The Hilltop

A man is sitting on a hilltop. A gentle breeze is blowing and the temperature is warm. He is comfortable and his thoughts are pleasant. He has felt this way for some time. Sitting near him are two others. One is also at peace and is one he relates very well with. The other is becoming to be at peace. While he is at peace with the first one, this second individual is more mysterious and guarded. At first this person avoids contact and conversation. The man accepts this. He speaks to both and accepts the other's responses, but does not make any demands on the guarded one. There comes a day when both respond to the man. The hilltop enjoys more peace. The breeze blows more gently and the warm air soothes them all. Serenity sets in. Over time the guarded one's defenses come down. Slowly that one joins in conversations with the other two. There are even days when the man and the formerly guarded one can communicate by themselves. Time passes. One day the man looks around the hilltop. He sees, sitting near him, the one he relates to so well, who he is at peace with. Upon seeing him, a feeling of contentment comes over him. Still looking around, he seeks out the formerly guarded one, but that one is not to be found, for that individual is no longer on the hilltop. A gentle breeze blows over the hilltop. The temperature is warming. There are times when the man is comforted and when he feels pleasant. There are times when he is at peace. He relates well with his companion.

The Way

As we go through life, we come to believe that we make our own way. There is an ancient story of two masters. One is dying and is visited by another, his good friend. The friend, seeing his dying companion, says, "You are passing, shall I lead you on the way."

His comrade replied, "I came this far alone. What possible help could you be to me now?"

His friend calmly responded, "If that is all you think, that you simply come into this life, go through it, and then pass on, then keep with your misconception. However, if you will, let me show you the way where there is no more coming and going."

As he spoke his words, he revealed the path clearly to his friend, and the elderly one smiled and passed away.

Prosperity

There once was a very rich man. He considered himself prosperous because of his wealth. Anyone who was not as wealthy as he was could not possibly be happy or prosperous. Eventually he crossed paths with a man who happened to be both a zen master and a man of words. The master was known to be one to whom villagers turned to when they wanted something written for them or about them. His words and phrases were beautiful to behold.

The rich man decided he would ask the master to write something about his family and its prosperity; something that would bring happiness to their good fortune and could be passed down from father to son, from generation to generation. So he approached the master with his request.

The master considered the request for a moment and then looked around until he found some paper and a pen. Then he sat down and wrote: "First the father died, then the son died, and then the grandson died." When he finished, he handed it to the rich man.

Reading what was written, the rich man became extremely angry. "I asked you to write something I could give to my son and my son's son. I wanted something serious, something about our prosperity. Instead you turned it into a joke."

The master looked at the man for a brief moment and replied: "I did not mean to make any joke. If your son were to die before you, you would grieve greatly. If both your son and grandson were to pass away before you, the grief you would suffer would be beyond measure. However, if you pass first, and then your son lives his full life and passes before his son, it will be as nature intended. What more can be asked? That is true prosperity."

One Hand Clapping

The Sound of the One Hand has been and is the most famous and probably the most commonly used of all meditative stories there are. It is only through understanding and enlightenment that one frees himself and gains insight and moves forward. There are many variations of the story. Here is one.

A very young student watched his fellow students receive instruction day in and day out from the master. Yet when he went before the master, he was told only how to correct his posture and how to breathe better and which precepts he needed to pay more attention to. He was very envious of the older students and long to learn as they did. He knew they had all been given their ids and were working toward finding some greater understanding that was never going to be shown to him. Finally, one day, when he had his turn with the master, he asked why he was being held back. The master assured him this was not the case. He was learning and progressing much as others before him had. The young man was sure this was not so. Again he asked, only this time he plead with the master to give him a story to contemplate, to help him in his path.

The master questioned whether he was ready for the step. He pointed out that many meditated for years before their first problem was provided and the young man had only been with the master for a relatively short period of time. Still the youth insisted. He was sure of himself and he wanted to be like his older comrades. Finally the master relented.

