Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people on an adventure toward wholeness. It is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, author, crisis intervention specialist, and minister.

[This story is adapted from Taking Flight. A Book of Story Meditations by Anthony de Mello.]

Muso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was traveling in the company of a disciple. They came to a river and boarded a ferry. Just as it was about to leave the shore, a drunken samurai ran up and jumped into the overloaded boat, nearly sinking it. Then he staggered around wildly, endangering the safety of the frail vessel., so the boatman begged him to stay quiet.

“We’re stuffed in here like gooseberries in a bottle,” said the samuari raucously. suddenly he saw Muso and shouted, “Here! Let’s throw the holy man overboard!”

“Please be patient,” said Muso. We’ll soon be across.”

“What? Me be patient?” he shouted wildly. “Look! If you don’t jump off, I’ll throw you overboard this minute.”

The Master’s calm demeanor in the face of these threats so enraged the samurai that he walked up to Muso, and struck him across the face, drawing blood. The disciple had had enough. He was a powerful man and he said, “After what he has done, he shall not live.”

“Why get so upset about a trifle?” said Muso with a smile. “It is on occasions like this that our training is put to the test. You must remember that patience is more than just a word.”

“Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.” 
—Leonardo da Vinci

“Our patience will achieve more than our force.”
—Edmund Burke  

I invite you to send me your thoughts about Muso’s Patience.You can email me at jim@hearttales.net.

Book

My book, The Cracked Pot: Finding Grace in the Cracks of Childhood Abuse, is available at Amazon.com.

“This is one man’s true story of the unspeakable things that were done to him as a child and his rocky journey through adulthood to find God, peace AND his true self.”

Blog

If you enjoy this newsletter, check out The Heart Tales Blog at http://hearttales.net/blog. The blog is published every Monday and Thursday and contains a story with a brief reflection.

The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith. My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.

“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
—Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House

“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
—John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen

“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscrie to it.”
—Dr. Robert Béla Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry

“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
—Eileen

If you enjoy this newsletter, check out The Heart Tales Blog at http://hearttales.net/blog. The blog is published every Monday and Thursday and contains a story with a brief reflection.