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The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension


Shoun & His Mother

Shoun became a teacher of Soto Zen. When he was still a student his father passed away, leaving him to care for his old mother.

Whenever Shoun went to a meditation hall he always took his mother with him. Since she accompanied him, when he visited monasteries he could not live with the monks. So he would built a little house and care for her there. He would copy sutras, Buddhist verses, and in this manner receive a few coins for food.

When Shoun bought fish for his mother, the people would scoff at him, for a monk is not supposed to eat fish. But Shoun did not mind. His mother, however, was hurt to see others laugh at her son. Finally she told Shoun: "I think I will become a nun. I can be vegetarian too." She did, and they studied together.

Shoun was fond of music and was a master of the harp, which his mother also played. On full-moon nights they used to play together. One night a young lady passed by their house and heard music. Deeply touched, she invited Shoun to visit her the next evening and play. He accepted the invitation. A few days later he met the young lady on the street and thanked her for her hospitality. Others laughed at him. He had visited the house of a woman of the streets.

One day Shoun left for a distant temple to deliver a lecture. A few months afterwards he returned home to find his mother dead. Friends had not known where to reach him, so the funeral was in progress.

Shoun walked up and hit the coffin with his staff. "Mother, your son has returned," he said.

"I am glad to see you have returned, son," he answered for his mother.

"Yes, I am glad too," Shoun responded. Then he announced to the people around him: "The funeral ceremony is over. You may bury the body."

When Shoun was old he knew his end was approaching. He asked his disciples to gather around him in the morning, telling them he was going to pass on at noon. Burning incense before the picture of his mother and his old teacher, he wrote a poem:

For fifty-six years I lived as best I could,

Making my way in this world.

Now the rain has ended, the clouds are clearing,

The blue sky has a full moon.

His disciples gathered around him, reciting sutra, and Shoun passed on during the invocation.


  


A Buddha
A Cup of Tea
A Drop of Water
A Letter to a Dying Man
A Mother's Advice
A Parable
A Smile in His Lifetime
Accurate Proportion
Announcement
Arresting the Stone Buddha
Black-Nosed Buddha
Buddha's Zen
Calling Card
Children of His Majesty
Eating the Blame
Eshun's Departure
Every-Minute Zen
Everything Is Best
Finding a Diamond on a Muddy Road
Fire-Poker Zen
Flower Shower
Gisho's Work
Great Waves
Gudo and the Emperor
Happy Chinaman
How Grass & Trees Become Enlightened
How To Write a Chinese Poem
If You Love, Love Openly
In Dreamland
In the Hands of Destiny
Incense Burner
Inch Time Foot Gem
Is That So?
Joshu's Zen
Just Go To Sleep
Kasan Sweat
Killing
Learning To Be Silent
Midnight Excursion
Mokusen's Hand
Muddy Road
My Heart Burns Like Fire
No Attachment to Dust
No Loving-Kindness
No Water, No Moon
No Work, No Food
Non-Attachment
Not Far from Buddhahood
Nothing Exists
Obedience
One Note of Zen
Open Your Own Treasure House
Publishing the Sutras
Real Prosperity
Reciting Sutras
Right & Wrong
Ryonen's Clear Realization
Shoun & His Mother
Sleeping in the Daytime
Soldiers of Humanity
Sour Miso
Stingy in Teaching
Storyteller's Zen
Teaching the Ultimate
Temper
Ten Successors
The Blockhead Lord
The Dead Man's Answer
The First Principle
The Gates of Paradise
The Giver Should Be Thankful
The Last Poem of Hoshin
The Last Rap
The Last Will & Testament
The Living Buddha & the Tubmaker
The Moon Cannot Be Stolen
The Most Valuable Thing in the World
The Real Miracle
The Silent Temple
The Sound of One Hand
The Stingy Artist
The Stone Mind
The Story of Shunkai
The Subjugation of a Ghost
The Taste of Banzo's Sword
The Tea-Master & the Assassin
The Thief Who Became a Disciple
The True Path
The Tunnel
The Voice of Happiness
Three Days More
Three Kinds of Disciples
Time to Die
Tosui's Vinegar
Trading Dialogue for Lodging
True Friends
True Reformation
What Are You Doing! What Are You Saying!
Your Light May Go Out
Zen Dialogue
Zen in a Beggar's Life

 Collection of Stone and Sand from 13th & 20th Century Japan From Zen::Koans