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God appeared to the young King Solomon and said: ask for whatever you want and I will give it. Solomon could have asked for long life, for wealth, for the death of his enemies. He asked for the capacity to judge rightly — to distinguish good from evil in the service of the people. God said: because you asked for this and not the other things, I will give you all of them.
The elephant king Gajendra was trapped by a crocodile for a thousand years. His strength failed. His herd left. He plucked a lotus from the water and offered it upward with his trunk. One cry from genuine exhaustion, genuine surrender — and Vishnu came running, leaving his own meal half-eaten.
Uddalaka told his son Shvetaketu to dissolve salt in water overnight. In the morning he asked: show me the salt. There was no salt to show. Take a sip from here. Salty. From there. Salty. From the bottom. Salty. Though you do not see it, the salt is truly there. Tat Tvam Asi. That thou art.
A boy of unknown birth came to a teacher and asked to be received as a student. The teacher asked his lineage. He said he did not know — his mother said she had been young and busy. The teacher accepted him immediately. That level of truth, he said, could only come from someone of brahmin nature.
Yajnavalkya was preparing to leave his household for the forest. He told his wife Maitreyi he wanted to divide his property between his two wives. Maitreyi asked: if I had all the wealth of the earth, would I become immortal through it? Yajnavalkya said: no. Then what do I want with wealth? she said. Teach me what you know.
Huike stood in the snow outside Bodhidharma's cave all night. Bodhidharma would not open the door. At dawn, to show the depth of his sincerity, Huike cut off his own arm and presented it. Bodhidharma opened the door. He asked: what do you want? Huike said: my mind is not at peace. Please pacify it. Bodhidharma said: bring me your mind and I will pacify it. Huike searched. I cannot find it. Bodhidharma said: there — I have pacified it.
A monk asked the master Zhaozhou: does a dog have Buddha-nature? Zhaozhou said: Mu. No. Not. Nothing. This is the most famous koan in Zen history. Every answer is wrong. Every wrong answer is the teaching. Mu has been pondered for twelve centuries. It has not been resolved. It is not supposed to be resolved.
A judge had done everything correctly. He had attained the right position, the right house, the right social standing. He was dying of a slow illness and the only person who gave him genuine comfort was the peasant servant Gerasim who tended to his most undignified needs. In his final hours Ivan Ilyich understood: his whole life had been wrong. Not professionally — existentially. Then the fear stopped.
The girl-poet of Tamil Bhakti wore the temple garlands before offering them to Vishnu — tasting them to ensure they were beautiful enough. Her father was horrified. Vishnu appeared in the priest's dream: I want only the garlands she has worn. She was taken to Srirangam and disappeared into the deity. Love that is not afraid of contaminating what it loves is the love God recognises.