One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he […]
The stone and the rose
A Zen master was walking in the forest with one of his disciples. They came across a big stone and a beautiful rose. The disciple asked the master, “Master, why is it that the stone is not beautiful and the rose is beautiful?” The master smiled and said, “Because you have the notion of beauty […]
The Monk and the bananas, by Paulo Coelho
A traveling friend decided to spend a few weeks in a monastery in Nepal. One afternoon, he entered one of the many temples of the monastery and found a monk smiling, sitting on the altar. – Why are you smiling? – my friend asked the monk. – Because I understand the meaning of bananas – […]
Flow like a river
There is the story of a young martial arts student who was under the tutelage of a famous master. One day, the master was watching a practice session in the courtyard. He realized that the presence of the other students was interfering with the young man’s attempts to perfect his technique. The master could sense […]
The Old Man and the Scorpion
One day, an old man was walking along a river bank when he saw a scorpion drowning in the water. He reached out his hand to save the scorpion, but the scorpion stung him. The old man withdrew his hand, but he did not give up. He tried again and again, but each time the […]
Enlightenment
One day, a monk asked his master, “Master, how can I reach enlightenment?” The master replied, “When you are hungry, eat. When you are tired, sleep.” The monk was confused and said, “But that’s what everybody does.” The master smiled and said: “That’s not true. When you’re hungry, you’re thinking about a hundred things. When […]
The machine of love
In a remote village lived peasants who worked the land from sun to sun. Their life was hard and monotonous, but they knew no other. Only one of them, Leo, dreamed of something more. Leo was a young inventor who spent the nights building a machine that would do the field work for them. One […]
The Story of the Starfishes
One morning, an elderly man was walking along the beach when he noticed a young boy picking something off the sand and throwing it into the sea. As he got closer, the man realized the child was throwing stranded starfishes that had washed up on the shore back into the breaking waves. Approaching the boy, […]
A little wave
A little wave was bobbing along in the ocean and was having a grand old time. He was enjoying the wind and the fresh air as it traveled– until he noticed that all the other waves in front of him were crashing against the shore. “Oh My God, this is terrible,” The little wave thought. […]
Latif’s story, by Jorge Bucay
Latif was the poorest beggar in a middle eastern village. Every night he slept in the hall of a different house, facing the city’s central square. Every day he lay under a different tree, his hand outstretched and his gaze lost in thought. Every afternoon he ate from the alms or the crumbs that some […]