Some Favorite Teaching Stories

A king decided to visit his minister of state. On arriving at his house the king was informed that the minister was meditating, and had left instructions not to be disturbed under any conditions. The king accepted this, and said he and his guards would wait. After a short while the minister entered the room, and ...

A man suffering from great depression became a patient of Freud, while the latter was practicing in Vienna. After many weeks, frustrated by the lack of improvement in his patient, Freud said to him, “I’ve got an idea that may help you a lot. Last night I went to see Bozo the clown, who’s performing ...

One day while the Buddha was teaching his disciples, a woman approached. Refusing to accept her baby’s death, she carried its body in her arms. “Can you perform a miracle, and bring my baby back to life,” she asked the Buddha? “Certainly,” the Buddha replied, “but first, I’ll need you to find me some mustard ...

One day it was discovered on a remote island in the Caspian Sea a monastery that had been out of touch with the main body of the Eastern Church for as long as anyone could remember. Consequently, the Church sent an emissary to the island to make sure the monks still adhered to the correct ...

A disciple asked his superior why their teacher did not believe extended fasting was spiritually beneficial. The superior replied their Guru said mortification of the body not only weakened it, but could also interfere with the kind of intense meditation they practiced. The disciple responded that he had heard their Guru had actually fasted when he ...

A monk kept praying to God, “Lord, when will you forgive me my sins.” For years this was the basis of all of his prayers. Over and over he repeated this prayer, “Oh Lord, when will you forgive my sins.” Finally, one day he heard the voice of God reply, “When you stop committing them.”

A young man who had bitter disappointments in life went to a remote monastery, and said to the master, “I am disillusioned with life, and wish to attain enlightenment. I need to be freed from these sufferings. But I have no capacity for sticking long to anything. I could never endure long years of meditation, ...

In a faraway land at the foot of a sacred mountain in the town of Agora, there lived a very unusual man named Amos. What made him so unusual was that though outwardly he seemed a poor and simple cobbler, Read More… he also led a secret life. By day Amos worked meticulously at his craft, ...

In old Japan two towns existed; they had very different values, and were in constant judgement of one another. Once, two teenagers from the opposing villages fell in love, and the girl became pregnant. They couldn’t admit this to her family. So, she blamed it was a monk in the monastery on the hill overlooking ...

Passing by a temple in a small village, a beggar, exhausted from a day of fruitless begging, went in to rest for a while. In a dim spot near the altar he sat quietly. In time the village mayor entered, and knelt before the altar. He prayed, “Lord I need your help because our village has ...

A famous Christian monastery once attracted many visitors, as well as a constant stream of would-be acolytes. With time, however, disputes broke out among the brethren, and the the monastery’s image became tarnished. Fewer and fewer visitors came, and instead of acquiring new recruits, the monastery lost veteran monks. The situation went from bad to ...

The Buddha said, “When I first came, certain questions you asked me, whose answers I felt you weren’t ready to hear, so I remained silent. Now that you are ready, and I wish to answer, but no one asks.”

Rabbi Susya, an extremely wise and venerable man, lay on his death bed surrounded by family and disciples. Suddenly he sat straight up, and said; “I just had a vision in which I visited the world to come, and met all the great sages and saints from the past. What surprised me was they didn’t ask, ...

It is said that there are people in the world so poor that God can only be brought to them in the form of bread.

A farmer who was a very devout man, and who had never missed a holy day at church, became trapped at home by a raging snow storm. Unfortunately this took place on an especially important holiday. No matter how hard the farmer tried he couldn’t travel the roads, as they were all impassable. The next day ...

In a monastery one evening, two monks sat quietly smoking cigarettes. One monk turned to the other and asked, “do you think it is right for us to be sitting here smoking during meditation?” “I don’t know,” said the second monk, “ why don’t you ask your superior and I’ll ask mine?” They agreed, and the ...

A Sufi was at home one day when his friend, Abdullah, ran in. “You must lend me 50 kopeks immediately,” he said. “I was just in a café in the market place when I suddenly saw the angel of death. He stared straight at me! I’m sure he’s come to take me, so I need to ...

A master traveling the back roads of India came to a small village, and decided to spend the night. The villagers were so hospitable and nice to him, that the next morning, while getting ready to leave, he said to them, “I am, in fact, a great magician. As you were so kind to me, ...

A turtle, standing on the shore of a lake, was readying himself to cross. Just then a scorpion approached and begged, “I need to get across the lake—please let me hitch a ride on your back.” Horrified, the turtle replied, “Are you crazy, you’re my mortal enemy! if I do that you’ll sting me, and ...

One night two mice were playing on the rafters in a barn. Getting a little too excited and careless, they slipped and fell into a large bucket filled with milk. Swimming around desperately, they realized their situation was hopeless, and that they would never get out. At this point one of the mice gave up, ...

A monk said to his teacher one day, “With great regret, I must leave the order. Recently I’ve thought about my life, and concluded that, since I am in my heart a sinner, there is really no hope for me to attain enlightenment. So it’s useless for me to go on.” Smiling, the teacher replied; “Don’t ...

A Guru asked a monk why he’d come to him—what was his question? The monk replied, “I have been searching for God for many years with no results. I have heard from many that you know the way to him. Will you help me?” “If that’s true, and you really wish to struggle to find ...