293-The new disciple- Buddhism in daily life

The new disciple

Once upon a time, a well-known Chan master lived in a simple hut, he was known everywhere precisely because of his wisdom, his kindness knew no bounds.

When one day a thief stood in the middle of his hut and shouted "money or life", the master reacted calmly, did not let himself be intimidated, and said to the thief: "here on the table is my money, take what you need, but leave me enough money so that I do not have to suffer hunger tomorrow".

Completely dumbfounded by the strange behavior of the holy man, the thief took the main part from the table, put the coins in his pocket, and wanted to disappear as quickly as he had come.

The master shouted after him that he should kindly thank him when he gets something, the thief turned around in amazement, said "Thank you", and was gone.

A few days later, the thief was caught in another act and arrested. When questioned by the police, he confessed to all the crimes, including the burglary at the Chan master's house. When the master was questioned by the police about the theft, he said, "Nothing was stolen from me, I gave him everything freely, he even thanked me politely, there must be a misunderstanding here."

The thief was convicted for the other acts, during his time in prison the master visited him frequently.

When the sentence was served, the man was released. His path immediately led him to the old man who had done him so much good. "Master, I want to become your disciple," he said, and the wise man smiled with satisfaction and joyfully accepted the new disciple.

In the course of time, this disciple became the best disciple the master ever had, and when the master died one day, this very disciple followed in his teacher's footsteps, becoming himself an eminent authority and a great Chan (Zen) master.

In order to see clearly, it is often enough to change the direction of one's gaze!

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - French writer - 1900 to 1944

This change of the direction of view was taught 2500 years ago by the historical Buddha. Almost all people, things or incidents can be seen "this way or that way", and there are the most different opinions about everything. It is important to have the willingness to recognize and understand that there are several ways to look at, to mean, to think, to feel. What I think is right, another thinks is wrong!

The general error begets the error of the individual,

and, in its turn, creates the general error.

- Michel de Montaigne - French humanist - 1533 to 1592

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