Reality is Fabulous

Work • Pope John XXIII came from peasant origins. He once explained, "In Italy, there are three ways of losing one's money — women, gambling, and farming. My father chose the most boring of the three." By the way, when Pope John XXIII met a group of refrigerator salesmen, he said, "You are welcome though our jobs are distinct and far apart. Ours is to warm hearts." Zen • Here are some Zen anecdotes: 1) When some Western Zen students asked Zen master Taisen Deshimaru what people should do in their everyday lives, he replied, "Work, go to the toilet, eat; whatever you like." 2) Zen master Muso Kokushi (1275-1351) had high praise for his student, the shogun Takauji, saying that Takauji put in long hours of meditation even after a night of heavy drinking. 3) Zen master Soen Roshi sometimes played tricks on his Western Zen students. He would invite students to a sutra-chanting contest, then at its conclusion tell them there was no one winner because "Everyone is best!" 4) Zen master Soen Roshi was eccentric. He took the Zen motto of Bodhidharma — "Nothing holy" — seriously, so he sometimes conducted the tea ceremony using soda or coffee instead of tea. 5) A famous Zen poem by P'ang Yun ends with the lines, "My supernatural power and marvelous activity: / Drawing water and chopping wood." Zen • Here are two Zen stories: 1) At the end of his life, Zen master Ikkyu told his disciples, "After my death some of you will seclude yourselves in the forests and mountains to meditate, while others may drink sake and enjoy the company of women. Both kinds of Zen are fine, but if some become professional clerics, babbling about 'Zen as the Way,' they are my enemies." 2) Zen Master Takuan Soho was dying, so his disciples asked him for his last words. At first, Takuan Soho said that he had no last words, but his disciples really wanted a last message from him, so he picked up a paintbrush, wrote the character for "dream," and then died.