Stories of the Masters: Simple Questions
Wisdom tales for enlightenment
I love spiritual stories, especially from Zen and Taoism. These stories can typically be recited or read in a single sitting. They contain and focus on self-contained incidents and occasionally a series of linked incidents. The intention of these stories is to offer a message or lesson or evoke introspection or mood. These stories may be told in the form of folk tales, legends, mythic tales, fables, and or anecdotes often told by respected teachers, masters, sages, or gurus.
Story #1
One of my favorite stories is of a spiritual seeker who was looking to create a formal relationship with a Teacher.
A young woman was introduced to a particular teacher who arranged an interview with her. When they met for the first time, the teacher thanked her for allowing him to be interviewed by her. He also thanked her for the opportunity to be her teacher. The story begins…
“When the interview began, the young seeker was expecting the master teacher to ask her questions about her life, her spiritual interests, etc., but instead, he stated why it was inappropriate for him to be her teacher. He stated, “If you are seeking a teacher for the sake of study, for the sake of greater development of your intellectual understanding of The Wisdom Path, then I don’t think you need me as a spiritual teacher at all. You can study all this with all kinds of teachers. It’s like going to university. You study with different professors, and you go on to what is next. If you wish to commit yourself to the path of self-knowledge, ruthless introspection, clarity of thought, emotional balance, compassion, and contentment, then a teacher may be necessary because you will need to transcend illusion in order to be able to practice wisdom in action. If ruthless introspection and transcendence are what you seek, then I hope to serve you.”
Story #2
In this story, an acclaimed spiritual teacher had been teaching his students about meditation, introspection, contemplation, mysticism, and ethics for years. His students generally disliked him since he constantly belittled their intellect and seemed to brag about doing so.
One day, a young teenage girl mustered up the courage to attend his talks. At the end, she asked him a simple question: “How does one gain wisdom?”
This seemed to catch the teacher off-guard. He didn’t know what to say. After sitting quietly for a while, he explained that he didn’t know the answer to her question, since his focus was on inner knowledge and not epistemology.
The girl was surprised, “You seem to talk about how smart you are and how dumb we are, but you can’t answer the simple question of how one gains wisdom?!!”
The room burst into laughter.
The next day, the teacher engaged in an intense conversation with the same young woman. He explained, “The only reason I couldn’t answer your question yesterday was because I didn’t have time to think about it. Otherwise, the answer is simple: You gain wisdom from introspection. In fact, this is the only way to gain wisdom.”
The girl smirked, “Are you sure? If we can only gain wisdom by thinking on our own, then why are we listening to you?”
The teacher smiled and sat speechless. Again, the class erupted in laughter.
On the third day, the young woman returned. The teacher waved at her gently as if greeting an old friend. He addressed her with a soft voice and an air of great humility. He spoke to the room while looking at her, “I apologize to all of you for having been so arrogant over the years. I hope you can all forgive me. This young woman has taught me an important lesson: You can gain wisdom from others.”
The young woman was pleased to hear this and began to gloat. The teacher saw that and asked her. “What’s on your mind?” She responded with an aggressive and disrespectful tone. “You are a fool. I know far more than you ever did, and you should not be teaching this class since there is nothing more you can teach me.”
The teacher smiled again and responded, “Really? I was about to teach a third way to gain wisdom that neither of us had mentioned. But I guess you can tell us.”
The girl immediately regretted her boastful outburst, but she knew intuitively that she was about to learn an important lesson, “I can’t…” The room became silent, except for a few snickers from newer students, who were arrogant and unwise but also had a sense of what was coming. After an embarrassingly long and uncomfortable pause, she asked, “What is it?”
Compassionately and kindly, the teacher responded, “You can gain wisdom from experience. The experience of being embarrassed in front of this room for boastfulness has reminded me of humility. I hope it teaches the same to you, too.”
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Confucius said, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” There are other ways to gain wisdom, but I think these three are a good start.
Story #3
This old classic story, which is told in many different spiritual traditions, is about mental and lustful attachments.
Two monks are on a long journey to a monastery when they come across a stream they must ford. On the bank of the stream, they find a beautiful young lady who, with trepidation, is trying to cross the stream but finds the force of the water daunting. On seeing the monks, she asks if they can help her.
The older monk gestures to the girl to hop on his back. The three of them cross over to the other bank, where the girl thanks them and leaves on her path. As the monks continue, the younger monk is troubled by thoughts until he finally blurts out: “Brother, I can’t believe you did what you did. As celibate monks, we’re not supposed to even look at women, and you took her on your back”.
The older monk quietly replies, “I left her on the other bank. Are you still carrying her?”
Here is a great story @wordsmithwriter
Here is a story from the archives @LewisCoaches
Author: Lewis Harrison is a best selling author and a student of essential Zen and Mystic Taoism.
For a decade, Lewis was the host of a humor-based Q & A talk show on NPR (National Public Radio) affiliated WIOX FM in NY.
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