This is what he said. "Everyone, yourself included, know what sound is made by two hands clapping. However, can you tell me what sound one hand clapping makes? Meditate upon that and when you can answer me, come to me and show me your answer."

So the youth went off to meditate and consider this problem. He thought and thought about it. One day he was listening to an artist he knew play a composition that was very moving and he thought he had the answer. He thought about this some more and eventually he came back to his master. His master asked him if he was ready to show him what sound came from one hand clapping. The youth immediately picked up a guitar and began to play a beautiful melody, sweeter than many have ever heard. When he finished, he looked at his master for a response. The master simply said that is not the answer.

Not discouraged, the young man returned to his meditations to reconsider the problem. What could be the sound of one hand clapping. Perhaps he had been going down the wrong path. It was likely that music and the city and noise were a distraction to him and he needed to get immersed in nature and find solitude to find his answer. So he began to seek quieter places to meditate and moved away from the city. He found himself settling in more rural locations to meditate. One day, while sitting alongside a steam, near a waterfall, meditating, he heard water dripping into the stream. The sound of that water amazed him and seemed so electrifying and focusing to him. He thought, "At last, I have my answer."

He rushed back to his master. Again the master asked him what was the sound of one hand clapping? This time, the young student showed him water dripping from a leaf into a pool. Fascinated, the master watched for several minutes. Eventually he looked and shook his head and said, "No, yes is not the answer."

Over many months, stretching into years, the young man continued to meditate and continued to return to his master. Each time he came before the master he offered another sound, another response to that same question, "What is the sound of the one hand clapping?" He offered the howl of the wolf, the chirp of the cricket, the crick of the floorboards, and various sounds. All were interesting, but all were wrong.

One day, the student returned. He sat before his master as before. The master again said, "What is the sound of the one hand clapping?" The student stood before the master. "I have exhausted all resources. There are no more sounds. All that is left is the soundless."

Now he understood.

Reality

When Bodhidharma first came to China, over a thousand years ago, it was during the reign of the emperor Wu. Bodhidharma was dressed and appeared to be a street bum, in those days considered a thief. Yet he was brought before the court and the emperor anyway. At the time of his appearance he wore one shoe upon his head. The emperor, on seeing Bodhidharma, wished only to be rid of him as quickly as possible. This he tried to do by friendly conversation with the monk. However, Bodhidharma interrupted him and said, "Ask the question?"

Wu could not help but inquire about the shoe on his head.

Bodhidharma replied: "The shoe serves a purpose. Either you must be straightforward right from the beginning with your questions or it is the last time you will see me."

Wu began by saying: " I have always built great temples, created schools, funded monks and their works, and aided the poor and needy. What is my reward?"

Bodhidharma replied: "Nothing. You have been exploited. Your motives are like your shadows which your follow aimlessly."

Wu switched tacks then and said: "What is the essence of your teachings?"

Bodhidharma replied: "There is nothing holy. There is only emptiness."

Bodhidharma's answer was simple and direct, but Wu was not capable of understanding it. The reality we seek is completely independent of words, religion and dogma. Our attachment to right and wrong, religion and philosophies hinder our ability to grasp the true essence of reality and create the problems we encounter in life. Sight comes only when we look into our own reality.

Possession

On a warm summer day, some children gather on the sandy beach to play together. They decided to each build a sand fortress. When they had completed their fortresses, they began to play, defending their creations. Each declared his or her fort as "mine" and would not allow any other child near that fortress. Shuffles broke out as each boy or girl fought off the "invaders." At some point one boy knocked over another boy's fortress of sand. In anger that boy attacked him with a stick he found on the beach, striking him repeatedly until he fell to the sand. Then he and the others beat him for destroying the fortress. Soon they returned to their play and defense of their sand fortresses.

Eventually the day drew to an end and the sun started to set and the tide began to come in and the children knew it was time to give up their play and go home for the evening. As the sun began to sink,the boys and girls left the beach, no longer caring about their creations or what would become of them.

