Noticing that his father was growing old, the son of a burglar asked his father to teach him the trade so that he could carry on the family business after his father had retired.

The father agreed, and that night they broke into a house together. Opening a large chest the father told his son to go in and pick out the clothing. As soon as the boy was inside, the father locked the chest and then made a lot of noise so that the whole house was aroused. Then he slipped quietly away.

Locked inside the chest the boy was angry, terrified, and puzzled as to how he was going to get out. Then an idea flashed to him- he made a noise like a cat. The family told a maid to take a candle and examine the chest. When the lid was unlocked the boy jumped out, blew the candle, pushed his way past the astonished maid, and ran out. The people ran after him. Noticing a well by the side of the road the boy threw in a large stone, then hid in the darkness. The pursuers gathered around the well trying to see the burglar drowning himself.

When the boy got home he was very angry at his father and he tried to tell him the story; but the father said: 'Don't bother to tell me the details, you are here- you have learned the art.'

Source:
Bodhidharma painting from http://www.chinesecalligraphystore.com

A samurai came to see a famous teacher, hoping to become his student. He asked:

    "Master, perhaps you could tell me about heaven and hell?"

The old master simply said to him:

    "Why should I bother? Somebody as stupid as you could never understand!"

The samurai was seized by rage at this insulting old man and drew his sword to strike the man down.

   "That is hell!" said the master.

Realizing he had been given a great lesson, the samurai sheathed his sword and bowed deeply in gratitude

   "And that is heaven!", said the master

The Zen master Ryokan lived a very simple life in a little hut at the foot of the mountain. One night, when the master was away, a thief broke into the hut only to discover that there was nothing to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught the burglar. "You have put yourself to much trouble to visit me," he said. "You must not go away empty-handed. Please take my clothes and blanket as a gift." The thief, quite bewildered, took the clothes and slunk off.

Ryokan sat down naked and watched the moon. "Poor fellow," he thought to himself, "I wish I could give him the gorgeous moonlight."

Gudo was the emperor's teacher of his time. Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he was on his was to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he approached a little village named Takenaka. It was evening and a heavy rain was falling. Gudo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a farmhouse near the village he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the window and decided to buy some dry ones.

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

--- from 101 Zen Stories

Tanzan and Ekido were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't do near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"

"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

--- from 101 Zen Stories

A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: 'Have you ever read the Christian Bible?'
'No, read it to me,' said Gasan.

The student opened the Bible and read from St.Matthew:
'And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do the spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ... Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.'

Gasan said: 'Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man.'

The student continued reading: 'Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seekth findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.'

Gasan remarked: 'That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood.'

--- from 101 Zen Stories

Buddha told a parable in a sutra :

    A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to the 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 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 !

--- from 101 Zen Stories