Zen Story#2

A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him.

Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge.

The tiger sniffed at him from above.

Trembling. the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine.

The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.

How sweet it tasted!

From Zen flesh, Zen bones compiled by Paul Reps

A soldier named Nobushige came to the Zen monk Hakuin and asked: ”Is there really a paradise and a hell?”

“Who are you?” inquired Hakuin. ”I am a samurai”, the warrior replied.

“You, a soldier!” sneered Hakuin, “What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? You look like a beggar”. Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword.

Hakuin continued: “So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably to dull to cut off my head.” Nobushige drew his sword.

Hakuin remarked: “Here open the gates of hell!”

At these words the samurai, perceiving the master’s discipline, put away his sword and bowed.

“Here open the gates of paradise“, said Hakuin.

From Zen flesh, Zen bones compiled by Paul Reps.

My wife and I once had our early morning mediations punctuated daily by the sound of an automobile horn announcing to our neighbour that his ride to work had arrived.  I was increasingly irritated by this and one day said to my wife, “if I had powers, I’d give that guy four flat tires.”

“That,” said my wife, “is why you don’t have powers.

Her remark moved me to serious contemplation, and a few day s later I announced, “If I had powers, all I’d really do is burst his horn.”

“That’s a bit better,” she said.

Further serious contemplation.  One morning I declared, “I’ve got it! If I had powers, I’d see that his horn didn’t work in this neighbourhood.”

“That’s a bit better yet,” she said.

I was now quite puzzled, because I thought I had finally discovered the “right action.”

At last I realized, “if I had powers, I wouldn’t be distracted by that horn.”

“Yes,” said my wife.

In an article for the BBC Today program, entitled The gunfighter’s dilemma, Tom Feilden reported on the latest research into this phenomena:

“In the real world, logic dictates that the gunslinger who draws first has a clear advantage. In a duel to the death, where every second counts, a head start should make all the difference.But we all know Hollywood’s answer: In the movies the hero always waits for the man in the black hat to move first, securing the moral high ground, before beating him with superior quick-fire skills.

This confirms the expectation of Danish physicist and Nobel laureate, Niels Bohr, who liked to take time off from figuring out the structure of the universe by watching westerns. Bohr noticed that the man who drew first invariably got shot, and speculated that the intentional act of drawing and shooting was slower to execute than the action in response.

Here was a hypothesis that could be tested, and with the aid of cap guns hastily purchased in a Copenhagen toyshop, duly proved it. In a series of mock gunfights with colleagues Bohr always drew second and always won.

According to Manjit Kumar, the author of Quantum, Bohr’s prowess as a gunslinger was such that his victims wrote a ditty about him.

On pistols and lead, now Bohr had to prove

The defendant is quickest to move.

Bohr accepted the challenge without a frown

He drew when we drew, and shot each one of us down.

This tale has a moral, tho’ we knew it before.

It’s foolish to question the wisdom of Bohr.”

For Japanese sworsdmen this was never a matter of conjecture.

Bokuden, like many samurai warriors of that time, was traveling around Japan to test his martial skills. One day, when crossing lake Biwa on a ferry boat crowded with passengers, he was challenged by a ruffian, who in a loud manner had been boasting about his skill with the sword. Only Bokuden, feigning sleep appeared to ignore the braggard. Rudely waking Bokuden the ruffian demanded to know, “What practice school are you from, what is your sword style?”

Bokuden calmly replied that his style of fencing was the “mutekatsu” style. He explained it was the highest form of skill possible with a sword , for it relied on the use of no hands.

“Rubbish” shouted the ruffian, “How can your sword defeat me if you don’t use your hands?”

Now enraged, the ruffian demanded that the conflict be settled immediately by a duel. Bokuden agreed, but to save injury to any passenger, suggested that the ferryman row them to the nearest island, which was in the centre of the lake.

As soon as the boat touched the beach, the ruffian leapt ashore and brandishing his sword yelled at Bokuden to come and show his “no hands style” of fencing.

At this Bokuden stood up and removed his jacket in preparation for the fight. But to the great surprise of all, especially the swordsman waiting on the shore, Bokuden quickly grabbed the oar from the ferryman and pushed the boat back into the lake. As he did, he called out in a calm and clear voice to the ruffian, now stranded by his anger and haste, “That is how the no-hands style defeats its opponents”.

For warriors like Bokuden, who practised the art of swordsmanship, this was the acme of skill. To defeat an opponent with the sword was to give death, to defeat them without using the sword was to give life.

[Excerpted from the book Classical Budo by Donn F. Draeger]

Sanguine

The Sanguine temperament personality is fairly extroverted. People of a sanguine temperament tend to enjoy social gatherings, making new friends and tend to be quite loud. They are usually quite creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean very sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic. Often, when pursuing a new hobby, interest is lost quickly when it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much people persons. They are talkative and not shy. For some people, these are the ones you want to be friends with and usually they become life long friends. Sanguine can be sometimes emotional.

Choleric

A person who is choleric is a do-er. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instil it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. They like to be leaders and in charge of everything.

Melancholic

A person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very considerate and get rather worried when they could not be on time for events, melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art – and can become occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist. They are often self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is sometimes they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

Phlegmatic

Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators. However they can also be very passive and aggressive.