Motivation

There is an old story in the zen tradition of the student who is given a problem to contemplate, "the sound of the one Hand." He meditates on this for months but cannot resolve this problem. When he returns to his teacher, he tells him he must give up and return to his home. His teacher urges him to continue to mediate, so he does. Many more months pass and again he returns in defeat, determined to end his study and go home in embarrassment. His teacher tells him to give the meditation five weeks more, just five weeks. After more urging, the student agrees and returns to his efforts, but is met with no success. Now he is thoroughly depressed and longs to be free of his misery. His teacher is not so eager to release him. The teacher says to him, " Give the problem just three more days. If, at the end of three days, you have not solved it, kill yourself. You deserve to die."

At the end of the second day, the solution comes to him.

Expressing

There was a group of students. They had studied and socialized together for many months. Over the months they had become familiar with each other, both men and women. Eventually, as often happens, one of the men fell in love with one of the women. Being shy, he wrote her a note, expressing his feelings for her. One day, as the group was breaking up and returning to their homes, he slipped the note to her, so she could read of his feelings. Several days passed and she showed no signs of having either read the note or of wishing to respond to the note.

There came a day when the group was together, sharing stories and thoughts. Each was asked if he or she had anything to say to the group. No one quickly ventured to stand. However, after some time, the woman who received the note stood. Looking around the room, as her eyes settled on the note writer, she said, "If you have something to say, say it here, say it now."

Life

Life has a complexity to it. As we live our existence, we add to the complexity. We search for some meaning. for some of us, that entails seeking religious values and explanations to our lives. For our it is the rejection of those same views and beliefs. In the end no real difference, just different directions on the same road. Some plod through the days, others look for a philosophical explanation for our existence. Some seek to find value or to leave a mark behind them, so they will have either made a difference while they were here or so that those that come after will remember them or speak of them.

For all of this, even for those we actually do study and learn about - those blessed few- the fact is we are merely exercising ourselves. Whether there is or is not a "true" religion, an answer for life, we'll never know. It is faith, not knowledge, it cannot be known. It is just a means to provide comfort if it is needed. Philosophy fills a similar void. Theoretical thought, opinion that sounds good, to ease the mind and provide a basis to explain away the doubts of life. As for our existence and time here, well, in the end, the value we have given, the worth we have created, however measured, is measured in current time, and has no real lasting measure. Even those we study so fiercely really have no lasting value beyond whatever we arbitrarily have provided them. That often is tainted by time and perspective too.

The world and of life is made of two true things, material and energy, both measurable. We are either one of the other. At one time in the continuum we are matter, and at another we become energy. While we are matter, we should be striving to become energy. Energy is purer, safer, and less troublesome. It is when we are in material form we have anxieties, moods, relationships, and all of life's problems.

Final Understanding

There is a old lesson that those who are following would do well to comprehend. Why is it that the man who has really come to understand is not required to stand before us and explain? Speech does not come only orally.

To Answer

If you kill your brother, you must stand before the courts and the law and answer for the wrong you have done. Likewise if you fatally injure your mother, you will be brought forth under the law and made to answer for your wrong doing. However, if you destroy all that you believe in and cast it aside, to whom do you answer?

The Road

Two men are walking down a dirt road in the country. It has been raining for several days and continues to do so and the road is extremely muddy. As they walk along in the rain, they come upon a beautiful young woman standing on a high bank on one side of the muddy road. She obviously wants to cross over to the other side, but, as she is dressed in an expensive dress and high heels, she cannot. One of the men approaches her and picks her up in his arms and carries her across the road and sets her down on the opposite side of the road, thus allowing her to avoid getting muddy as they have.

As they walk on, the second man remarks that the actions of his friend were wrong. He had no right to approach and carry the woman across the road. The two men were holy men and had vowed not to have contact with women, especially attractive young ones. His friend replies, " I have had not contact with the woman. I left her on the side of the road. It is you who is still carrying her."

