Saturday, January 2, 2016

Zen story on Peace. Faith. Patience. Enlightenment.

A Zen monk is passing through a forest. Suddenly he becomes aware that one tiger is following him, so he starts running. But his running is also of a Zen type; he is not in a hurry. He is not mad. His running also is smooth, harmonious. He is enjoying it. And it is said that the monk thinks in the mind, "If the tiger is enjoying it, then why not I?"

And the tiger is following him. Then he comes near a precipice. To escape from the tiger, he hangs from the branch of a tree. And then he looks downwards. One lion is standing there in the valley, waiting for him. Then the tiger has reached, he is standing just near the tree on the hilltop. He is hanging in between, just with a branch, and a lion is waiting for him, deep down.

He laughs. Then he looks. Two mice are just cutting that branch... one white, one black. Then he laughs very loudly. 
He says, "This is life. Day and night, white and black mice cutting. And wherever I go, death is waiting. This is life!" And it is said that he achieves a satori - the first glimpse of enlightenment. This is life! Nothing to worry about; this is how things go. Wherever you go death is waiting, and even if you don't go anywhere day and night are cutting your life. So he laughs loudly.

Then he looks around because now it is certain. Now there is no worry. When death is certain, what is the worry? Only in uncertainty, there is worry. When everything is certain, there is no worry; now it has become a destiny. So he looks for these few moments how to enjoy. He becomes aware just by the side of the branch are some strawberries, so he picks a few strawberries, eats them. They are the best ones of his life. He enjoys them, and it is said he becomes enlightened in that moment.

He has become a Buddha because death is so near even then he is not in any hurry. He can enjoy a strawberry.The taste of it is sweet! He thanks God. It is said in that moment everything disappears - the tiger, the lion, the branch, he himself. He has become the cosmos.

This is patience, absolute patience! Wherever you are, in that moment enjoy without asking for the future. No future thoughts in the mind - just the present moment, the nowness of the moment, and you are satisfied. Then there is no need to go anywhere. Wherever you are, from that very point you will drop into the ocean; you will become one with the cosmos

Shared by Rashid Falak.

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