Ancient Cultivation Stories

Ancient Cultivation Stories: Compassion

2006-08-14

The monk felt compassionate for him, but he couldn't find anything to give to the man. When he looked up, he saw the Buddha statue in the temple that he worshiped. He removed the gold ring on the back of the Buddha statue and gave it to the man, saying, "Take it and exchange it for some money."

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Stories from Ancient China: Gentlemen Hold No Worries or Fear

2006-08-03

Confucius had a disciple named Sima Niu, whose brother wanted to hunt down and kill Confucius because the latter had criticised his secret and illegal city wall construction. As a result, Confucius and his disciples could no longer stay in the Song Kingdom.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Cultivation of Speech

2006-07-26

During the time of Jiaye Tathagata, there was a young monk who sang well. Because of his abilities he usually looked down upon the other monks while singing songs of praise of the Buddha together with them. He believed that his voice was superior to others with its clear, rich and deep qualities. He behaved arrogantly and always demonstrated that he was extraordinary.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Between Life and Death

2006-07-21

The saint then created a tall tree with his abilities, and told the monk to climb up the tree, which the monk did. When the monk looked down from the top of the tree, he saw a pit extremely deep and wide next to the tree. The saint said, "Release your legs off the tree." The young monk obeyed. The saint then ordered him to free one hand from the tree, which he also did. When the saint told him to free the other hand, the young monk became frightened and said, "If I let go, I'll fall in to the pit and die."

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Becoming a Nun

2006-07-18

She was on the verge of collapse not knowing what to do with her lfie. As she was looking for a way to end her life, she came across monk Maudgalaputra (also called Mujianlian) and asked him, "I'm a person full of karma. The world is too horrible. I must be stuck in karmic relationships and that is why I've been living in this mud. Can you give me some advice, otherwise I have no other choice than to commit suicide?"

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: The Story of Loushajia's Poverty

2006-07-15

After the separation, the group with Loushajia's parents was still in a miserable situation, while the other group regained its prosperity. The unfortunate group divided among themselves into two groups again. After several divisions, Loushajia's parents were singled out. Everyone then realised they were the cause of the misery and thus expelled them from the village.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Letting Go of Illusive Sentimentality

2006-07-12

Balrampur was in the tropical area where there were many poisonous snakes. When he was outside of the city of Balrampur, he saw a father and a son working in the field. Suddenly a poisonous snake came out from the grass and bit the son. The son died shortly afterwards. The father was still working as usual and didn't seem to be affected by the death of his son.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: "Stupid" Mokelu

2006-07-11

In Morocco, in India, around 500 monks lived in a temple which was located six to seven miles away from the city. They were all strictly trained Picchu. Among them, there was one elder monk called Mokelu who was famous for his "stupidity." No matter how hard people tried to teach him anything, he still did not get it. He couldn't even recite a single Zen proverb and so all the 500 Picchu looked down on him. Nobody liked to be with him making him feel very lonely.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Modesty

2006-07-04

There once was a famous Buddhist monk in Japan. One day, he received a visiting scholar. This scholar was quite conceited and talked endlessly, narrating his own enlightening remarks to the monk. The monk patiently listened, and at the same time he poured tea for the scholar. The tea had already filled the cup but the monk did not stop, and the tea overflowed from the cup.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: The Unbiased Confucius

2006-06-22

As Chen Kang was oversensitive by nature, he always thought that Confucius did not pay attention to him because he was not a native resident of Kingdom Lu. Although Confucius seemed to treat all students the same during his lectures, Chen Kang still thought that Confucius did not care about him.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Strength Comes from Having No Desires

2006-06-20

Confucius replied, "So-called 'desires' do not necessarily mean craving for money. To put it simply, a selfish thought that makes one struggle to have an advantage over others is a desire. Although Shen Cheng is upright, he is fond of gaining superiority, and often becomes sentimental easily. This in itself is a kind of desire. How could a person like him be called strong?"

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Stories from Ancient China: Keeping A Pure Heart with Few Desires

2006-06-16

A pure heart with few desires, restraining greed and attachments is a principle a person that cultivates his heart should follow. The ancient sages said that only when a person cultivated himself, could he govern his state and stabilise the world. The king of Lugong cautioned the king of Weihui that a king's indulging himself would reduce his kingdom to ruins. The virtuous and gifted Prime Minister, Wei Zheng, once advised Emperor Tang Taizong to critically examine himself in ten aspects.

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Stories from Ancient China: Confucius's Viewpoint on "Praying"

2006-06-11

Wang Sungu was one of Confucius's disciples in the Kingdom of Wei. Even though he was a high ranking government official, Wang still called Confucius his teacher. One day Wang asked Confucius a question, "There is an old saying, 'It's smarter to please the God Au than to please the God Zao.' What do you think?"

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Stories from Ancient China: When Confucius Was Without Food

2006-05-28

Confucius (BC 551- 479) is regarded as one of the greatest teachers and philosophers in Chinese history and has had a very significant influence on Chinese morality and arts. In his latter years, he travelled with his students to various states (ruled by warlords) to spread his teachings but was not very well received at the time.

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Ancient Cultivation Stories: Avoid Quoting Out Of Context

2006-05-20

Youzi said, "That is not what teacher said." Zenzi replied, "I indeed heard this from teacher." Youzi said again, "This is not the remark teacher made." Zenzi said, "I heard this remark together with Ziyou." Youzi then said, "Teacher possibly did say this, but teacher must have said these words aiming at a specific matter."

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