THE MAN AND HIS HORSE
A monk slowly walks along a road when he hears the sound of a galloping horse. He turns around to see a man riding a horse moving towards his direction. When the man reaches closer, the monk asks, “Where are you going?”. To which the man replies, “I don’t know, ask the horse” and rides away.
THE TEACUP
There was once a well-educated, highly successful man who went to visit a Zen master to ask for solutions to his problems. As the Zen master and the man conversed, the man would frequently interrupt the Zen master to interject his own beliefs, not allowing the Zen master to finish many sentences.
Finally, the Zen master stopped talking and offered the man a cup of tea. When the Zen master poured the tea, he kept pouring after the cup was full, causing it to overflow.
“Stop pouring,” the man said, “The cup is full.”
The Zen master stopped and said, “Similarly, you are too full of your own opinions. You want my help, but you have no room in your own cup to receive my words.”
ELEPHANT AND THE PIG
An elephant was walking toward its herd after taking bath in a nearby river. On its way the elephant sees a pig walking towards it. The pig as usual was coming after a relaxing dip in muddy waters. It was covered in mud.
Upon approaching closer, the pig sees the elephant moving out of its way allowing the pig to pass. While walking past, the pig makes fun of the elephant accusing the elephant of being afraid of it.
It also tells this to other pigs standing nearby and they all laugh at the elephant. Upon seeing this, some elephants from the herd ask their friend in amazement, “Were you really afraid of that pig?”
To which the elephant replies, “No. I could have pushed the pig aside if I wanted to, but the pig was muddy and the mud would have splashed on me too. I wanted to avoid that, hence I stepped aside.”