The Zen master Hakuin used to tell his students about an old woman who owned a tea shop in the village. She was skilled in the tea ceremony, Hakuin said, and her understanding of Zen was superb. Many students wondered about this and went to the village themselves to check her out.
Whenever the old woman saw them coming, she could tell immediately whether they had come to experience the tea, or to probe her grasp of Zen. Those wanting tea she served graciously. For the others wanting to learn about her Zen knowledge, she hid until they approached her door and then attacked them with a fire poker. Only one out of ten managed to escape her beating.
http://xdejonge.angelfire.com/funt/spirit/zen_tales.htm
Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind.
"It's the wind that is really moving," stated the first one.
"No, it is the flag that is moving," contended the second.
A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. "Neither the flag nor the wind is moving," he said, "It is MIND that moves."
http://spiritual-minds.com/stories/zen.htm
An itinerant Sadhu, in the course of his wanderings, came to a village and settled himself down in a temple for some days. He used to sit quiet and serene on one of the verandahs of the temple. He was hardly going out, and spent all his time inside the temple. The Pujari of the temple, finding in the Sadhu high spiritual qualities, gave him at mid-day a part of the food offered to God as Naivedyam. The Sadhu lived only on one meal a day. This went on for some days. One day, the manager of the temple happened to pay his periodical visit to the temple for inspection. He saw the Pujari in the act of giving food offered to God to the Sadhu. The manager did not like this. He told the Pujari, "Why do you feed this lazy fellow? He is sitting quietly without doing anything. Such people do not deserve to be given food. So I order you not to feed him any more."
The Pujari obeyed. The Sadhu did not mind the stoppage of food to him. He would go out at mid-day, beg for food in two or three houses, and having satisfied his hunger, return to his seat in the temple in about half-an-hour's time. Thereafter, he would continue to sit silent in his Asan until the next day. Thus the Sadhu continued to live in the temple.
About a week later, the manager, as usual, came nd saw the Sadhu sitting quietly as before at the same place in the temple. He came to know from the Pujari that the Sadhu did not receive any food from the temple and that he was satisfying his hunger by begging.
Now, the manager, getting interested in the Sadhu, was curious to know why he was sitting the whole day doing practically nothing. He went up to the Sadhu and, sitting near him, asked him "Sadhuji, what is the meaning of your sitting the whole day without stirring out?"
The Sadhu replied, "I will give you the answer in five minutes. Please wait."The manager waited. Five minutes passed. But no answer came from the Sadhu. The manager reminded the Sadhu about his question. The Sadhu again said, "Brother, will you wait for five minutes more to get the answer?" The manager, with a little impatience, told the Sadhu he would wait for five minutes more but would not do so any longer.
Again five minutes passed. Still the Sadhu was silent. Then the manager questioned him a little sternly, "What is this, Sadhuji, ten minutes have passed and you have not yet answered my question?" The Sadhu calmly replied, "Brother, will you please wait for another five minutes?" The manager was impatient and excited at what the Sadhu said. He stood with his watch in hand and told the finally, "Look here, Sadhuji, I have a lot of work to attend to. I cannot afford to idle away my time like you. I give you five minutes more for the answer. If you do not fulfil my wish, I will go away."
The manager waited for five minutes more and no answer came. In a huff, grumbling and in an irritated mood, the manager went out of the temple. When he had gone a few yards, he stopped and reflected - "I cannot sit at one place for 15 minutes quietly, whereas the Sadhu is there on the verandah all the 24 hours except for a short period. What tremendous power and control he has over his mind!" His admiration for the Sadhu became very great. He turned back and, entering the temple, called the Pujari and said, "Pujari, from tomorrow, you should feed the Sadhu from the offerings of food to the Deity as you were doing before as long as he chooses to stay in the temple." After saluting the Sadhu in all humility and reverence the manager left.
Verily, to control the mind and sit steadily at one place without the thought of moving about is not a joke. Only rare souls who have subdued the mind by concentration upon God can do this.
http://www.anandashram.org/html/ebooks/Stories_as_told_by_SwamiRamdas.pdf
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 can't ask any more questions," the Master answered.
http://standard-deviations.com/2013/11/22/zen-koans/
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.
One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.
To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"
Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"
Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"
Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"
Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"
Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.
He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
http://users.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/more.html
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be ," said the farmer.
http://goodmorninggratitude.com/2012/03/25/to-be-certain-is-ridiculous/
A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!"
"It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly.
A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!'
"It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=uXo3AgAAQBAJ
