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.
The Thief and the Master
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- Founding Member
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Re: The Thief and the Master
Thank you for this post, I really enjoyed this little parable.
"Being mean is pretty silly dad, and not very fun."--My Oldest Daughter
Re: The Thief and the Master
Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.
thanks,
John
thanks,
John
- buddhaflower
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Re: The Thief and the Master
Dear Ngawang Drolma,
I think this story is so wonderful
Buddhaflower
I think this story is so wonderful
Buddhaflower
Re: The Thief and the Master
Those dang Bodhisattvas are just a little tooo clever. It might irritate me if I wasn't so thankful.
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Re: The Thief and the Master
Tenzin loves the story and thanks Ngawang Drolma for it.
Söpa wonders if both supermann7 and zengammon are John.
Söpa wonders if both supermann7 and zengammon are John.
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?
When there is no one to provoke anger, how shall we practice patience?