- Parable of Opportunities and Time
- “Maybe” – Parable of Wisdom
- Parable of Heaven and Hell
- Sharpen your saw!
- Dream of a butterfly
- The secret of Art
- Entering a Flow State
- I am building a temple
- Donkey in the well
- Secret of Happiness
- Everything God does is for the good!
- Two apples
- The Two Wolves
- The Burning Hut
- “This is good!”
- The Water Bearer
- A Cup of Tea
- Girl by the river
- Parable about Alexander the Great and Opportunity
- Wonder of Wonders
- Carry your cross. The parable of the uniqueness of fate
- In the same boat
- See the whole picture. Useful parable
- Who Am I? Zen Proverbs
- Be alive! A zen parable
- Happiness is a choice
- Socratic triple filter
- Timeless Wisdom: Rejoice Always! – A Powerful Zen Parable
- A Parable on Real Value and Self-Worth
A beautiful flowers
A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them.
For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house”.