Short story: A tale about the funny Zen master
By emptychair
@innertalks (23740)
Australia
August 1, 2021 11:37pm CST
Relekla Zorbraski was a funny woman.
She was the Zen master of the Bonzai monastery.
Every morning, instead of giving a lecture to her students, she would simply tell them a joke.
Then, she would look at them carefully, and see which of her students laughed first.
And so it was with this morning too.
Her joke this morning was this one:
"How many Irish electricians does it take to wire a wireless?"
Her answer was none, of course, as Irish electricians do not exist as such, as there are no bright sparks amongst them.
One student, though, was quicker than the rest to come up with his own answer.
He said,
"It will take as many Irish electricians as there are wires in the wireless."
"How do you figure that out?",
the Master asked him.
"Well, the wireless has no wires except for the wires they place in it."
"Oh,"
said the master,
"a smart reply, as Irishmen are wired to not be wired."
Then she would quote her favourite boxer:
"Jokes? There are no jokes. The truth is the funniest joke of all."
Muhammad Ali.
Sometimes, we need to be shocked by truth, to see it.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
The Zen master always had a wide smile on her dial.
3 people like this
2 responses
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
2 Aug 21
Humor is the act of observation mixed with intelligence to produce a view of a moment.
love it!
2 people like this
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
2 Aug 21
Thanks, Scott. I like your description of what humour is too. Very nicely put.
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
3 Aug 21
It looks like the joke was on the Zen Master. It happens a student is smarter than the master more so nowadays when even kids are into computers.
That reminds me of Bee Gees song I started a joke:
I started a joke
Which started the whole world crying
But I didn't see
That the joke was on me, oh no
I started to cry
Which started the whole world laughing
Oh, if I'd only seen
That the joke was on me
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
3 Aug 21
Thanks, siva. Here it didn't matter too much who the joke was on.
The Zen Master was more interested in testing the reaction, and replies of her students. If the joke turned out to be on her, as a result of this, she never minded this either. Her real reason for telling jokes was always the inner growth of her students.
@innertalks (23740)
• Australia
4 Aug 21
@Shiva49 Yes, it is hard to get the right message through to those who only listen to their own messages, like politicians, and others in power, seem to always do.
Covid is shocking a few of them now with its reality, though, but will the learned truths stick with them, or be washed away again, as soon as smoother waters prevail again too.
@Shiva49 (28380)
• Singapore
4 Aug 21
@innertalks As you have said - Sometimes, we need to be shocked by the truth, to see it.
Yes jokes drive home truths better than just stating the obvious
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
However, it looks like whatever way we try to state the obvious, even repeatedly, they fall on deaf years - in through one ear and out the other. Maybe, even masters telling them fall flat with a take - not practical in the real world.
1 person likes this
