Author: Kentetsu Takamori

One of Śākyamuni’s greatest disciples, Cūdapanthaka, was dull by birth and unable to remember even his own name. One day Śākyamuni found him crying and asked him kindly, “Why are you so sad?”  Weeping bitterly, Cūdapanthaka lamented, “Why was I born stupid?”  “Cheer...

When the Zen Buddhist Monk Bankei (1622–93) was still an acolyte, every night he would sit in meditation. One morning after meditating he was resting by a stable when a samurai came along to train his horse. As Bankei looked on idly, it became apparent to him that the horse was out of sorts, and...

A certain philosopher was famous for his even temper. A woman who worked as his housekeeper for ten years swore that she never saw him so much as frown in anger.  One time a prankster offered to pay her if she could make her employer, a friend of his, lose his temper. The housekeeper thought...