Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:34 am
Post subject: My Favorite Zen Story

Dear Honored Guest,

In a remote village in Japan there lived a Zen master named Hakuin. He was known for his devotion to the pure and simple life of a monk.

One day, a beautiful, unmarried girl in the village fish market was found to be with child. As it was a conservative village, the family was furious. The girl refused to say who the father was, but after much pressure, she finally admitted that the father was the master Hakuin.

In great anger the family confronted the master, criticizing him for taking advantage of the trust he had been shown. They asked him, “How could you have betrayed our trust so badly?” Hakuin’s only response was to say calmly, “Is that so?”

Hakuin’s reputation was destroyed, but he did not appear to mind. When the baby was born it was brought to Hakuin. He took great care of the child, though he now had to beg to survive. The villagers would scorn him, saying, “We will never forget that you betrayed our trust, you miserable monk.” Each time, Hakuin would reply calmly, “Is that so?”

Several years later, the young mother finally confessed the truth: the baby’s father was not Hakuin, but another young man from the village who had not been willing to accept his obligation, so she had accused the monk knowing that he would do the right thing.

The villagers went to Hakuin to request the return of the child, saying, “We are so sorry, how could we ever have believed this of you?”

Relinquishing back to the family the child who had become his own, Hakuin said gently, “Is that so?”

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick M. Byrne
Overstock.com

Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:17 am
Post subject: What is Overstock?

Honored Client,

Hello. My name is Patrick Byrne and I work at Overstock.com.

Overstock is best explained through a story. I went to high school near Washington, DC. There I had a friend named, “Charlie” (a.k.a. “Chalooka”). Whatever I or other friends were considering buying, be it electronics, car parts, a jacket, etc., Charlie would always say, “I have a friend in the business,” or, “I know a guy at the warehouse, I’ll get you a special deal on it.”

We had our suspicions about Charlie, but learned in time that he really did have friends in the business. Whatever business. Looking for a new car stereo? Charlie had a cousin who installed them and had a special deal on a cancelled order of high-end Bose. An affordable trip down to Florida for Spring Break? Charlie had a friend who was a travel agent and knew of a recent cancellation in a good Miami hotel. Needed a last minute gift? Charlie had an uncle with a jewelry shop who’d make a deal on a gold necklace.

In short, Charlie knew people. And he knew people who knew people. He used his connections to look after his friends.

We know that not everyone knows someone like my old friend Charlie. But that is OK, because you need only know Overstock.com. Behind our website and computers and advertising there is a core group of people a lot like Charlie, women and men who “know people,” experts in their fields who scour the world looking for special opportunities to bring to website. Whatever you are looking for, we’re your friend in the business, and we’re looking out for you.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick M. Byrne
Overstock.com

PS: I hope I am not being intrusive, but from time to time I think I will tack a note like this onto the bottom of an email. These will appear on our message board so you can reply. Maybe it will be possible to start a new kind of conversation: one-to-many-to-many-to-one. In any case, if in the future you find this intrusive please feel free to ignore this, and accept my humble apologies.