5 wonderful Buddhist short stories that will make you wiser

Buddhism comes from the word “budhi”, which means wake up. For that reason, Buddhist philosophy is considered the philosophy of the “awakening process”. A process by which we not only open our eyes, but also the rest of the senses and our intellect, fully through different ways such as Buddhist micro-stories.

With these five Buddhist short stories, we encourage you to leave apathy behind, develop greater understanding, and become a wiser person.. We hope you enjoy them and express the wisdom they contain.

The cup of tea

“The professor arrived at the Zen master’s house and introduced himself boasting of all the titles he had achieved in his long years of study. After, The professor commented on the reason for his visit, which was none other than to learn the secrets of Zen wisdom.

Instead of explaining, the teacher invited him to sit down and served him a cup of tea. When the cup overflowed, the wise man, apparently distracted, continued pouring the infusion so that the liquid spilled over the table.

The professor could not help but draw his attention: “the cup is full, there is no more tea,” he warned him. The teacher put the teapot aside to state: “You are like this cup, you arrived filled with opinions and prejudices. Unless your cup is empty, you cannot learn anything.”.”

The first of these five Buddhist micro-stories teaches us that with a mind full of prejudices it is impossible to learn and take into consideration new beliefs. It is necessary to “empty ourselves” of old precepts and be open to new teachings.

The gift

“Buddha was transmitting his teachings to a group of disciples when a man approached him and insulted him, with the intention of attacking him. Faced with the expectation of those present, Buddha reacted with absolute calm, remaining still and silent.

When the man left, One of the disciples – outraged by such behavior – asked Buddha why he had let that stranger mistreat him in that way.

Buddha calmly responded: “If I give you a horse but you don’t accept it, whose horse is it?”. The student, after hesitating for a moment, responded: “If I didn’t accept it, it would still be yours.”

Buddha nodded and explained that, Although some people decided to spend their time giving us insults, we could choose if we wanted to accept them or not, as we would do with any other gift. “If you take it, you accept it, and if not, the person who insults you keeps the insult in his hands.”

Buddhist monks and beautiful woman

“Two Buddhist monks, one old and one young, were walking outside the monastery, near a stream of water that had flooded the surrounding area. A beautiful woman approached the monks and asked them for help to cross the swamp.

The young monk was horrified at the idea of ​​carrying her in his arms, but the old man naturally took her and carried her. to the other side. Afterwards, the monks continued walking.

The young man could not stop thinking about the incident and finally exclaimed: “Master! You know that we have sworn abstinence. “We are not allowed to touch a woman like that.” How could you take the beautiful woman in your arms, let her put her hands around your neck, her breasts against your chest, and carry her through the swamp like that? The old man replied: “My son, you still carry it on you!”

The third of these Buddhist micro-stories helps us understand that sometimes we carry the past, with emotions of guilt or resentment, and we make it heavier than it really was. By accepting that the incident is not part of our present, we can remove a great emotional weight from our shoulders.

Intelligence

“One afternoon people saw an old woman looking for something on the street outside her hut. What’s going on, what are you looking for?, they asked him. “I lost my needle,” she said. Everyone present began to look for the needle with the old woman.

As time went by, someone commented: The street is long and the needle is very small, why don’t you tell us exactly where you dropped it? Inside my house – indicated the old woman.

Have you gone crazy? If you dropped the needle inside your house, why are you looking for it outside? – they told them. Because there is light here, but not inside the house, she decided.”

The room of Buddhist micro-stories reminds us that many times, for comfort, we look outside for what resides within us. Why do we look for happiness outside of ourselves? Have we lost it there?

We are not the same

“No one like Buddha developed benevolence and compassion in his time. Among his cousins ​​was the evil Devadatta, who was always jealous of the teacher and determined to make him look bad, even willing to kill him.

One day when Buddha was walking quietly, his cousin Devadatta threw a heavy rock at him from the top of a hill. The rock fell next to the Buddha and Devadatta did not manage to end his life. Buddha, even realizing what had happened, remained impassive, without even losing his smile.

Days later, Buddha crossed paths with his cousin and greeted him affectionately. Very surprised, Devadatta asked: “Aren’t you angry?” “Of course not”, Buddha assured.

Without coming out of his astonishment, Devadatta inquired: “Why?” AND Buddha assured: “For you are no longer the one who threw the rock, nor am I the one who was there when it was thrown.”.

Buddhist short stories adapted by Mar Pastor

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