Giving Thanks

A master sought to built a new school for his students to learn in. The cost was beyond the capacity of him or his followers to provide, so they had to be content with what little they had. A wealthy individual who had been influenced by the master heard of the need for a new school and feeling generous, and having the available funds, decided to give the money to the master. He made the arrangements and had many hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside and he wrote a check which he delivered to the master. When the master received the check, he announced to his followers that they could now start arranging for the building of the new school with all the amenities they had planned for. The rich man was extremely upset with the master. At the very least, he believed he should have been thanked publicly for the large donation. Eventually, he became so upset, he went to the master to complain about his behavior. He confronted the master and told him he thought him ungrateful. Not many institutions, let alone individuals, could have provided the funding he had given. The least he expected was a show of thanks.

The master faced his benefactor and told him, "It is not I, the recipient of the giving, that should give thanks. It is the giver."

Voice

There were once three men. Let us for the sake of this story call them Thomas, Richard, and Maurice. Thomas was older than the other two men, though not much older than his friend and colleague, Richard. Both were very learned men. Maurice was a very young man who sought out Thomas and Richard to discover that which they had already learned. Thomas taught many people during his life, but eventually he grew old and he passed from the material world.

Soon after, Richard, who was born without sight, was sitting alone with Maurice. He told Maurice, " I have been blind these many years. Since I have been unable to see, I have come to listen carefully to the voices of those around me. In so doing, I judge the true nature of those persons. I have found that most people, when they express happiness and joy for another person's success, there is an element of envy in their voice. Just as I note that touch of envy, I also have found that most people when expressing their sorrow to another in a time of grief, actually have a hint of satisfaction in their voice, as if there is something good to be gain from the situation."

However, whenever Thomas spoke, whether expressing happiness or sorrow, whenever I listened, I heard joy when joy as spoken and sadness when events brought sadness to another.

Sound

There's an old story. A student has been resistant to learning (who isn't) and his teacher tells him he wants him to go and study on the ancient problem of the sound of the one-hand clapping. When he can tell the teacher what is that sound, he should return. Days and weeks go by and the student cannot solve the problem, as well the teacher knew. Finally the student is called before the teacher. The teacher asked him, what is the answer: "What is the sound of one-hand clapping?" The student tells the teacher he does not know the answer. The teacher tells him that is because he is too attached to worldly possessions, food, clothing, car, and gadgets, that he would have to be dead to understand the problem.

The student leaves and again days and weeks fly by and he does not return. Again, as before, the teacher summons him forth and asks him for a response to the problem. This time, when the teacher says what is the sound of the one-hand clapping, the student immediately falls over on his side as if dead.

"Yeah, you're dead, but what about that sound of the one-hand"

"I haven't solved that yet."

"Dead men cannot talk. Get out of my sight."

Happiness

There once was a man who walked around town, happy all the time. No one knew his name, but because he was so friendly and happy, they all called him the Happy Man. The Happy Man carried a backpack with him whenever he walked through the town, filled with candy, sweets, and other small treats, which he handed out to children and others as he stopped to talked to people throughout the town. However, if he were to meet another in his travels who was similar to him, he always asked for money.

One day, as he walked through the town, he encountered a man from another city. The visitor was friendly and kind. The Happy Man asked him for a handout. The Visitor responded by asking him what was the significance of his happiness. The Happy Man sat down and was silent.

Then the Visitor asked him, how do you represent your happiness. The Happy Man then stood up and continued on his way.

