A Girl Scouts by the name of Risa gave the Buddhist Reading at last week’s service. She told the story of Stone Soup and I would like to share this story.
This story is an old tale and has been adapted in various versions and cultures. In some versions, nails, an axe, wood and buttons have replaced the stones.
One version of the story goes like this:
A monk and his disciple were traveling through the country. They came upon a village and decided to spend the night. However they discovered that the people in this village were not friendly at all. In fact many of them disappeared into their homes as they saw the monks approach.
The monks discovered that this village encountered many difficulties. They suffered the tragedies of famine, floods, drought, and wars. Many of the villagers worked hard but only worked for the benefit of themselves. As a result, they grew more and more suspicious of each other as well as any stranger that came along.
The wise monk knew that these villagers were unhappy. The young disciple asked his master what they could do to help this village. The wise monk told his young apprentice, gather some wood and let’s make a fire.
“Why?” asked the young disciple.
“To make stone soup,” replied the master.
“I have never heard of such a thing. How will this help this village?”
The wise old monk answered, “You’ll see.”
After gathering some twigs and having started the fire, the master filled a small tin pot with water and placed it on top.
Just then a brave little girl who had been cautiously watching came over and asked the monks what they were doing.
“We are making stone soup for dinner,” the kind master answered, “but we need to find just the right kind of stones so it will have a delicious taste. These stones have to be smooth and round.”
“I’ll help look for them,” the girl enthusiastically volunteered.
They searched all over the village town square until they found the right kind of stones. They then put them into the pot of hot water.
“Hmm,” thought the wise old master, “by putting these stones in this very small pot, I’m afraid we really won’t be making much soup.”
“My mother has a bigger pot. I will go and ask her if we can borrow it.” And off she ran.
When her mother asked what she was doing, the young girl explained that the monks were making stone soup and needed a bigger pot. The mother thought, “Stone Soup? I have never heard of such a thing. I wonder how it is made,” and she followed her daughter carrying the biggest pot she could find.
As the monks tended the fire, refilled the bigger pot with water and the stones, the smoke drifted upward. One by one, the villagers became more and more curious. They too came out to see what was going on.
The wise monk remarked, “This stone soup is almost done, but it would be better if we could season it with salt and pepper.”
“I have some at home, I will go and get them,” one of the villagers said and dashed off.
“I remember the last time I had stone soup. It was so good because of the carrots that were in it,” the wise monk reminisced.
“I just harvested some carrot from my garden this morning,” another villager offered. I can let you borrow a few. When the villager came back he was carrying a big basketful of carrots and put them in the pot.”
“Oh the carrots will add a lot of flavor, but so would some onions,” coaxed the wise old monk. Another village went and brought back some onions and put them in the pot. And now the aroma of the soup filled the air and all the villagers had gathered all around the pot. As each one of them found out what the monks were making, they all volunteered to add something to the pot. A woman brought some mushrooms. Another brought some cabbages. Someone added more spices. And as the air filled with this delicious smell, the villagers began to think of other things that would accompany the soup like steamed dumplings, noodles, tofu, tea, and cakes for dessert. It soon grew to be a big feast and all the villagers were having a great time. They sang, danced, and told jokes but most of all, they talked to one another. Many of the villagers remarked that it had been too long since they enjoyed themselves with each other. And it all happened because they made stone soup together.
As many of you are well aware, the Coast District temples have just finished hosting the Buddhist Churches of America’s 750th Memorial Observance for Shinran Shonin at the end of February. It was truly a grand but daunting event. There were about 1000 people for the Saturday afternoon Opening Service and symposium; 800 people attending the Saturday night banquet and 1500 people attending the Sunday morning Closing Music Service. Our district is small considering that we are made up of the San Jose Betsuin, Watsonville, Salinas, Monterey and Mountain View temples. To plan and execute the various aspects for the 750th services and the BCA National Council meetings involved the coordinated efforts of countless people.
I have only heard positive comments with regards to our participation in this almost weeklong event. We were well represented. Highlighted are:
Haley Sugimoto of the YBA who gave an emotional and heart tugging Dharma Message to the 250+ temple representatives and ministers attending the National Council meeting on Saturday morning.
Devon Matsumoto and Hayley Arima, two of eight Dharma School students who had to walk the long center aisle in front of the 1500 people and bring up Osonae (Food offerings) from each district for the Sunday morning 750th Closing ceremony. They did a great job in bowing and not dropping a single item.
Curtis Koyama of the YBA who read a poem and sang in the Sunday Music Program.
Mike Inouye who entertained and kept the program rolling as Master of Ceremonies for the Saturday night Banquet. Mike, with his father-in-law, Richard Endo, sparked a mini-fund raiser among the banquet diners and raised $9000 for the benefit of the BCA’s 750th Memorial Project, the Jodo Shinshu Center.
Carol Harbin one of our Dharma School teachers was the Service Chairperson for the Sunday Morning 750th Closing service. She added a wonderful sense of grace and eloquence in front of the 1500 attendees despite a miscue of the service order by the ministers.
Our members, led by Ron Murata and Russ Nakano did a wonderful job organizing and handling all the registration duties and banquet seating arrangements for all the attendees. They spent countless hours getting nametags ready, setting the banquet seating assignments, stuffing the registration materials, and signing in the delegates.
I heard many compliments about the food provided by the many MVBT members from the BWA, Dharma School, YBA, and ABA for the Friday night Hospitality Suite. A couple hundred people must have passed through that evening and there was still so much food and drink left over. And most of all, I saw many of our members including our Dharma school children and YBA attending the Saturday Symposium and Sunday service.
We have much to be proud of in our members and their accomplishments in helping to make this event a memorable one. Often, we are faced with difficult situations. When we face these tasks as individuals they may seem insurmountable. However, if we are able to each take a portion as all the villages brought in their own ingredients for the stone soup, these tasks are doable. Not once did I hear any complaints from our members.
In Japanese, there is a wonderful expression, okage-sama de. O is an honorific meaning your. Kage means shadow or shade. De means because of. So the meaning of okage-sama de is “Because of your shadow, (I can rest from the hot sun).” In other words, it is an expression that acknowledges all the help and support that is given by others so that we can live and accomplish whatever our life’s tasks are. It is the recognition of one of the fundamental principles that the Buddha emphasized as “All life is interconnected.” Because of the Stone Soup, all the villagers were able to enjoy a delicious soup together. Because of all of you, we were able to gather in a grand and memorable fashion truly expressing a heart of gratitude and Nembutsu in honor and memory of Shinran Shonin.
Gassho,
Rev. Dean
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