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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