Spiritual Practice
Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 120
Quick intros to Hindu classics
The Vedic texts of the Hindus were among the first texts ever written down, and some of the longest. The Mahabharata is the keystone epic and it goes on an on, an endless soap opera of gods, kings, loves, feuds, monsters, wars, good and evil, and spiritual lessons. The hundreds of long Indian names can exhaust a westerner’s patience fast. While I lived in India I found the easiest way to get into these stories was via the cheap comic book versions sold on every newsstand. Bright colors, action-packed, simple story-line and in English, these are the same comics that tens of millions of Indian kids also start with. The true classics are published by Amar Chitra Katha, the Marvel of Vedic literature. You can purchase these graphic novels online from the importer below. Some students have scanned the entire Ramayana comic online to give you a sense of what you have been missing. — KK
Pocket parables
Zen riddles. No answers. A tiny “big joke” book. — KK
A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
The Moon Cannot Be Stolen
Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal. Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me, ” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away. Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, ” I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”
Muddy Road
Tanzan and Ekio were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
“Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself.
“We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”
Calling Card
Keichu, the great Zen teacher of the Meiji era, was the head of Tofuku, a cathedral in Kyoto. One day the governor of Kyoto called upon him for the first time.
His attendant presented the card of the governor, which read: Kitagaki, Governor of Kyoto.
“I have no business with such a fellow,” said Keichu to his attendant. “Tell him to get out of here.”
The attendant carried the card back with apologies. “That was my error,” said the governor, and with a pencil he scratched out the words Governor of Kyoto. “Ask your teacher again.”
“Oh is that Kitagaki?” exclaimed the teacher when he saw the card. “I want to see that fellow.”
Teaching the Ultimate
In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.
“I do not need a lantern,” he said. “Darkness or light is all the same to me.”
“I know you do not need a lantern to find your way, ” his friend replied, “but if you don’t have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it.”
The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him. “Look out where you are going!” he exclaimed to the stranger. “Can’t you see this lantern?”
“Your candle has burned out brother,” replied the stranger.
Best modern translation
Despite what has been said, the United States is not at war with terrorism in general, but with militant fundamental Islam; a clash of civilizations. At the heart of Islam is the Quran, and at the heart of the Quran is very difficult to translate oral poetry. Indeed Muslims often declare that the sheer beauty of the original Arabic verses is evidence of its divine origins. Translations of any sort are thus suspect, and so the English world is without great Quranic texts. Among the older, stiffer, and formal English translations, I have been unable to find a version with extensive annotations, a concordance, or even a decent modern paraphrase. For a book influencing current events to such an extant, this vacancy is a deep loss.
Your best bet to encounter the Quran — an effort I believe is essential these days — is via a recent translation by Thomas Cleary. Straightforward, unadorned, yet vibrant, this is the best modern English translation of the Quran to date. — KK
- The Rolling Up
- In the name of God, the Benevolent, the Merciful
- When the sun is rolled up
- and when the stars fall lusterless
- and when the mountains are blown away
- and when the pregnant camels are neglected
- and when the wild beasts are herded
- and when the oceans are flooded
- and when the souls are matched
- and when the infant girl who was buried is asked
- for what offense she was killed;
- And when the pages are opened,
- and when the sky is stripped
- and when the blaze is fired up
- and when the garden is drawn near
- each soul will know what it has brought about.
- Yes, I swear by the planets that recede,
- run, and disappear,
- and the night as it darkens
- and the dawn as it breaks
- that this is the word of a noble messenger,
- endowed with power, his rank established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne
- obeyed and faithful there.
- So your companion is not insane —
- he saw him on the clear horizon.
- And he isn’t grudging with the unseen;
- and this isn’t the word of an accursed devil.
- So where are you going?
- This is a message to all peoples,
- for any of you who want to be upright.
- But you won’t want to unless it is the will of God, Lord of the universe.
