It was a hot afternoon in the Jetavana Grove. The air stood still, and the only sound was the monotonous chirping of the cicadas. But the silence within the monastery was soon to be broken. Two monks stood facing each other in the courtyard. Their faces were flushed with anger. "You have disregarded the rules! I saw it clearly!" shouted one of the monks, whose name was Kassapa. He was the accuser. "That is not true! You do not understand the situation at all, and you accuse m

At the edge of a small village lived Takeshi. One windy day, his student Hiroshi came to him and said, “I feel that my soul is wild and stormy, unable to find rest—like the crashing surf of the ocean. How can I find peace?” Takeshi smiled and said, “Come, let us go to the sea.” So they walked together to the shore, where the waves pounded against the coast. Takeshi pointed to the raging ocean and said,“Look, Hiroshi—this is like your soul: wild and restless, stirred by though

A monk asked the master:“If there is no self,why do you care for posture, breath, and the body?” The master took a simple clay bowl, rinsed it and placed it before the monk. The bowl was empty. The master went to the well, filled it with water and handed it to the monk. “Drink.” After the monk had drunk, the master turned the bowl upside down on the table. The master said: “Precisely because it is empty,it can hold clearly.” The monk asked: “And if it breaks?” The master repl