LIVE, LEARN, & LIVE SERIES #46. The Cat and the Moon (Zen Stories by Kai Tsukimi, 2025)

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#46. The Cat and the Moon (Zen tales by Kai Tsukimi, 2025)

This is a compilation of Zen stories that guide you to peaceful temples, tranquil gardens, and quiet moments of reflection, accompanied by an enigmatic cat. Each story encourages you to pause, release overthinking, and notice subtle awakenings—known as “Satori (悟り)”—woven into everyday life. With soft humor, evocative beauty, and understated wisdom, the stories avoid lengthy explanations, instead allowing you to experience their meaning on your own.

 

(excerpted from “The Cat who Sat in a Circle”)

The children were playing in the temple courtyard, dragging pieces of chalk across the stones, drawing dragons, birds, and crooked hopscotch squares. When the cat passed by, one of them knelt down and carefully drew a circle around it – not touching its fur, not too tight, just wide enough to leave space.

“There,” the child whispered. “ Now it can’t leave.”

The other children gathered close, watching with wide, expectant eyes. The cat blinked, glanced down at the pale white line, then back up at the faces leaning over it.

It didn’t move. The cat shifted its paws slightly, leaned forward, but stopped just before the edge. It stretched its neck as if testing the air beyond the line, ears twitching at something no one else could hear. Then, without warning, it sat down – tail curled close, body still.

……………………………. It lifted one paw, held it in the air just long enough to feel the weight of the decision, then placed it down inside the line. And it sat. As if leaving or staying had never really been the question at all.”

ð     In this tale, while the child (who draws the circle around the cat) assumes the cat is trapped, thinking it cannot leave, the cat remains inside the circle by choice, not by force. This suggests that many of the restrictions people experience are mental rather than physical. The cat’s careful movements—pausing, sensing, and settling—reflect a state of mindfulness. It is fully immersed in the present moment, without concern for the past or future. 

By staying inside the circle willingly, the cat shows that external boundaries can be accepted or even engaged with playfully, without losing one’s sense of freedom. The story implies that distinctions such as staying or leaving hold little meaning for the cat. This aligns with a principle that dualities—like inside versus outside or freedom versus confinement— are no more than constructs of the mind. In essence, the tale conveys that true freedom arises from inner awareness and presence, not from the absence of external boundaries.

 

(excerpted from “The Dog Who Remembered”)

“I had a dream,” the dog murmured after a long pause. “You were on the roof, watching the stars.”

The cat shifted its weight – feeling the ground beneath its paws. The dog smiled softly, seeing the small movement. “You always did that … when you didn’t want to answer.” The space between them held. Finally, the dog stood, its limp more pronounced in the silence. “Or maybe,” it whispered, “I’ve been chasing the wrong memory.” Without waiting for a reply, it turned toward the trees, dragging its broken line behind it.

The cat watched until the sound disappeared, ears tilted forward, body unmoving. ……….. Just sitting, facing the empty courtyard, as if listening to something no one else could hear. And somewhere deep in the night, beneath breath and bone, the bell began to ring.

ð     This tale helps us understand the meaning of letting go of the past, accepting change, and living fully in the present. The dog symbolizes the human habit of clinging to past pain, fixed identities, or distorted memories—the “broken line” of its life. Its realization shows that holding onto what is gone only prolongs suffering, much like its lingering limp. The cat in the tale represents awakened state—calm, grounded, and free from attachment to stories or emotional weight. Its silence suggests that truth does not need explanation; it is understood through direct experience.

The cat finds wholeness in stillness. Also, the “empty courtyard” symbolizes a clear and open mind, unburdened by thoughts or concepts. The bell marks “aha moment” of insight or awakening—a quiet realization of peace that arises when the urge to chase memories or seek answers fades away. This tale serves as a metaphor for releasing painful attachment to the past and embracing the present moment, revealing that peace naturally emerges in stillness once we stop chasing what cannot be held.

 

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

Have you ever had a day when your thoughts feel scattered, or become so used to constant busyness that you rarely pause to breathe? While reading this short yet quietly impactful Zen book, I found a sense of genuine “me time,” similar to the calmness I experience during my morning runs. It felt as though my worries and tangled thoughts gradually dissolved into a single point, freeing me from external expectations and judgments, and helping me become more aware of my own need for peace.

Both positive and negative memories can be reshaped or distorted over time, often influenced by our own desires. As the author Tsukimi suggests, the silence shared between beings can express more truth than words ever can. Because of this, we may not need to keep explaining or revisiting the past to ourselves.

At times, it can feel as though we are living within invisible boundaries created by others, which can lead to unexpected frustration or a sense of isolation. Yet these feelings of despair can be broken through our own choices. Perhaps disappointment was never truly inherent to begin with. In the end, we are simply who we are, grounded in the present moment, shaped by our own awareness and will.