Zen Master in Prison

Zen Tales

A Master prefers Prison


A Zen master had formed a habit of indulging in petty theft. Someone's cheap, slipper or a spoon etc. 

The law was the law and the Master would confess to the crime and was convicted every time and therefore he spent most of his life in prison.

People were puzzled that, so great a master was so petty a thief.  The sentencing judges always said. that, "We know there is something more to this than we can understand, please enlighten us". The master simply smiled and always remained mum.  

The moment he would be out of prison he would steal again, and he would go back. 

After a few decades, the Master's end was near. All the people and the judges gathered around him to seek an answer. "Your end is near, at least now please tell us, why you did what you did?"


The master laughed and replied, "I steal to get in the jail and I did it for two reasons. First, to be with the prisoners and bring them the inner message."
Who will help them? Outside, for you all, there are many masters. But inside the jail, there is no master. Who will help them?

"Do they not need spiritual guidance? You will be surprised to learn, that I have found many innocent people and pure souls. Many of them much more innocent than the jailers and the people outside. 

I have converted the prison into a beautiful monastery with 2,000 inmates. 

The second reason is I need much time to meditate, but outside I cannot. The hordes of people keep on coming and I cannot be disrespectful by refusing to meet them. So I escape to the Prison where I get a lot of time to meditate. 


Such are the inexplicable ways of a true master.

This is good

This is good

There is a tale of an African king who had a childhood friend. That friend was a constant optimist, and no matter what happened in life, he always said the same thing: "This is good!" It occured that the king and his best friend went hunting, and on that hunting trip the friend would prepare the weapons and load the guns for his friend and king. But he misjudged, and while shooting, the gun exploded and took off one of the king's thumbs with it. The friend, seeing this, exclaimed: "This is good!" "How can this be good?" Fumed the king. "This is NOT good!". And upon their return, he ordered the friend thrown into the deepest jail cell. Some time later, the king went on another hunting trip, but not far from his destination, he was caught by a group of  cannibals, who took him back to their village to prepare a feast from his flesh. But, when they saw his thumb was missing, they sent him on his way, because it is bad luck to eat an unwhole person in their culture. Upon the king's return, he immediately had his friend freed, and as the friend stepped out of his jail cell, blinking at the light, the king said: "I am sorry my dear friend, you were right all along, it WAS good that I lost my thumb. It was wrong of me to put you in jail." "No, no!" Laughed the friend. "It was good!" "How can you say it was good?" The king was surprised. "Becuase if you hadn't, I would have been with you on this trip."