Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince to a loving family. The kingdom was prosperous and the boy grew up with every need or want answered without question. As a young man he married a beautiful woman and they soon had a healthy baby. His life looked like perfection and yet he walked away from it in search of Enlightenment. This search led Gautama…
Saint Francis of Assisi believed that anyone could attain spiritual freedom. He spent his life going far beyond his comfort zone looking for those who had been neglected. He worked with the poor and the sick, sailed to dangerous lands, and even wrote songs and sermons to animals because he saw holiness in everyone. His conviction was so extreme that he was often characterized as…
Ekadanta means “one toothed’ and is another name for Ganesha. There are many stories about why he ended up with one tusk, ranging from defending his mother to breaking it off in a rage at the moon. Once broken, he used the tusk to write the Mahabharata. Most would say having part of your face…
Albus Dumbledore lived with perfect etiquette. Having learned early in life what his weaknesses were, he maintained humility in every interaction and worked to always see himself as no better and no worse than those around him. Living with such humility allowed him to exercise self-control when others acted poorly. Albus knew he could not…
Campaka was a wealthy Tibetan king consumed with the joys of his beautiful gardens. When a begging Yogin was not impressed, the king became curious about what was beyond the pleasures of his life and gardens. The guru instructed him to meditate upon “the flower of reality” to uncover truth. Campaka did this for many…
Koan found in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
Koan found in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
As a boy, Brahmananda preferred meditation and singing devotional songs to doing school work or playing with friends. As he grew so did his focus and he spent more and more time in silence. Trying to interest him in the world his family arranged a marriage, but this only led him to his teacher, Ramakrishna,…
Koan found in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones
Avalokitesvara is the bodhisattva of compassion. They appear in many Buddhist teachings of various sects, and are described in the Lotus Sutra as having 33 forms. This being decided to continue to be reincarnated until all sentient beings are free. The stories teach the importance of acting with compassion because Eternity can be found in…
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