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“How do I reach enlightenment?” a student of zen asked.

“By reaching a state of nothingness.” the zen master replied.

“How do I get to that state?” the student asked.

“Nothingness is complete emptiness.” the master explained. “As long as there’s still some goal you want to reach, or anything else you’re clinging to, as long as there’s anything there, however subtle, it will prevent emptiness.”

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“This year I have really enjoyed life.” a zen student said.

“What did you do?” the zen master asked.

“First, I went skydiving.” the student said. “Then I went to the North pole, then the desert. Then I did scuba diving and then, you won’t believe this, I went to…”

The master interrupted him, waving his hand and asked: “During all this, when did you have time to enjoy life?”

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“What is zen?” a zen student asked.

The master took out an empty box and showed it to the student. Then, he closed the lid.

“What do you think is inside the box?” the master asked.

“Nothing, of course.” the student replied. “Unless you’re a magician.”

The master took an apple, placed it in the box and closed the lid.

“Now, what do you think is inside the box?” the master asked.

Bored, the student sighed: “Well, an apple would be my first guess.”

Taking the apple out of the box, the master said: “See? Reality is like an empty box. Inside of it is whatever you place in it.”

“But of itself?” the student asked. “It’s empty?”

The master smiled and ate the apple.

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how to write haiku:

take emptiness

and put it into words

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A student of zen asked: “?”

The zen master said: “…”

The student thought about this a little while, then realized: “!”.

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“Could one say that doing zen meditation is like going to heaven?” a zen student asked.

“No.” was the zen master’s bold reply.

“Isn’t zen meditation escaping life’s troubles and turmoil?” the student asked.

“What escape?” the master said. “Zen means accepting reality as it presents itself.”

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stop running

after dreams

and get real

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A zen monk asked: “If you had to choose between one piece of gold now or one thousand pieces of gold next week, which would you choose?”

“I’d have the thousand pieces of gold next week.” the master replied calmly.

Surprised, the monk asked: “I would have thought you would like the one piece of gold right now. What about being in the moment and all that?”

“You made me choose between two imaginary amounts of gold.” the master said. “What does it matter which one I choose?”

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how deep the ocean

and how deep blue

the sky

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