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Cedar Gallery
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stories
Snow White and Rose Green Once upon
a time there were two sisters and one got married and one didn't. Suniti
Namjoshi
The Human Condition / Stop the Train The story is told of a man who, being late for a trip, arrived at a railroad station and jumped onto the first available train. Extenuated, he dozed off for a while and then upon waking up, saw the train rumbling along at full speed toward an unknown destination. He began querying everyone, complaining aloud and finally crying and shouting. He demanded that the train stop to let him off. The more excited he became, the more the other passengers, eerily silent and sowncast, seemed puzzled by his behavior. Finally a kind old man told him, "don't you know, this train has only one destination, the ocean depths from which no one ever returns." Once we are born, our final destination is death -- the deep ocean. Why fret and fuss? All we can do is to use our time on earth to develop the Bodhi-mind, seeking Enlightenment for ourselves and others From Thus Have I Heard, edited by Minh Thanh and P.D. Leigh
The Crow and the Pitcher A crow perishing with thirst saw a pitcher, and hoping to find water, flew to it with delight. When he reached it, he discovered to his grief that it contained so little water that he could not possibly get at it. He tried everything he could think of to reach the water, but all his efforts were in vain. At last he collected as many stones as he could carry and dropped them one by one with his beak into the pitcher, until he brought the water within his reach and thus saved his life. From Aesop Fables
Milarepa's Last Testament as told by Lama Surya Das After the
enlightened Cave-yogi and songmaster Milarepa left this world, a scrap
of rice paper was found inscribed with his handwriting. His ascetic
followers were astounded, for it stated that beneath a nearby boulder
was buried all the gold that ascetic Mila had hoarded during his life.
Similes of Ajahn Chah Lumber If you
don't bother to train your heart, then it remains wild, following the
ways of nature. It's possible to train that nature so that it can be
used to advantage. This is comparable to trees.
Crooked tree The essence of our practice is to watch intention and examine the mind. You must have wisdom. Don't discriminate. Don't get upset with others if they are different. Would you get upset at a small and crooked tree in the forest for not being tall and straight like some of the others? That would be silly. Don't judge other people. There are all varieties. No need to carry the burden of wishing to change them all. If you want to change anything, change your ignorance to wisdom.
Mulian In China people believed in a purifying life in the hereafter, complete with judges and warders, who could punish the dead for the sins they committed during their life. A well-known example of this is about the quest of Mulian, the disciple of the Buddha, who found his deceased mother. Mulian is
searching his mother. Therefore he has to descend through the porches of
the Yellow Wells, the residence of the dead, because his mother doesn't
live anymore. Mulian passes horrible purgatories. Finally he finds his
mother in the most deep hell, where her body is nailed down with 49 long
nails. The mother, who was sent to this hell because of sins she had
committed in former lives, is constantly hungry. The reason is, that her
neck grew so thin, that the food can't be swallowed. Besides, every time
when Mulian offers her food in the temple of the ancestors, flames light
it when the food arrives at his mother's mouth, so that she can't eat
it..
The life of the Buddha
Buddha was an Indian prince, who was born more than
2500 years ago on the slope of the Himalayas. During his youth, he was
surrounded by young and beautiful servants, and was living in three
luxurious palaces. He was well educated and prepared to be the King.
After his enlightenment, he started to turn the
Dharma wheel, teaching the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold path to
his followers. The Buddha passed away after over 45 years of teaching.
A feudal lord and Japanese cherry blossoms
There lived a feudal lord in the north
of Japan. He had his castle and had many Samurais serving for him. It
was in the beginning of spring. It was the top season for Japanese
cherry blossoms ( Sakura blossoms ). In fact, there were many cherry
trees around his castle, whose blossoms were in the full bloom. S.Y.
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