Zen Weekly #1
Hypergrip
SuspectGermany Join Date: 2002-11-23 Member: 9689Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
SuspectGermany Join Date: 2002-11-23 Member: 9689Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
in Discussions
Hi guys.
Some days ago a friend of mine gave me a book with small stories about Zen masters. I found the stories to be quite entertaining and funny; and they also make you think. For every story the authors also wrote down reactions of people who read those stories; all those comments and interpretations had such a wide variety that I think this might just fit into this Forum.
I asked Nem0 about it and he said to give it a try, so here we go.
Every week I will post one of the short stories from the book and ask you to write down your comments on it. What do you think is the meaning of the story? Do you think people are acting right/wrong in the story? Have you experienced something similar yourself once? And so on...
So here we go with the first one, I hope you enjoy it:
---
A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you." After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "There," said the old man, "you can put me back now."
---
Some days ago a friend of mine gave me a book with small stories about Zen masters. I found the stories to be quite entertaining and funny; and they also make you think. For every story the authors also wrote down reactions of people who read those stories; all those comments and interpretations had such a wide variety that I think this might just fit into this Forum.
I asked Nem0 about it and he said to give it a try, so here we go.
Every week I will post one of the short stories from the book and ask you to write down your comments on it. What do you think is the meaning of the story? Do you think people are acting right/wrong in the story? Have you experienced something similar yourself once? And so on...
So here we go with the first one, I hope you enjoy it:
---
A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you." After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "There," said the old man, "you can put me back now."
---
Comments
nature is good as it is
well, would be great if you could bring some of the interesting answers if it isnt too much work <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
btw: first post in discussion forum <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
surely not the last
Something like "Don't try to change things so they apeal to you, change you mind so you see things' natural beauty"
Very good topic btw, I'm looking forward to the other stories <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Sonja / Solaris
But anyway the fact that the elder master lives in a temple is pretty ironic to me.
philosophie and english?!?!?!
i am just curious having seen that and some other posts of yours in this forum
<span style='color:white'>I'm going to study Applied Media and Communication Sciences, but what you see here is mostly result of my German powercourse in the final year of the German High School equivalent.
All praise to Mrs. Steinborn, who actually made text analysis seem entertaining.</span>
moral: have faith in yourself and do not let the opinions of others sway you.
Zen is very simple, and so is this message: Everything is as it should be.
Good things and bad things happen in life, but good and bad are only judgements that humans make; the things themselves are still viable regardless. The fact of the matter is that all things are part of life whether they are judged by us to be good or bad.
Further, life in its entirety is much more significant than the combination of all human minds past, present and future combined. Life is so much more. Just look around. Life cannot ultimately be controlled by our minds; it is beyond the scope of them.
If we sweep up the leaves of life, more will fall. The Priest sees beauty in nature, but the Zen master sees ALL of nature as beautiful; from the blossoming of flowers to the falling of leaves, to the decomposing of the dead. It is all beautiful and is all a part of the cycle of life. It is the way of things, and it is beautiful.
In the end, it is simply best to observe, enjoy, and embrace life, instead of trying to control it. Good things happen so cherish them. Bad things happen so learn from them; they are lessons. Everything is as it should be.
moral: have faith in yourself and do not let the opinions of others sway you. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I saw the story in a slightly different way.
What I saw in the story, aside from the obvious things already mentioned, was that the Priest was taking special care to make the garden appear meticulously groomed; yet when the old master shook the tree, leaves fell out of it (not only a few, but enough to cover the garden). What I took this to mean was that it is meaningless to put on a show for appearances' sake; rather, one should always be extremely vigilant and diligent instead of "cleaning house" only when there are guests, because without constant vigilance there will always be something that escapes attention.
After all, why were the weeds allowed to grow, if they were undesirable? Probably because of a certain amount of neglect.
The priest focused only on the outward appearance of the garden, without taking into consideration the deeper/higher significance behind his duty to "tend the garden." Imagine, for example, what might have gone through the priest's mind as the leaves showered down on the ground. First, he would probably be annoyed that all his hard work had been for naught. Then, he probably would have read deeper into the master's actions; just like he had overlooked the fact that the tree had leaves that were ready to fall (i'm pretty sure a stiff breeze would have done the same thing as the old master's shaking), he probably would have realized that while focusing on its individual aspects, he had lost sight of nature as a whole; that it is not a confined and manageable thing but rather organic, living, and changing.
