Zen Story for Presence and Gratitude Amidst Stress

Stories are more helpful than intellectual explanation in terms of describing the present moment.

You cannot get outside of it to describe it.

Intellectual descriptions inherently place the present moment in the future or past.

By talking about it,

We separate ourselves from it,

As if we could somehow stand at a distance from the present moment,

From life,

To understand life.

But this separation is an illusion.

Stories can help you feel the moment directly,

As it's happening,

As it's always been happening,

As it always will be happening,

Only ever now.

So I'll share with you a parable attributed to the historical Buddha.

The thinking mind will inevitably try to make sense of it,

But there is no sense to be made.

So you might give yourself permission to not try so hard.

See if you can just stay at the level of feeling.

Pure meaning resides at the level of feeling.

So here's my own retelling of the story.

A woman traveled through a forest into an open field.

A tiger emerged from the trees not far behind.

As their eyes met,

The woman ran for her life,

And the tiger chased after.

A cliff approached,

And her only option was to grab a vine and swing over the edge.

Hanging,

She looked below to find a second tiger,

Eagerly awaiting her descent.

Two mice,

One black,

One white,

Began nibbling at her life-preserving vine.

Soon there would be nothing.

A strawberry growing out of the cliff caught her attention.

One hand grasping the dangling vine,

She plucked the strawberry with the other and ate it.

How sweet it tasted.

The woman hangs from the cliff.

Hungry tigers awaiting.

On either side,

There is no escape.

And yet,

Here's this strawberry.

How sweet it tastes.