The Thief and the Master

Post sayings or stories from Buddhist traditions which you find interesting, inspiring or useful. (Your own stories are welcome on DW, but in the Creative Writing or Personal Experience forums rather than here.)
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Ngawang Drolma
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The Thief and the Master

Post by Ngawang Drolma »

One evening, Zen master Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras when a thief entered his house with a sharp sword, demanding "money or life". Without any fear, Shichiri said, "Don't disturb me! Help yourself with the money, it's in that drawer". And he resumed his recitation.

The thief was startled by this unexpected reaction, but he proceeded with his business anyway. While he was helping himself with the money, the master stopped and called, "Don't take all of it. Leave some for me to pay my taxes tomorrow". The thief left some money behind and prepared to leave. Just before he left, the master suddenly shouted at him, "You took my money and you didn't even thank me?! That's not polite!". This time, the thief was really shocked at such fearlessness. He thanked the master and ran away. The thief later told his friends that he had never been so frightened in his life.

A few days later, the thief was caught and confessed, among many others, his thieft at Shichiri's house. When the master was called as a witness, he said, "No, this man did not steal anything from me. I gave him the money. He even thanked me for it."

The thief was so touched that he decided to repent. Upon his release from prison, he became a disciple of the master and many years later, he attained Enlightenment.
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knubbins
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Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:05 am
Location: Cold Lake Alberta

Re: The Thief and the Master

Post by knubbins »

Thank you for this post, I really enjoyed this little parable. :thanks:
"Being mean is pretty silly dad, and not very fun."--My Oldest Daughter
zengammon
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Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:57 am
Location: Asia and California

Re: The Thief and the Master

Post by zengammon »

Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.

thanks,
John
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buddhaflower
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Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 5:50 pm

Re: The Thief and the Master

Post by buddhaflower »

Dear Ngawang Drolma,

I think this story is so wonderful :thanks:

Buddhaflower
superman7
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Re: The Thief and the Master

Post by superman7 »

Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.
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the seafarer
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Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:03 pm

Re: The Thief and the Master

Post by the seafarer »

Tenzin loves the story and thanks Ngawang Drolma for it. :smile:

Söpa wonders if both supermann7 and zengammon are John. :tongue:
superman7 wrote:Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.
zengammon wrote:Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.

thanks,
John
ཁོང་ཁྲོ་སློང་མཁན་མེད་ན། བཟོད་པ་སུ་ལ་སྒོམ།

When there is no one to provoke anger, how shall we practice patience?
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