Ryokan, a Zen master, lived very modestly in a small hut at the foot of a hill. One evening, a thief entered the hut and discovered that there was nothing to steal.
Ryokan returned and found him there.
“Perhaps you have travelled a long way to visit me,” he said to the thief, “and you should not go back empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.”
The thief was astonished. He took the clothes and fled.
Sitting there undressed, Ryokan watched the Moon.
“Poor fellow,” he daydreamed, “I wish I could have given him this beautiful Moon as a gift.”
Zen Buddhist story
From the book: Miroslav Josipović, Empty Your Cup
Selected by: Vesna Bosnar