Right and Wrong

The teacher had gathered his students together to attempt to impart some wisdom to them. Over the course of some weeks, the groups grew together and the members began to feel as if they were truly learning much from their teacher. One young man, however, was caught stealing from the group. Others reported him to the teacher and requested he be sent away as punishment. The teacher simply ignored the request and the situation and went on with the lessons. Some weeks later, another incident occurred and the same young man was again caught stealing. Again he was brought before the group and the teacher, and another request was made to have him removed for theft. As before, the teacher choose to ignore the group, not remove the thief and, to continue to teach his lessons. Now the other members of the group were angry. They discussed the situation and decided to confront the teacher and demand that the thief be expelled. If the teacher refused, then they would declare they would all leave and join in a study group elsewhere. The next day when the lesson was to begin, a spokesperson for the group arose and declared the group's position. The teacher listened to all the students had to say. When they were done, he stood.

"When we started, my intent was to impart knowledge. However, knowledge comes in many forms. Knowledge of right and wrong is also important. The majority of the people here know the difference between right and wrong. Obviously, this one young man has difficulty with this lesson. If I were to expel him from this group and end his learning, how would he learn the difference; what you have already learned. Yes, you others may leave and study elsewhere, but I will continue to teach here, and I will teach this young man until he learns right and wrong."

The lessons continued.

Temper

A young man was deeply concerned about his fits of rage. He went to visit his father and discuss the matter with him. When he saw his father, he told him he had an uncontrollable anger that flared unexpectedly from time to time. He could not control it and often did not even know when it would emerge. He was afraid he would always be subject to these outbursts of rage.

His father asked him to show him this temper, but the son could not. He said, "I cannot just summon it forth at will. I do not know when it will come out. I do not control it."

The father asked him when he could expect to see it, but again the son told him the same thing. He did not know the answer to such a question.

Then the father told him, "The anger and rage, is not yours, not truly. For if it was, you could command it. You did not have it as an infant, nor a child and your parents certainly did not teach it to you. That is all you need to know."

Friendship

Two friends were always together, whenever possible. One was a storyteller, the other content on listening to the stories his friend told. Over time, the storyteller's tales became better, became more involved, more charming. Many came to hear them. His friend was always there to listen. The storyteller's fame grew and grew, but the friendship never wavered. When he told his tales, his friend was there to listen. The day finally came when the friend grew weak, sickening from age and disease. Eventually he died.

With his death, the storyteller told no more tales. For the story does not live just in the telling, it endures in the listener.

Kindness

Once there was a man who lived deep in the woods by himself. He was mature and kind. A young girl came upon his home in the woods. She was alone in the world, without the ability to care for herself. He took her in and supported her for many years. He built her a home to live in and fed her while she matured. She grew and learn and became wise in the ways of the world. Eventually she was of the age and learning that he believed she must be capable of handling life within the world outside the woods they both lived in.

In order to determine what progress the woman had made in her maturing, he obtained the help of a young man. The young male was handsome and alluring to women. He instructed the young man to approach the woman in her home and to be affectionate toward her and to see how she responded.

The male did as he was instructed. He went to the home of the young woman. There he found the woman, who was quite attractive, and therefore easy for the man to care for, and he, without any need of the instructions he had received, proceeded to open his heart to the woman. When he expressed his feelings to her, he then asked, what was she going to do in response.

Her reply was "Even in winter, one can brush away the snow and can sometimes find a plant which still grows, yet it is still without any warmth."

When the man who had provided for her all those years heard this, he was beside himself. He was deeply angered over her lack of feeling for another's feelings, the desire to express even the least amount of caring. She was so completely devoid of compassion and the emotion for human emotion that he was completely disgusted with her.

He sent the young man on his way, thanking him for his help and expressing his forgiveness for exposing him to this situation. He then went to the home of the young woman and demolished it, leaving no trace of her existence.

