chilli Posted July 23, 2007 (edited) Ace's thread gave me the idea to start a thread where people can share parables and life illustrations that they come across and mean something to them. I think for this kind of thing it would be best if there was no discussion or feedback without adding a story at the same time, that way people will know there is a new parable whenever the thread updates and not just me starting an argument I will start it off with this Zen parable: Knowing Fish One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves." "You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves." "You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?" Edited July 23, 2007 by IllegalBrain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted July 23, 2007 Here is a parable from the Principia Discordia, the Sacred Chao, the five pointed monkey apple HAIL ERIS FNORD! ZEN STORY by Camden Benares, The Count of Five Headmaster, Camp Meeker Cabal A serious young man found the conflicts of mid 20th Century America confusing. He went to many people seeking a way of resolving within himself the discords that troubled him, but he remained troubled. One night in a coffee house, a self-ordained Zen Master said to him, "go to the dilapidated mansion you will find at this address which I have written down for you. Do not speak to those who live there; you must remain silent until the moon rises tomorrow night. Go to the large room on the right of the main hallway, sit in the lotus position on top of the rubble in the northeast corner, face the corner, and meditate." He did just as the Zen Master instructed. His meditation was frequently interrupted by worries. He worried whether or not the rest of the plumbing fixtures would fall from the second floor bathroom to join the pipes and other trash he was sitting on. He worried how would he know when the moon rose on the next night. He worried about what the people who walked through the room said about him. His worrying and meditation were disturbed when, as if in a test of his faith, ordure fell from the second floor onto him. At that time two people walked into the room. The first asked the second who the man was sitting there was. The second replied "Some say he is a holy man. Others say he is a shithead." Hearing this, the man was enlightened. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nabraxas Posted July 23, 2007 When i was 14 i helped sail a yacht across from dover to calais. the weather turned nasty & the waves picked up. Each wave we hit would travel the whole length ov the boat & dump a serious load ov freezing cold sea water on us. I had no decent waterproofs & was soaked to the bone. The waves were so constant that the sea water would just finish dripping off you when another wave would dump it's load on you. I was seriously unhappy & basically on the point ov hysterically crying. It was then that i had a moment ov enlightenment. Crying wasn't going to change anything & certainly wouldn't make me feel better so i decided i might as well laugh. So I laughed, at first it was forced, then a wave crashed down on me & the whole situation took on a rediculous slant, the laughter became genuine, another wave crashed down, truely this was an hysterically funny position to be in, another wave, HA.. Do your worst, I was actually beginning to enjoy it. I guess i learned that there are times when you can choose to cry or laugh at what the world throws at you, & it's much better to laugh. Trite, I know, but i was only 14. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chilli Posted July 29, 2007 Wow, like all my ideas this one is off to a great start! Thanks Apothecary, that was... enlightening. Nabraxas, everything sounds trite when it has a moral attached to the end of it, but your story is cool. I wish profound things happened to me that I could turn into allegories. In Dreamland "Our school master used to take a nap every afternoon", related a disciple of Soyen Shaku. "We children asked him why he did it and he told us: 'I go to dreamland to meet the old sages just as Confucius did.' When Confucius slept, he would dream of ancient sages and later tell his followers about them. "It was extremely hot one day so some of us took a nap. Our school master scolded us. 'We went to dreamland to meet the ancient sages the same as Confucius did', we explained. 'What was the message from those sages?' our school master demanded. One of us replied: 'We went to dreamland and met the sages and asked them if our schoolmaster came there every afternoon, but they said they had never seen any such fellow.'" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
