Zen Stories

When To Meditate.

Meditating two times a day is wrong!
Everyone has 24 hours. So, why would you want to remain aware for only two hours?
Everybody says, “I have no time to meditate”.
But you have 24 hours everyday.
You awake for twelve plus hours everyday.
If you don’t know how to meditate, you have 12 hours minus 12 hours.Thích Thông Trí, Thich Thong Tri, Hương Hãi, Huong Hai, zen, forest, meditation center, Thiền, thiền lâm, thien lam, thiền tự, thien tu
If you know how to meditate, you have 12 plus 12 hours. If you wake up, you have 12 times 12 hours.
If you stay awake, you have 12 to the power of 12.
It’s immeasurable. Your mind has superpowers.
Ask yourself: Where are you now? Are you 12 minus 12:
Everyone has 24 hours everyday. People rush around, they are busy all day, they get tired, they say they hate this world, and some commit suicide.
If you wake up and remain aware, it is awesome. You can laugh and you will die laughing.

One more Zen story…

Thích Thông Trí, Thich Thong Tri, Hương Hãi, Huong Hai, zen, forest, meditation center, Thiền, thiền lâm, thien lam, thiền tự, thien tuOnce a very lazy Zen monk sat down under an apple tree and then he put his hands behind his head and leaned back until he was lying on the ground.  And he kept his mouth open, waiting for an apple to fall, to drop right into his mouth, so then could eat it.
He waited like that for a long time, with his mouth open, until he got extremely hungry, with no apple to eat.
At that moment, he woke up.
And then he got up, picked a ripe apple off the tree, and ate it.

Conclusion

It’s hard to talk about Zen because it is like looking in the mirror.
Your mind has to be clear.
Can I eat for you?
There is no tomorrow.

Thích Thông Trí, Thich Thong Tri, Hương Hãi, Huong Hai, zen, forest, meditation center, Thiền, thiền lâm, thien lam, thiền tự, thien tu

You know the story about the guy who goes to a restaurant that has a sign that says “Tomorrow is free”?   He decides he won’t eat today and he goes to the restaurant the next day, orders a big meal, eats it all, and then gets up to leave.
The owner of the restaurant gives him the bill.
He points to the sign he say the day before.
The owner of the restaurant says, “That’s not today, it’s tomorrow.”
Tomorrow is free.
But tomorrow never comes.

 

It’s like the story of the rich guy who goes to a movie in a theater and drops a five dollar bill in the dark.  He finds a piece of paper in his pocket and lights it on fire, so he can see well enough to find the five dollar bill he dropped.  But then he finds out he is burning a two hundred dollar bill.

People who don’t know how to meditate are like that.  They are always chasing light, making money, and they don’t realize that you are born with no money or clothes and you die the same way.

They want a big house.  But their real house is a 3 feet by 6 feet, six feet under.

Maintain awareness in doing anything and everything you do.
Any action in life.
You still meditate.
The main thing is to practice.
That means meditate.
Meditation is like food.  If you don’t eat, you die.
Meditation is like breathing.  It is like your vitality.  You can’t live without them.
Otherwise, you are suffering, hurt, and finish your life submerged in suffering.
It’s like a pump in the pond surrounded by the ocean.
It’s like suicide.

Ven. Thich Thong Tri – Huong Hai Zen Forest.

 Thích Thông Trí, Thich Thong Tri, Hương Hãi, Huong Hai, zen, forest, meditation center, Thiền, thiền lâm, thien lam, thiền tự, thien tu

 

Teaching Buddhist Meditation.