I’m especially adept at the Waterfall, Door Stop and Downward Facing Cake 🙂
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Category Archives: Laughing Zen
Laughing Zen – The Floor Board
Master: “Please go and fetch me the best piece of pine wood that you can find.”
Disciple: “Yes Master. I will get the best one.”
some time later…
Disciple: “Master I have found the best piece of pine. It’s very fresh and strong.”
Master: “Hmm. No, not good enough. Try again. Go a little deeper into the forest.”
The disciple sets out again. He returns after an hour…
Disciple: “Master, I’m sure that this is the best piece of pine that there is.”
Master: “Hmm… close, but try to find one that is even better. Use your outdoor skills.”
Once again, the disciple goes out on what seems to be a wild goose chase. And then he realizes something…
Disciple: “Ah, this is clearly another test. No matter what branch I bring back, he’s just going to tell me to go find another one, then when I’m feeling completely hopeless, he will tell me that none of the branches are perfect. I’ll just grab another one that’s similar to the one I brought back before.”
He returns to the temple, but as he steps into the master’s den, he trips on the floor board by the door…
Master: “Oh, careful…. Hmm, yes, this one is good. Great! Thanks.”
Disciple: “???… Is that all? Isn’t there some lesson that you wanted me to learn or something?”
Master: “No, I just wanted to replace that floor board. I keep tripping on it every time I walk in here.”
Raising a Buddha – Jeffery
Mom: “Jeffery, I need you to go clean your room.”
Jeffery: “Sure, in a minute.”
Mom: “No, now!”
Jeffery: “Ok, I just want to finish this game first.”
Mom: “Jesus Christ, why don’t you ever just do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it?”
Jeffery: “Because I am not your thoughts”
(two weeks later, after coming off of being grounded)
Mom: “Is this seriously what you’re going to do with yourself all day? Just sit around on your little cushion, chanting your little buddhist scripture things that you learned in your philosophy class and contribute nothing to this house? Seriously, Jeffery, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?”
Jeffery: “When I am tired, I will sleep; when I am hungry, I will eat; When I am happy, I will laugh; when I am sad, I will cry.”
(Jeffery was grounded for a month)
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