[vluc]

Hiyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery. He told his disciples that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed. Placing a water vase on the ground, he asked "Who can say what this is without calling its name?"

The chief monk said "No one can call it a wooden shoe."

Isan, the cooking monk, tipped over the vase with his foot and went out.

Hyakujo smiled and said, "The chief monk loses." And Isan became the master of the new monastery.

The truth, here symbolized by the water vase, cannot either be told nor not be told, it can only be shown.

[benos]

That's a classic.
Keep 'em comin'!
be

[John Dunn]

This Zen stuff reminds me of a conversation my brother and I were listening to as teenagers. Someone said something, and I couldn't decide whether it was profoundly wise or was stupid, but sounded cool.

I looked at my brother and said, "That's deep."

My brother thought for a while, and said with just a hint of sarcasm, "Bottomless."

Cracked me up then, and now. I guess I'm a little too concrete (read: dense) to get all the Zen nuances, but I keep trying.

[SiG Lady]

Touch of Zen + Double Entendre = priceless

[AikiDale]

Another classic which relates to shooting.......

After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot. "There," he said to the old man, "see if you can match that!" Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow's intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. "Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target. "You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."

[benos]

Another of my favorites!

[mas]

Ok, here's one that relates to shooting quite well....I don't remember it verbatim and I'm not around my texts, so I'll give it a go with what I recall.

A monk is hanging from a tree branch that overhangs the nadir of a canyon...it's a far drop! Another man comes up and asks him "Where is Bodhidharma?" If you were the monk, how would you answer?

Answer: Let go and scream KATZ! The answer is in the letting go....

[bernmart]

Here's one of my favorites, though it's very well known:

Two monks came to a river crossing; a recent flood had washed out the bridge, and it was necessary to wade across. A noble lady stood by the riverbank, not knowing how to proceed. One monk bowed, picked her up, carried her across the river, put her down, bowed, and continued on his way. After a while he turned to his companion and asked why he seemed so concerned: "We are monks," said the other, "and we're not to touch women."

"Ah!!," said the first monk. "That is the difference between us. I put her down when we all crossed the river. You're still carrying her!"

Lots of implications for shooters, or for those trying to improve in any skill.

[AikiDale]

Welcome bernmart.

( I just couldn't let that go..........)

[short_round]

mas, on Dec 11 2003, 08:25 AM, said:

I don't remember it verbatim and I'm not around my texts, so I'll give it a go with what I recall.

This is from the Mumonkan or "The Gateless Gate" which may be found here with commentary. Other sites are easily googled with "mumonkan".

mas' man in the tree is may be found under Case 5 and vluc's vase may be found under Case 40. I believe there are 48 total koans in this work.

[mas]

From my own study of Korean Zen Buddhism, it is said that all the koan (or kong-an) practice one needs is found within the "10 Gates." It does appear that when one attains an understanding of these 10, other koans are also attained. I'm still stuck on the "cigarette man." Anyone ever heard this? I think I'm getting close to the answer, but still have yet to "get it."

[sanzen]

actually, the master asked about what the truth of the vase is. A vase is an object made to hold water. in zen thought, reality is a composition of the relationship between the subject and the object. By tipping the vase over, the objective truth could no longer perform its subjective function, and by leaving the room, and removing the subject altogether, the monk illustrated that the vase was nothing but the manifestation, of theconditions of the object(physical material) and the subject (creator of its use)