Delia and James were a poor couple in their 20’s living in a modest apartment. They owned very little and took pride in two of their belongings: Delia’s beautiful hair and Jim’s gold watch. Delia wanted to buy her husband a gift, but the money never seemed enough. A day before Christmas, she was twenty … Read more
A True Story Without a Moral In Oriental Mythology, the second volume of his comparative study The Masks of God, the famous American mythologist and lecturer Joseph Campbell retells an amusing story. It concerns a Shinto priest and a Western sociologist who met at a conference in Japan in the late 1950s. The Japanese … Read more
Hara Tanzan was a Soto Buddhist monk who lived for most of the nineteenth century. He was well revered in life and even before his death, there were many stories retold about him. It’s hard to distinguish which of them are true and which are not. This, nevertheless, is the most famous one. Tanzan was … Read more
During the feudal Civil Wars of the nineteenth century, an army took over the control of a small and peaceful Japanese village. All of its inhabitants ran away – all, except an aged Zen master. The general of the conquering army was amazed to hear this and ordered his soldiers to spare his life and … Read more
One evening, as he was meditating, a young Tibetan monk suddenly noticed a small spider crawling slowly towards him from the corner of the ceiling. He tried to shake off his fear, but couldn’t do it, so he had to end his meditation early. He tried finding the spider afterwards, but the spider was nowhere … Read more
I. The Young Man Without a Purpose… Some time ago, a desperate young man headed towards a distant monastery to find a purpose in life. When he arrived, he explained to an elder monk: “I can find no pleasure in life. I am incapable of focusing. Everything bores me and I am easily tempted. Is … Read more
I. Confucius and the Power of Dreams It is often said that, in his later years, the great Chinese sage Confucius developed a habit of taking a short nap in moments of anxiety. Seconds after waking up, he would gather his pupils once again and share with them a resolution of profound wisdom. One time, … Read more
A Motivational Story About Dedication At the advice of his respected mentor, a young student of philosophy retreated to his room and decided to spend the rest of his life reading and studying. He was determined to find the answers to the most important questions in life. Every night, his mentor would visit him … Read more
It was a quiet night when the prayers of a Buddhist monk, famous for always telling the truth, were disturbed by the rustling of leaves in his front yard. Few moments later, a thief rushed into his room with a knife in his hand, asking for the monk’s money. “But, why would you interrupt me … Read more
Inspirational Story About Anger and Remorse Once upon a time, a samurai warrior named Nobushige traveled a long way to visit a wise Zen master in order to finally learn the answer to a question he had struggled with his whole life. “Are there Heaven and Hell?”, he asked immediately. “And may I know … Read more
There is a story about a man who, as he was passing some elephants, suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their … Read more
A boy had a goldfish. And the goldfish bowl got dirty with dirty water.So the boy approached his mother and asked “mom how should I clean this?” So his mom told him to fill the bathtub with clean water and move the fish there. And that’s with the boy did. After a few minutes the … Read more
A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop. The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike. The mechanic shouted across the garage, “Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?” … Read more
Here is a story about respect and the value of leadership… One day a man goes to a pet shop to buy a parrot. The assistant takes the man to the parrot section and asks the man to choose one. The man asks, ”How much is the yellow one?” The assistant says, ”$2000.” The man … Read more
Four young men sit by the bedside of their dying father. The old man, with his last breath, tells them there is a huge treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him crying, “where, where?”. But its too late. The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young … Read more
A man pulled up to a gas station in the country. He asked the gas station attendant, “What are the people like in the next town up ahead?” The attendant said, “What were the people like in the town you just came from?” “Awful people,” the man responded. “Rude, cold, hostile, abrupt, unfriendly. They wouldn’t … Read more
A contractor that I hired to to do some repair work had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw broke down, and now his old pick-up truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in total silence. On … Read more
A water bearer had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream … Read more
A successful executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street, going fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. All of a sudden, a brick flew and smashed into the Jaguar’s side door! He slammed on … Read more
Here is a time management story about airplane tickets. Consider for a moment the price of an airplane ticket. Each airplane has a limited amount of space. And the goal of the airline is to fill the airplane as much as possible. When an airplane leaves the gate with empty seats, the price of those … Read more