A Zen Story For You

[BigBaBoo]

Looking through this topic I see many critical things said about "Religion". That's okay, I'm not Religious (Capital letter)...I'm religious (small letter) and call myself a student...not a practtioner you understand, a student...of Buddhisim and specifically Zen.
So anyhow, I'll post this story. If you don't like you are free to ignore it. I like the story, but if you don't...so be it.

It's called

Ryonen's Clear Realization

The Buddhist nun known as Ryonen was born in 1797. She was a grandaughter of the famous Japanese warrior Shingen. Her poetical genius and alluring beauty were such that at seventeen she was serving the empress as one of the ladies of the court. Even at such a youthful age fame awaited her.
The beloved empress died suddenly and Ryonen's hopeful dreams vanished. She became acutely aware of the impermanency of life in this world. It was then that she desired to study Zen Buddhisim.
Her relatives disagreed, however, and practically forced her into marriage. With a promise that she might become a nun aftr she had borne three children, Ryonen assented. Before she was twenty-five she had accomplished this condition. Then her husband and relatives could no longer dissuade her from her desire. She shaved her head, took the name of Ryonen, which means to realize clearly, and started on her pilgrimage.
She came to the city of Edo and asked Tetsugya to accept her as a disciple. At one glance the master rejected her because she was too beautiful.
Ryonen went to another master, Hakuo. Hakuo refused her for the same reason, saying that her beauty would only make trouble.
It was the custom for Japanese women at that time to straighten their hair with a hot curling iron heated by a chacoal fire.
Ryonen then obtained a hot iron and placed it against her face. With a sizzling noise and the smell of burning flesh Ryonen pressed the hot iron against her face. In a few moments her beauty had vanished forever.
When she went again to Hakuro, he then accepted her as a disciple.
To commemorate this occasion, Ryonen wrote a short poem on the back of a mirror. It read:

Once, in the service of my Empress I burned incense
to perfume my exquisite clothes.
Now as a homeless mendicant,
I burn my face to enter a Zen temple.

Ryonen became a Zen Buddhist nun, and taught many women about Zen.

When she grew old and knew she was about to pass out of this world Ryonen wrote another short poem:

Sixty-six times have these eyes beheld the changing scene of autumn.
Now have spoken enough about clouds and moonlight.
Ask me no more.
Only listen to the quiet voice of the Pines and Cedars when no wind stirs.

[DrB0b]

Ryonen obtained a hot iron and placed it against her face. In a few moments her beauty had vanished forever.

I once knew a girl who used to cut her arms with razor blades.

At one glance the master rejected her because she was too beautiful.

Hakuo refused her for the same reason, saying that her beauty would only make trouble.

Hmm, Those chaps don't sound particularly enlightened to me. Quite liked the story though, both times. I thought it was a pretty clear example that no matter what the religion is it's the psychologically damaged and bigoted who are attracted to it.

[Norton]

I thought it was a pretty clear example that no matter what the religion is it's the psychologically damaged and bigoted who are attracted to it.

Not so sure. Folks are "attracted" for all sorts of reasons. Psych damage and bigotry more likely after one has become an indoctrinated member of a particular religion.

[nidhogg]

So, abandoning your kids is OK and Masters are so shallow that they obviate everything the religion is about.

I'll pass.

How about a Mulla Nasruddin story instead:


Once Nasruddin bought some meat and asked his wife to prepare kababs. But his wife felt tempted and ate it all herself.

When asked, she blamed the house cat. The amount of meat being one kilogram, it was hard for Nasruddin to believe that a cat could eat so much.

So he weighed the cat on a balance. It weighed exactly one kilogram. Nasruddin exclaimed: ''If this is the same cat, then where is the meat? Or, if this is the meat, then where has the cat gone?''

[WilliamBlake]

Once, in the service of my Empress I burned incense
to perfume my exquisite clothes.
Now as a homeless mendicant,
I burn my face to enter a Zen temple.

I'll bet it rhymed a lot better in the original Japanese.

Sixty-six times have these eyes beheld the changing scene of autumn.
Now have spoken enough about clouds and moonlight.
Ask me no more.
Only listen to the quiet voice of the Pines and Cedars when no wind stirs.

This is quite good though.

Love it. Very Zen. For the doubters, Zen is more about philosophy than religion, and the monks who thought she was too beautiful were probably right. Ever tried to meditate on the sound of one hand clapping when there's a hot girl in the room?

[DrB0b]

Ever tried to meditate on the sound of one hand clapping when there's a hot girl in the room?

Frequently. It's the perfect opportunity to learn what one hand clapping really sounds like. (for those who haven't had the experience it sounds a little like "fap fap".)

[nidhogg]

LOL - nice of blake to set that up for you....

[Hampsha]

Religion is all about keeping hope in your heart so that you follow your dreams even though they are unattainable. In the end, most religious folks fall back to earth and die empty of hope like all the other animals.