Story No. 26
Pleasure and the tongue
A Zen master was resting with one of his disciples. At one point, he took a melon out of his bag and cut it in two so that both could eat it. While they were eating, the disciple said: 'Wise master, since everything you do has a meaning, perhaps your sharing this melon with me is a sign that you have something to teach me.' The master continued eating in silence. 'Your silence obviously conceals a question,'the disciple insisted, 'and it must be this: does the pleasure I am experiencing in eating this delicious fruit reside in the melon or in my tongue?' The master said nothing. The disciple went on excitedly: 'And since everything in life has meaning, I think I am close to finding the answer to that question: the pleasure is an act of love and interdependence between us, because without the melon there would be no object of pleasure and without my tongue…' 'That's enough!' said the master. 'The real fools are those who think themselves terribly intelligent and spend all their time trying to interpret everything. The melon is delicious, and that's enough, now let me eat in peace!'
Story No. 27
El Greco and light
One pleasant spring afternoon, a friend wentto visit the painter El Greco. To his surprise, he found him in his studio with all the curtains closed. El Greco was working on a painting which had as its central theme the Virgin Mary, and he was using only a single candle to light the room. His bemused friend commented: 'I had always been told that painters need sunlight in order to select the right colours. Why don't you draw the curtains?' 'Not now,' said El Greco. 'That would disturb the brilliant fire of inspiration inflaming my soul and filling everything around me with light.'
Story No. 28
How to level out the world
Once when Confucius was travelling with his disciples, he heard tell of a very intelligent boy living in a particular village. Confucius went to see and talk to him and he jokingly asked: 'How would you like to help me do away with all the irregularities and inequalities in the world?' 'But why?' asked the boy. 'If we flattened the mountains, the birds would have no shelter. If we filled up the deep rivers and the sea, the fish would die. If the head of the village had as much authority as the madman, no one would know where they were. The world is vast enough to cope with differences.' The disciples left feeling greatly impressed by the boy's wisdom, and as they journeyed towards the next town, one of them commented that all children should be like that. Confucius said: 'I've known many children who, instead of playing and doing the things appropriate to their age, were busy trying to understand the world. Not one of those precocious children did anything of any great significance later in life because they had never experienced the innocence and healthy irresponsibility of childhood.'
Story No. 29
The importance of knowing names
Zilu asked Confucius: 'If King Wen were to ask you to govern the country, what would your first action be?' 'I would learn the names of my advisers.' 'What nonsense! That is hardly a matter of great concern to a prime minister.' 'A man cannot hope to receive help from what he does not know,' replied Confucius. 'If he does not understand Nature, he will not understand God. In just the same way, if he does not know who is at his side, he will have no friends. Without friends, he will be unable to draw up a plan. Without a plan, he cannot direct anyone's actions. Without direction, the country will plunge into darkness, and even dancers will not know which foot to put down next. So an apparently banal action - learning the name of the person at your side - can make an enormous difference. The besetting sin of our time is that everyone wants to put things right immediately, and they forget that in order to do so you need a lot of people.'
Story No. 30
The city and the army
According to legend, when Joan of Arc was marching towards Poitiers with her army, she came across a boy playing in the middle of the road with some earth and twigs. 'What are you doing?' asked Joan of Arc. 'Can't you see?' replied the boy. 'This is a city.' 'Excellent,' she said, 'now if you will please leave the road, my men and I need to get past.' The boy got angrily to his feet and stood before her. 'A city does not move. An army might destroy it, but the city itself stays where it is.' Smiling at the boy's determination, Joan of Arc ordered her army to leave the road and go around the 'city'.
Continued...