Simple Zen Stories and Cute Japanese Girls

Long ago a very beautiful young girl became pregnant. Her parents confronted the girl and very persistently asked of her the name of the father. To their surprise the girl indicated that in fact it was the old Zen Master named Hakuin--a man who was thought to be pure and spiritual above all others in the village. When the parents went to Hakuin and asked of him if indeed it was true, all he said was "Is that so?"

Hakuin now became a pariah of the village, and later, when the baby was born the parents took it and demanded of him that he take care of the baby since it was obviously his responsibility. All he said as he took the baby from them was "Is that so?"

After some time the young mother began to be bothered by her conscience, since it was a lie that she had perpetrated about the old Hakuin being the father of her baby. In fact the father was a young man who lived in the village also and who the girl was trying to shield. When the parents found out they went to Hakuin and with some embarassement they requested the return of the baby after explaining the true facts. All Hakuin said was "Is that so?" and gave them the child.

A Taoist story tells of an unfortunate elderly man who slipped and fell into a waterfall. People who saw this were concerned for the old man's life.

The old man, in a miraculous manner, came out unharmed at the part of the river far from the falls. When asked by those who had witnessed his fall, how he managed to live through such an experience, said "I adapted myself to the water, not the water to me. Without any thinking, I permitted myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the vortex, I came out with the vortex. This is how I lived through it."