*edit* addendum
*edit* clarity
moral 1: you cannot master something in one day (or an arbitrarily short amount of time); there must be dedication.
moral 2: to truly understand something you need to be able to view it from all perspectives, as well as know how it relates to all other things.
*edit* expanding upon that,
moral 3: there is always room for improvement.
and, on a lighter note,
moral 4: always be cryptic in your actions so you can look like you know what you're talking about <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The fact of the matter is that it is like an imitation of a forest. This is like the ideal of perfection of a human forest. Isn't that a little strange considering that a true forest is an actual forest? Why do we feel the need to abstract away the leaves, the small shrubs, the animals and leave trees planted in some sort of grid fashion?
In some sense, chaos is always there whether you'd like to believe it or not.
The only way he could assuage his vehement fury resulting from this was to lambaste the said tree.
P.S He says sorry.
1) The point of the garden is the gardening, not the garden itself. By "completing" it, the young priest had ended the enjoyment (for himself) of the garden.
or
2) the old priest was a vindictive git.
moral: have faith in yourself and do not let the opinions of others sway you. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very interessting view. I didn't think of that before, but you might be right.
The first meaning i found was, of course, the "nature has it's own beauty, but we usually don't see it" one. I think everyone has it's own picture of how a perfect something has to look; be it a garden, a picture or people. This is where all those casting shows come into my mind, when you see picuture labelled "This is <insert name here> at here first casting and now look at what a glamorous star she is now" and I think to myself "Well, on the first picture she actually looks cute, on the second one she looks like your everyday mindless pop-doll". I don't think it's actually a bad thing that we try to make things look better and more apealing to us, but quite a lot of times people miss the point by taking out things that are a vital part of the thing we want to improve... the "soul" if you will.
I also think this story wants to tell people that, no matter how hard you work, there always is room to get better. Or someone will show you that you might have missed your goal, because you were having a different picture in your mind. Be confident in yourself, but never be too satisfied with your work, or somebody might bring you down very quickly if you can't take critism.
Oh and never forget: Not every advice offered will result in a good thing for you <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Yeah, I inteded to have you guys discuss a few days and then post some of the reactions from the book so can compare those comments with your own and have something more to discuss before I post the next story.
Here are some of the reactions from the book:
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"It's not perfect to be perfect. It's a relief to remember that. But then I wonder, did the old master
feel jealous of the beauty created by the priest and seek to destroy it in the guise of teaching a
message? Trying to perfectly imperfect is egotistical too!"
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"We should try to see things as they really are, including their imperfections. THAT'S beauty."
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"Keep nature around! Don't try to sweep it away!"
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"Ah, a lesson from the Thoreau school of nature appreciation. People should make an effort to
put off the facades they project in everyday life. You should present yourself as freely as
possible and not feel so uncomfortable with your identity that you become something you are
not."
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"A person shouldn't get too preoccupied with the vanities of life, because something unexpected
will come along and shatter your ideals."
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"I wonder if cleanliness symbolizes emptiness, and if the leaves symbolize freedom. The old
man thought the leaves gave the yard a more practical, natural look. What in life is perfect and
always in order? When things are in order, there is nothing really to look at."
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
"Don't rain on anyone's parade! Give compliments where they belong and don't criticize so
much! Jealousy is a bad thing - don't take revenge out on others."
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ever hear somebody say, "Only you would think of something like that" Whether that thing is good or bad isn't the point. The point is that sometimes people do not see the message because they can only see themselves in the message. Like a mirror reflecting back at them they can only see themselves and not the actual mirror.
It would be like a person being asked the question "If Einstein took your physics test, would he pass?" and that person saying "No, he would fail. I'm sure of this because I failed".
I bring this up because people here and even in the quotes say something like "Well maybe the Zen Master was jealous of the priest and shook the tree to spread leaves" I'm not saying that its wrong to say this or that it could not possibly be true. It very well may be. But at the same time it begs the question: Does a Zen Master become jealous so casually or is it more likely that you are seeing yourself as the Zen Master and in seeing the achievement of the priest, you are feeling a little jealous?
When I read a Zen story, I make the assumption that it is about the rule and not the exception to the rule. I think this story is about Zen, not jealousy, anger, or greed which are not part of the foundations of Zen. If jealousy, anger, and greed are bleeding into your interpretations, you might want to ask yourself if you are looking at a mirror or looking into one.