7 ms·

101 Zen Stories

59 points by b-man 17y ago

Niten 17y ago
The same stories are also here: http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html Did one of these sites copy the other? Or does it even matter?
- throw_away 17y ago
  The 101 stores were compiled in 1919 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories), and then reprinted by Paul Reps as Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (which is how I originally read them). The originals were written in the 13th century called Shasekishū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasekish%C5%AB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasekish%C5%AB) by the zen master Mujū. I'm not sure how copyrights apply to excerpts, translations, edits and re-prints of presumably public-domain original works.
- lobo-tuerto 17y ago
  I noticed a typo in the article's link second story that wasn't present in yours. So at least it seems like this one is a bit better maintained or being taken care of.
- heyitsnick 17y ago
  Well if you fancied this on your ebook reader, this new site makes it easier to do something like... with open(r"zen.html", "w") as f: pat = re.compile(r'.*\<p class="header"\>(.*?)</p>.*!-- Display story -->(.*?)</div>', re.DOTALL) for i in range(101): url = "http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=%s" % str(i + 1) html = urlopen(url).read() result = pat.match(html) f.writelines(["<h2>%d. %s</h2>" % (i + 1, result.group(1)), result.group(2)])
zackattack 17y ago
omg i'm LOVING this site. thank you so much. i bought the book. personal faves: http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=6 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=6 * http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=35 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=35
- dualogy 17y ago
  I don't get story 6. What's the take-away? :D
  - dualogy 17y ago
    Never mind, upon closer inspection I get none of these stories. I suppose this itself is pretty 'Zen' (or at least ironic) given that my entire product line is made up of names suffixed -Zen...
    - PostOnce 17y ago
      I think zen distilled is this: 1. Don't worry so much, and don't let everything get to you. Most of it is inconsequential and out of your control anyway. 2. Be deliberate. Think about everything you do while you're doing it. That is to say, don't let your mind be on auto-pilot. I think a lot of people try to force the idea of zen to be much deeper than it is, they spend all this time searching for some deep meaning, when it neither exists nor is the point or aim.
      - TheSOB88 17y ago
        How about the non-importance of material things? I guess that is sort of #1.
  - jjs 17y ago
    Story 6 is about the worthlessness of wisdom (Prajñā) without compassion (Karuṇā). In Mahayana Buddhism, both wisdom and compassion are necessary for the Bodhisattva path: wisdom brings enlightenment, but compassion keeps you "in the world" (either literally or figuratively) to help guide others toward enlightenment (thereby liberating them from suffering). Perhaps because of its deemphasis of the supernatural, Zen in particular emphasizes that enlightenment without compassion is possible, but useless, and not a worthy or admirable pursuit. Compassion is seen as necessary to temper enlightenment, to keep oneself from becoming a nihilist or enlightened navel-gazer. (Zen/Chán has historical basis for being concerned about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_in_Buddhism#Hui-neng http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_in_Buddhism#Hui-neng) The woman in the story sees that the monk's wisdom has liberated him from suffering, but his lack of compassion means that no one else will benefit from it. She's angry because she thought she was investing in the monk to the betterment of mankind, but instead she finds that her donations have only benefited the monk.

59 points by b-man 17y ago

Niten 17y ago

The same stories are also here: http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html Did one of these sites copy the other? Or does it even matter?

throw_away 17y ago
The 101 stores were compiled in 1919 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories), and then reprinted by Paul Reps as Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (which is how I originally read them). The originals were written in the 13th century called Shasekishū (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasekish%C5%AB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasekish%C5%AB) by the zen master Mujū. I'm not sure how copyrights apply to excerpts, translations, edits and re-prints of presumably public-domain original works.
lobo-tuerto 17y ago
I noticed a typo in the article's link second story that wasn't present in yours. So at least it seems like this one is a bit better maintained or being taken care of.
heyitsnick 17y ago
Well if you fancied this on your ebook reader, this new site makes it easier to do something like... with open(r"zen.html", "w") as f: pat = re.compile(r'.*\<p class="header"\>(.*?)</p>.*!-- Display story -->(.*?)</div>', re.DOTALL) for i in range(101): url = "http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=%s" % str(i + 1) html = urlopen(url).read() result = pat.match(html) f.writelines(["<h2>%d. %s</h2>" % (i + 1, result.group(1)), result.group(2)])

zackattack 17y ago

omg i'm LOVING this site. thank you so much. i bought the book. personal faves: http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=6 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=6 * http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=35 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=35

dualogy 17y ago
I don't get story 6. What's the take-away? :D
- dualogy 17y ago
  Never mind, upon closer inspection I get none of these stories. I suppose this itself is pretty 'Zen' (or at least ironic) given that my entire product line is made up of names suffixed -Zen...
  - PostOnce 17y ago
    I think zen distilled is this: 1. Don't worry so much, and don't let everything get to you. Most of it is inconsequential and out of your control anyway. 2. Be deliberate. Think about everything you do while you're doing it. That is to say, don't let your mind be on auto-pilot. I think a lot of people try to force the idea of zen to be much deeper than it is, they spend all this time searching for some deep meaning, when it neither exists nor is the point or aim.
    - TheSOB88 17y ago
      How about the non-importance of material things? I guess that is sort of #1.
- jjs 17y ago
  Story 6 is about the worthlessness of wisdom (Prajñā) without compassion (Karuṇā). In Mahayana Buddhism, both wisdom and compassion are necessary for the Bodhisattva path: wisdom brings enlightenment, but compassion keeps you "in the world" (either literally or figuratively) to help guide others toward enlightenment (thereby liberating them from suffering). Perhaps because of its deemphasis of the supernatural, Zen in particular emphasizes that enlightenment without compassion is possible, but useless, and not a worthy or admirable pursuit. Compassion is seen as necessary to temper enlightenment, to keep oneself from becoming a nihilist or enlightened navel-gazer. (Zen/Chán has historical basis for being concerned about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_in_Buddhism#Hui-neng http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_in_Buddhism#Hui-neng) The woman in the story sees that the monk's wisdom has liberated him from suffering, but his lack of compassion means that no one else will benefit from it. She's angry because she thought she was investing in the monk to the betterment of mankind, but instead she finds that her donations have only benefited the monk.