SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

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  • The Foolish Question

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    A man sought to attain the “Dao”, so he went to visit a Zen(Chan) master, asking to become his disciple. To test the man’s insight, the master asked: “Right now, I have something and yet have nothing. How do you explain this?”

  • Polishing a Brick to Make a Mirror

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    One day, seeing Mazu Daoyi (later a renowned Chan master) sitting rigidly in meditation for hours, his teacher Huairang decided to challenge him.

  • Shenhui’s awakening under the Sixth Patriarch

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    In his childhood, Shenhui studied classics and history under a teacher, mastering the philosophies of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Later, after reading the Book of the Later Han, he encountered Buddhism and devoted himself to its teachings.

  • Bodhidharma chooses his successor

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    In 536 BC, Bodhidharma felt it was time to depart. He gathered his disciples and said, “Share your understanding of enlightenment.”

  • The Legend of Huike’s Enlightenment

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    After leaving Nanjing, Bodhidharma, also known as Da Mo in Chinese, crossed the Yangtze River and arrived at the Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain. There, he sat facing a wall all day, concentrating deeply and withdrawing from all worldly concerns.

  • When Bodhidharma meets Emperor Wu

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    Bodhidharma, also known as Da Mo in Chinese, was the 28th patriarch of Indian Buddhism and the first patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism.

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 81

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    Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Dao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Dao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that…

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 80

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    In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them; I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it).Though…

  • Dao De Jing – Chapter 79

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    When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the other)?Therefore (to guard against this), the sage keeps the left-hand portion of the record of the engagement,…