Technological progress smoothes out differences between races, cultures, continents, and the time is not far when people on the streets of, say, Stockholm and Tokyo will differ only in the shape of their eyes and the melody of their still incomprehensible speech. But this is only at first glance. The difference between Europe and Asia lies much deeper – in the very sense of the world.

European thinking is accustomed to a linear perception of reality: being is embodied in specific forms, ideas about reality are cast into finite formulas, life is a certain sequence of events that presumably make sense. The view of the East is completely opposite: the human individual is only one of the components of the great cycle of elements, observing which the thinking subject has a chance to realize himself and choose a path that does not contradict the harmony of the general movement of world forces.

“101 Stories of Zen” – it is a European attempt to present in understandable language the wisdom of the great teachers of Zen Buddhism. This book does not contain the axioms and edifications that are familiar to us. Here there are only examples that give some idea of ​​the symphony of the universe. They do not teach anything and do not oblige anyone to anything. They are simply worth reading.