The forgotten meeting: Mullah Nasrudin, the main character of the Sufi tradition, had an appointment with an important philosopher in his village but ended up getting distracted by something else and didn’t arrive on time.
The philosopher, after waiting for some time, wrote the word “Irresponsible” on the door of Nasrudin’s home and went away.
Hours later, Nasrudin came home.
“So, did you forget our appointment?” the man shouted.
“Yes, I did forget and apologise. But as soon as I got home and saw that you left your name on my door I came immediately.”
Generosity and reward: Feeling sorry for Rabbi Jusya’s poverty, Ephraim placed some coins under his door daily. He noticed that the more he gave Jusya, the more money he himself gained.
Ephraim recalled that Rabbi Baer was Jusya’s master and thought, “If I am well-rewarded for giving to the disciple, imagine how much I will gain if I decide to support his master.”
He travelled to Mezritch and covered Rabbi Baer with gifts. From then on his life began to worsen and he almost lost everything.
Intrigued, he sought Jusya and told him what happened.
“It is very simple,” Jusya said. “While you gave selflessly, God did the same. But when you began looking for distinguished people to make your donations, God also began to do the same.”
Filling others’ cups: During a dinner at the Sveta Monastery, the eldest priest got up to pour water into the others’ cups. He went from table to table with effort, but no priest accepted it.
“We are undeserving of this saint’s sacrifice,” they thought.
When the old man reached Abbot Little John’s table, he asked the priest to fill his cup to the edge. The other monks looked at him horrified. After dinner, they reprimanded John and said, “How dare you deem yourself worthy of being served by a holy man? Didn’t you notice how much it cost him to raise the pitcher? Didn’t you notice how his hands trembled?”
“How can I hinder goodness to manifest itself?” John answered. “You, who deem yourselves perfect, didn’t have the humbleness to receive and the poor man didn’t have the joy of giving.”
The student who stole: During one of the Zen Master Bankei’s classes, one student was caught stealing. All disciples asked for the student to be expelled. Bankei didn’t do anything. In the following week, the student stole again, but Bankei still kept him in his class. Annoyed, the other students wrote a petition demanding the thief to be punished.
“How wise all of you are,” Bankei said as he read the plea. “You know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. You can study at any other place. But this poor brother, who doesn’t know right from wrong, has only me to teach him and I will keep doing it.” Tears poured from the thief’s eyes, who covered his face. His desire to steal had disappeared.
Translated by: Michelle Artimez