Zen Story: On Oneness

There was once a holy man who lived in a state of ecstasy, but was regarded by everyone as insane. One day, having begged for food in the village, he sat by the roadside and began to eat when a dog came up and looked at him hungrily.
The holy man then began to feed the dog; he himself would take a morsel, then give a morsel to the dog as though he and the dog were old friends. Soon a crowd gathered around the two of them to watch this extraordinary sight.
One of the men in the crowd jeered at the holy man. He said to the others, "What can you expect from someone so crazy that he is not able to distinguish between a human being and a dog?"
The holy man replied, "Why do you laugh? Do you not see Vishnu seated with Vishnu?
Vishnu is being fed and Vishnu is doing the feeding. So why do you laugh, oh Vishnu?"

Note: This reminds me of the Vedic prayer before partaking food…
“Brahmaarpanam Brahma Havir….”

#zen #story #wisdom

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More from @zentosh

10 Jul
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An aging master grew tired of his apprentice’s complaints. One morning, he sent him to get some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.
“How does it taste?” the master asked
“Salty and awful,” said the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water,
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Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.
Months passed, and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

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6 Jul
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One day one person climbed up a mountain where a hermit woman was meditating.
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