Graceguts - Zen Story: Tigers and a Strawberry
The following is my all-time favourite Zen story, here translated by Paul Reps (Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1958, pages 22–23). See also “Relax” by Ellen Bass.
www.graceguts.com
“A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!”
——————
I’ve seen another telling that really emphasized that the person hanging on the side of the cliff is Doomed ! ! !
The point being that everything in life — the good, the bad, and the merely weird — it’s all temporary.
A chance to make a friend, and it seems promising, maybe take that chance. A chance to offer help to another human being in a respectful way, maybe take that chance, too!
