Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

I will review four stories from the book “Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.” by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.
This is a collection of 101 zen stories
These stories have to do with Buddhism. There are different characters in each story. These stories have a thing in common and that is to teach. In these stories, the characters want to achieve or have achieved enlightenment. They want this because they want to end their problems. Some are in the process of succeeding. Others, it seems have felled to achieve this enlightenment. I have numbered these stories, so you could find them later. I will provide the web address at the of the review.
67. What Are You Doing! What Are You Saying!
There was a master whose name was Mu-nan. He had only one successor, and his name was Shoju. As they were talking before a brazier, Mu-nan wanted his successor to take over and also to take a book with him. This book was important because in it were all the writings of other masters. Also, it was handed over from master to master. As Shoju took it, he through it into the flames. The teacher asked, “What are you doing!” Shoju asked his master, “What are you saying!” It seems that after so many years of being a teacher, the older man did not learn one of the most important things. This is that In Buddhism, material things should not be important. I agree with that. The Things that someone says should not always come from a book, but they should come from someone’s hart. Furthermore, it is possible that people will get much more from a person’s hart than from a book.
82. Nothing Exists
Yamaoka Tesshu was a young student of Zen. He believed that nothing existed. After studying with different people he called Dokuon of Shokoku. As he told Dokuon of Shokoku what he had learned, MR. Shokoku was smoking when suddenly he hit the young student and asked him where did that anger come from.
First of all, I wonder where did the student learn that nothing existed? Also, why would he think that he had reached enlightenment? This is taking something to the extreme. If I am not wrong, the first Buddha did this and it did not work. This story makes me think of the middle way. I also think that this story could expand a person’s mind. for example, Lets take the young man of this story. From now on, he will be more careful, and he will ask questions if he did not used to do it.
83. true friends
This story is about two friends. one who would play the harp and sing, and the other would listen. This happened until the listener got sick and died. The harp player cut the strings from his harp and never played again. Talk about selflessness! What I got out of this story was that this harp player was devastated. It seems as if he wanted to honor his friend by doing something big. That something was not playing again. Today, many people are not willing to go to that extreme if they were to experience something like that. I believe that a little is too much these days.
87. Three Kinds of Disciples
A Zen master named Gettan, used to say: "There are three kinds of disciples: those who impart Zen to others, those who maintain the temples and shrines, and then there are the rice bags and the clothes-hangers." Another person whose name was Gasan thought the same thing. In this story he says that his teacher used to beat him. Because this teacher was so severe, some students would quit. Gasan then said, “A poor disciple utilizes a teacher's influence. A fair disciple admires a teacher's kindness. A good disciple grows strong under a teacher's discipline.” I used to have a teacher in high school. Although she never hit me, she was really bad when it came to helping out students. I had to stay in the class until she left. This experience made me stronger as a person. I have learned that people could learn from bad experiences. I don't know how this is a Buddhist text but this story reminds me of the first Buddha. He experienced bad weather, and he did not quit. He went through so much, and he learned a lot. I would have to say that these stories make a person think. They could change a person, and he or she could start to be more loving, caring, and many other things. This could lead to people helping one another. I would say that if people started to do this, more people would make their dreams become a reality. I was just reminded of what a person told me a few years ago." read whatever you find even if it is something not interesting. This person has changed his mind since then, and I never took his advice. I always check the title of things, and I read the first few pages. If I don't like what I am reading, I stop doing it.
These stories could have been better if they could have been expanded a bit. I did not like the fact that they were very short. If this would not have happened, I would not be asking myself questions. Also, My comments would had been much better. I would definitely recommend this book to others because it is inspiring.
Go to,
www.101zenstories.com