Buddhist ,we welcome him/her along

first story

a cook up one

Once upon a time in China,there is a young man names de jing
He is fascinated by the Chan teaching and wish to learn from a famous monastery in northern part of china

So he set foot on the journey to the monastery.

When he reach the monastery at the top of a hill, He asked the monk doing the sweeper of the gate .

"May I know is Master xxx around ?I would like to be his disciples .So I can get the best of Buddhadharma .I feel so excited when I heard abt this Chan Master "

the Chan master happen to be strolling near the Monastery gate and decided to conceal behind a pillar.

overheard the conversation ,the Chan master observed and feel

"such is the eagerness of a person to learn the Buddhadharma ,but his attachment to the status of a "master" is strong

I shall give him a chan training .

It so happened that the monastery is having a practise of "no words" of the day.Most of the monk are meditating inside the Main Hall.

only the monk on duty is outside with the Chan Master .
the Chan master signal to the monk sweeping to convey the message to the
rest of the monks in the hall

"Do not tell the young man I am the Chan Master.This is his test "

When the Young man finally finds the way to the Main hall, the assistant abbot was holding the meditation .so the young man sit down and meditate
the Chan master is behind the monks and dressed up in an ordinary manner

When the meditation finish , the young man approach the assistant abbot
Is the Chan Master around ?

Oh he just went down for a period of week .

When will he be back ,asked the young man anxiously

I am not sure, maybe u would like to wait for him in the temple , we can arrange u accomodation

this stay is a total of 14 days .
during this 14 days ,when the young man have doubts in the Buddhadharma
the Chan master pretend to be sweeping the main hall and answer him every question and leave him wondering.

this old monk sound so much different from the rest of the monk , then where is the chan master ?

still confounded at the absence of the Chan Master, the young man grew disappointed .

upon the 14 days , the young man decided to leave the monastery
and till the last day before he left .He have no idea who is the Chan master

3 year passed .

A Buddhadharma ceremony was held at the monastery

the same young man decided to visit the monastery , feeling very happy and would like to thank the old monk(the chan master ) for his teaching

when he approached the main hall , He saw indistinctively ,the old monk is at the platform giving teaching

now he realised something.

The Chan is in his heart .it is away from forms and attachment

bohiruci SG

The Dog tooth that become a relics

There was once a young man who lived in rural area of tibet ,went on a business trip to lhasa .Before he left the house ,his mother told him
"Remember to bring me a relics of the Buddha ,I would like to venerate his corporeal remains "

"Okay mum, I will remember ."

and he begin his business trip to Lhasa.

Upon finish his business dealing ,he decided to went home immediately , missing his mum

However ,halfway on his way home

he suddenly realised he have brought a Buddha relics for his mum

He knows that journey back to lhasa is far, so he decided to get some in replacement

there he saw a sick dog on the roadside .He nurse it gently
and when he tried to bring the dog to look for a vet,the dog die

he cremate the remains of the dog and pick up the tooth remain of the dog

and brought home a tooth relic to his mum

He didnt told his mum that it isnt the relic of Buddha ,but however ,his mum
hold it with veneration and offer to the altar

One day the young man came home and saw the relic was glowing brightly
though his mum already knew it isnt the Buddha relic

so is the deepness of his mum faith that the dog tooth glow

mhcampboy SG

nice..

An Eternal Now SG

Thanks for sharing with us... always nice to hear such stories Smile

bohiruci SG

This 3rd story i trying to remember who is the practitioner but i couldnt
maybe someone who knows abt tibetan buddhism can tell me Cool Cool

The sick dog who is maitreya

Naropa was practising the teachings of Maitreya .He have tried to seek Maitreya to come down to ascertain his level of practice,but there is no sign.

Naropa was patient and meditated and practice in cave for 5 years,hoping Bodhisattva Maitreya will come in person .Throughout the five years, he waited and practise the 6 paramitas .

after the 5 years of patient waiting at his meditation caves, Naropa was restless ,and decided to go out on his journey of practise

He chanced upon a sick dog on the roadside who have open wounds and a leech have been biting at the open wounds .

Unbearable at the suffering of the dog, he decided to use his tongue to rest on the dogs wound ,allowing the leech to climb up and placed it gently in the grasses. seeing it is unable to stand ,Naropa carried the dog by its shoulder

as he walk past people ,many saw it is a sick dog .

After a distance ,he put the dog down .
Suddenly ,the dog transformed into Maitreya Bodhisattva

Naropa prostrate and ask "Oh my Guru , Why have u not answered my calling for you for 5 years?"

"Naropa, I have .In fact I am always with you .Just that you did not invoke compassion in your practice .So my transformation as a dog is to test your compassion for sentient beings."

Naropa understood the meaning .

We need Wisdom and Compassion to complete our practice