Buddhist Texts

The storyOutside the Palace Gate — A prince rides out and sees something new.

The storyA Bowl of Rice — A girl brings food to a tired man under a tree.

The storyAcross the Monkey King's Back — Eighty thousand monkeys need a way across the river.

The storyFour Friends and a Gift — The hare comes back with nothing but an idea.

The storyThe Little Bell — A small bell rings, and a whole room goes quiet.

The storyThe Swan and the Two Cousins — A swan falls from the sky, and two cousins both run to it.

The storyThree Baskets on a Shelf — A monk explains why the old books were once stored in three baskets.

The storyFive Hundred in a Cave — Five hundred monks sit in a cave, and one of them begins, "Thus have I heard."

The storyOne Last Look — At midnight a prince looks once at his sleeping baby son and then rides away.

The storyThe Mustard Seed — A mother carrying her sick child goes door to door looking for a mustard seed.

The storyFour Questions at the Clinic — A doctor looks at a sick patient and asks four questions in a row.

The storyA Verse on the Mirror — A girl copies one Dhammapada verse onto a card and tapes it to her mirror.

The storySweet Tea for a Tiny Statue — Children line up in a temple full of flowers to pour tea over a very small statue.

The storyA New Temple in a New City — A family leaves a camp in 1944 and helps build a temple in Chicago.

The storyRegret Carved in Stone — After a terrible war, an emperor orders his words cut into rock for everyone to read.

The storySeventeen Years on the Road — A Chinese monk walks to India for books and comes home with hundreds of texts.

The storyWhy Is There a Rule? — A young monk asks why a rule exists, and his teacher answers with a story from the Vinaya.

The storyA Song About Gray Hair — An old nun sings about how her body has changed, and why she no longer fears it.

The storyCarts Full of Toys — A father must get his children out of a burning house, but they are too busy playing to listen.

The storyA Cup That Overflows — A teacher pours tea into a full cup until it spills across the table.

The storyA Voice in White Robes — A young Sri Lankan speaker stands before a crowd in Chicago in September 1893.

The storyFrom a Barracks to a Temple — A priest leads services in a camp barracks, and years later his community has a temple in Chicago.

The storyThe Five Who Meant to Ignore Him — Five men agree to give their old companion no welcome, and then find they cannot keep their promise.

The storyThree Times He Asked — An old teacher lies between two trees and gives his students one more chance to ask.

The storyTwo Men, One Insult — The same harsh words land on two men; one carries them home, and one sets them down.

The storyThe Question About Verse 160 — A student reads one line and raises her hand, because it seems to contradict everything she learned last week.

The storyA Day for Vessantara — A village in northeastern Thailand gathers from before dawn to hear one long story from beginning to end.

The storyThe Man Who Wanted the Archer's Name — A man lies wounded with a poisoned arrow and refuses help until his questions are answered.

The storyWhat Is a Chariot? — A Greek king asks a monk his name, and the monk answers with a question about the king's own chariot.

The storyThe Refuges at Nagpur — On one October day in 1956, a huge crowd in central India repeats three short lines after a lawyer and statesman.

The storyKisa Gotami and Job — A student puts a grieving mother from India and a grieving father from the Hebrew Bible side by side in one essay.

The storyFive Rules, Five Traditions — A student builds a chart of moral rules from five traditions and finds both a pattern and a surprise.

The storyA Week of Sand — Monks spend days building a mandala of colored sand in a museum, and then sweep it away.

The storyThree Translations and a Pencil — A student lays three versions of one verse side by side and begins to underline.