The Dune

I stand atop a sand dune. I can feel the wind begin to pick up. Slowly at first, I can feel the sand whirl around my feet and lift about me and push away from me, gaining speed as the wind increases. As the sand shifts and moves from me, the dune shrinks slowly and the beauty I have always enjoyed is gradually leaving me. I think, how can this be happening; how can this beautiful dune ever leave me. I must do something to stop this from happening. I try to prevent the sand from blowing away. Such an action is pure foolishness and the effort is futile. I cannot stop the wind, nor the grains of sands from blowing, no more than I can stop time. Yet I continue to try with all that is in me, and I become more and more depressed as my efforts fail me. Still the wind picks up more speed and the sand dissipates even faster, and my mood slips deeper. I want my dune to remain here, with me; I want my world as it is, I do not want it to leave; I just want it to go on as it has been. I cannot influence the world around me and change does what it does and the dune continues to blow away. I open my eyes and there is no dune, perhaps there was no dune but in my mind. Sand is illusionary. I believe I see it before me and it looks so lovely. Then, in a blink, it is gone, or maybe it was a mirage, I dreamt the entire thing. I wanted to believe I was there on a dune for awhile. Life goes on, but ...

The Complexity of Life

We have this deep desire to make life a very complex entity, filled with mystery and deep science and layers and difficulty and stress. As we grow and age, we add more and more layers, more and more stress, much more difficulty, and the mysteries increase instead of declining, the the spiral just keeps spinning on. Yet life is not all that. It is stressful because we make it so. It is complex and filled with mysteries and difficulties and deep layers because we place them there ourselves. Life really is what we bring to it. As the zen masters say: the only zen you find on the mountaintop is the zen you brought with you. Life is made up of two things; material and energy and you exist as one or the other and, at any moment, you are in flux, moving toward whole matter or whole energy. Call one existence, earth, reality, whatever. Call the other God, heaven, the afterlife, Nirvana, or whatever you care to. That is what is there. Accept it and relax. Don't accept it and continue to worry and stress.

Existence

You or I have the capacity, as we live our mundane lives, at any given moment, to choose to open our eyes fully and to exist. Until we make that choice consciously, nothing really exists and we are adrift, without purpose or meaning. Clarity escapes us and we wander, seeking that missing "something" that we just know will complete our existence, but which we cannot define.

The Cup

Two acquaintances met, one older, one younger. They knew each other well and conversed, usually, freely. On this occasion, as they met, he offered her a drink. She agreed. and, when he brought the cups and pot in, he set them in front of her. Offering her a cup, he began to fill the cup. As it approached the top of the cup, he continued to pour. Soon the liquid overflowed the cup, yet he continued to pour. She yelled at him that he was intentionally spilling the beverage and overfilling the cup. He replied, simply, "Just as this cup is now full, so are you filled with beliefs and pre-conceptions. How are you to learn if you cannot empty your own cup?"

Self Worth

It seems rather apparent we are raised to believe that we are to make something of ourselves. Nothing wrong in that. Each person should have some sense of self-worth, of drive and need to accomplish something in life. Unfortunately, for many this seems to emerge as a goal that, as an individual, each person has to achieve some "fantastic" goal, be successful in and of him or herself. This leaves the mark of success.

I cannot understand how we came to this incredibly worthless point of view as a society. Many men and women achieve great wealth, live and die, and are forgotten. Why? Because they failed to be successful. How did they achieve anything? Making money and gaining power did nothing for anyone but that one person and that one only lived and died.

Success is affecting others. A successful life constitutes one in which you leave behind your good influence, traits, and marks on at least one other person. That could be an offspring, a relative, a friend or a business associate. It could simply be someone you had some momentary contact with but affected in some strong manner. It is that lasting affect that counts, not the fortune you may amass.

You can be well educated, poorly educated; you may be well-bred or ill-bred; the point remains the same. Those who are remembered are always those who influenced others. They are those few teachers who inspired us, the adults who supported us as children, the guides and mentors, the individuals each of us turned to for aid, assistance and guidance in life. without them we fall, stumble and fail, and those of us who never found these priceless few did just that.

For each of us, as we look back or forward in life, the real question must always be, what did we do, not for ourselves, not what did we accomplish in life, but who did I influence, who did I change or boast in life.