A Flock of Fools: Ancient Buddhist Tales of Wisdom and Laughter from the One Hundred Parable Sutra

by Kazuaki Tanahashi (Translator)

One hundred illuminating tales of the foibles and follies of everyday fools, this elegant, humorous, and masterful little book of wisdom is a welcome addition to the Buddhist canon "The One Hundred Parable Sutra" is known as the most humorous sutra in all of Buddhist literature. Here, Kazuaki Tanahashi, the celebrated translator, calligrapher, and Dogen scholar, and Peter Levitt, an award-winning poet, storyteller, and Zen practitioner, have translated and retold these jewel-like parables with storytelling panache for students, teachers, and seekers everywhere. With appropriate commentary, each tale becomes a simple lesson for everyday living. From the potter who seeks fame to the woman who possesses great lust, these tales are told with a gentle clarity that magnifies our appetites and delusions. In doing so, they become an accurate mirror of the human condition. A Flock of Fools is a perfect little book of wisdom, laughter, and compassion. Beautifully designed for gift giving, this handsome volume is illustrated with seventeen original brushwork drawings by Tanahashi, one of the world's most renowned calligraphers.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Zen

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2004

About the author

Kazuaki Tanahashi, born and trained in Japan and active in the United States since 1977, has had solo exhibitions of his calligraphic paintings internationally. He has taught East Asian calligraphy at eight international conferences of calligraphy and lettering arts. Also a peace and environmental worker for decades, he is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a very quick easy to read book of the 100 Buddhist sutras translated into English. Sutras are much like christian parables. The format is great the sutras are in groups of four and they are just little translated story blurbs with an explanation of the moral and how it relates to the Buddhist precepts or teachings. The book is also illustrated which makes it nice. I think this book is good for anyone wanting to learn more of the religious aspect of Buddhism as opposed to just the philosophy or zen sect without much religion. There are also great footnotes to explain all the Buddhist concepts a reader may not be familiar with. Whether you just want to experience readings from another culture or you want to deepen your practice and spirituality this book is an excellent read.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of aphorisms with succinct explanations.

[Boni Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tales are collections from other books, which are listed at the end of the book.
Most of the stories are from KATHA SARITA SAGARA, an Indian book - Roughly translated as Ocean of Story - The stories from Panchatantra and other Indian books and Avadhanans, most of which are Indian books.

I really love the story collection; each story exposes a unique foolishness, and I love it that the authors have done a great job separating the foolish stories from the rest, but what I really despise are the interpretations at the end of each story. Most of those interpretations are absurd, to put it mildly.
The explanations at the end of each foolish story have zero relevance to the actual story or the kind of foolishness. It felt like the moral was forced into the story. It was not natural and the interpretation with overtones of buddhism, meditation and nirvana has zero relevance to the story.

Moreover this book has a direct one on one match with another book i.e. story to story match with this book - A garland for the fool : the scripture of one hundred parables



Baiyu-jing. Taisho Shinsyhu Daizokyo, Vol. 4.
Tawney, C.H., tr. The Ocean of Story. London: Chas. J. Sawyear, Ltd., 1926.
The Jataka—Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, London: Luzac & Company, 1969.
Liebrecht, Felix, ed. Avadanas. Orient und Occident, Vol. I.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more. I love a good fable and a good story of someone acting the fool. But while the stories themselves were interesting and ripe for interpretation, the moral that followed each story usually seemed to have very little to do with the story itself. It got silly after a while.