The Story of the Donkey and the Tiger
The donkey told the tiger: ′′The grass is blue”.
The tiger replied: ′′No, the grass is green”.
The discussion became heated up, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration.
To do so they approached the lion, King of the Jungle.
Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne,
the donkey started screaming:
′′Your Highness, is it true that grass is blue?”
The lion replied: “True, the grass is blue”.
The donkey rushed forward and continued:
“The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me please punish him”.
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence”.
The donkey jumped for joy and went on his way, content and repeating:
′′The grass is blue”…
The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion:
′′Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied: ′′In fact, the grass is green”.
The tiger asked: ′′So why do you punish me?”
The lion replied: ′′That has nothing to do with the question
of whether the grass is blue or green.
The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave, intelligent creature like you
to waste time arguing with a donkey, and on top of that
to come and bother me with that question”.
Anonymous
The Chopsticks
Once upon a time, in a temple nestled in the misty end of south hill, lived a pair of monks. One old and one young.
“What are the differences between Heaven and Hell?” the young monk asked the master one day.
“There are no material differences,” replied the old monk peacefully.
“None at all?” asked the confused young monk.
“Yes. Both Heaven and Hell look the same.
They all have a dining hall with a big hot pot in the centre in which some delicious noodles are boiled, giving off an appetising scent,” said our old priest.
“The size of the pan and the number of people sitting around the pot are the same in these two places.”
“But oddly, each diner is given a pair of meter-long chopsticks and must use them to eat the noodles.
And to eat the noodles, one must hold the chopsticks properly at their ends, no cheating is allowed,” the Zen master went on to describe to our young monk.
“In the case of Hell, people are always starved because no matter how hard they try, they fail to get the noodles into their mouths,” said the old priest.
“But isn’t it the same happens to the people in Heaven?” the junior questioned.
“No. They can eat because they each feed the person sitting opposite them at the table. You see, that is the difference between Heaven and Hell,” explained the old monk.
Old Zen Parable