Perhaps you'ver heard it before. __________________________________ A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, with the tiger hot on his tail. Coming to a cliff, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge of the cliff. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down, and there, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one black and one white, little by little, started to gnaw away at the vine. The man noticed a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other hand. How sweet it tasted. __________________________________ Your thoughts?
Alright, here's a hint: If your answer to this is that you should never, EVER cross an open field without a large caliber rifle, especially in tiger country, then you might consider thinking about it a little more.
That's an old one(obviously). On can't enjoy life if one is too frightened. If you're too frightened, you're not alive.
What a crock. I hate the taste of strawberries. I'd be smashing the shit out of both mice with my free hand.
arthur itis, The black and white mice are out of reach. And even if they weren't, what will you do about the tigers? :-0
Go down fighting. Quote from the end of "Legends of the Fall", where Brad Pitt's character, "Tristan", a man quite capable and independent in the woods, faces an angry bear, and fights to the death with only his knife. His friend from his father's ranch, "One Stab", the native, narrating the story, says "It was a good death". If I liked strawberries, my answer may have been affected by that, but I don't. Avoidance of death is not my primary motive either. Death will come. It's often preferable to meet it on your own terms. I have a feeling, having once been an ardent fan of Zen poetry, Zen koans, etc., that Zen tends to emphasize "cleverness" as a value. Personally, I'd rather be brave than clever.
Your answer is better than Black Book's. His main concern was the strawberry; there was no fight in him.
Thanks, but it's just a matter of personal preference. He may enjoy strawberries very much, while I do not.
Why white and black mice? Is this a personal touch? I've never heard this version before. Black and white? Symbolic oppositives. Traditional dichotomy...not symbols of good or evil...Possibly the yin and yang? Symbolizing time or the way the universe works. Will have to ask. So why black and white? -BlkBks
Yup, my guess is that if even just one of the mice would have challenged him for the strawberry, he would have given it up without a fight.
I was kind of having fun with this, but: When I first heard this koan, I thought the tiger above represented birth--from which you cannot return. And I thought the tiger below represented death--from which there is no escape. I surmised that the vine represented our physical life force from which we hang between birth and death. I imagined that the mice represented time, gnawing away at the life force, making our appointment with the tiger below an inevitable conclusion; the fact that they were black and white pointed to the ever-present duality--up-down, left-right, this-that, happy-sad, and hence, life-death; can't have one without the other. And I imagined that the strawberry represented any and every thing that was in front of us in the now. With nothing to look back at and nothing to look forward to, the only thing that makes sense is to enjoy the strawberry in front of us; there really is nothing else--only the moment. Following that line of thought, I started seeing other humans as strawberries--some ripe; some not; some having gotten not enough sun, etc.
Ah, so the mice did represent time. I wondered. But most definitely, I would prefer to eat the strawberry. -BlkBks
Ever heard this one: Nansen saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. He seized the cat and told the monks: "If any of you say a good word, you can save the cat." No one answered. So, Nansen boldly cut the cat in two pieces. That evening, Joshu returned and Nansen told him about this. Joshu removed his sandals and, placing them on his head, walked out. Nansen said: "If you had been there, you could have saved the cat."
I once asked a friend about the strawberry koan, and he said that he would have eaten the strawberry and then started digging into the face of the cliff so that he would have a place to sit and wait until the tigers got tired of waiting. Then he would have started hollering for help, or wait for the search party.
Being clever doesn't justify animal cruelty. Joshu is just an idiot, while Nansen is evil. I'm putting my sandals on my head and walking out of this, like an idiot. I'd much rather be an idiot than cruel. It could also be a cultural thing, the sandals on the head. In some cultures, things like that carry a hidden meaning. (Like when the man threw a shoe at President Bush) Have fun
I thought, in the beginning, that I'd need more than one word, and that those words would be: "If you cut that cat in two, I promise you'll hit the ground before he does." That might do it. I think Joshu was trying to say that what appears to be below us is, in reality, the most important thing, and should be treated that way. But I don't know. It's probably a cultural thing like you said. As far as the word that would have saved the cat, the only thing I can figure out is that Nansen was hoping that one of the student monks would assume his own authority and just say, "NO!" But instead, all the monks were more interested in pleasing the teacher than doing the right thing. But at any rate, you're right about him; he was pretty fucking confused for being a teacher.
I have not heard this one. The cat was the source of their dispute, yes? The thing which they were arguing about? And Nansen was threatening to cut it in half? Possibly so they could each have their share? Joshua put his shoes on his head? Shoes are worn opposite the head. Possibly because things have been inverted or because meaning of the use of a particular object has changed? My first guess would be: "Cut the cat. I don't care." or "Go" -BlkBks
We posted at the same time. I would also add that it doesn't say much about the monks either. How spiritual could they be when they were fighting over a cat based on the assumption that they were different because they were separated according to something so subjective as East Hall monks and West Hall monks. Spiritual competition--how ridiculous!
