A Bucket of Water

There once was a young, and impatient Prince. He wanted to learn meditation, in the hopes that it would make him a better leader, and maybe one day, a better King. He found a teacher in the village that agreed to help, and their journey together began.

At his first lesson, the Prince struggled with remaining still. He was constantly moving his hands and feet, readjusting his posture, clearing his throat, and always looking around.

"Why do I have to sit quietly?" asked the Prince. "Couldn't you just tell me the secrets you've learned from meditation? That way we could skip all of this and go straight to the advanced classes."

“I will show you why I cannot tell you,” said his teacher. The teacher got up and walked outside and the Prince followed behind. It was dark, but the moon was full and the stars were shining brightly.

The teacher put a hand into a bucket of water and stirred it quickly. "Look into the bucket," he told the Prince, "and tell me what you see."

"I see water swirling around," replied the Prince.

"Now we wait," said the teacher.

The teacher and the student sat down and watched the calming surface of the water for several minutes. Once the water was still, the teacher asked, "Now what do you see?"

"The moon, the stars, my own reflection," replied the Prince.

The teacher then added, “So too, the only way to see ourselves clearly is through a calm and settled mind.”

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Our young Prince wants understanding, but he's too impatient to wait for it. He wants to be a better leader, but he doesn't want to be led.

The teacher knows that learning starts from within. The young Prince must see himself clearly before he can learn anything. He has to see and accept all of his flaws, his past mistakes, and his current weaknesses. Then he can go about improving himself.

In order to let go of something, we must first grasp it. We cannot throw a pebble, without first picking it up. We cannot give away clothing, without first owning the clothes.

In the same way, we cannot let go of a flaw until we first accept that it is ours.

Like the still water in a bucket, a calm mind enables us to see, and eventually accept, all things.

Enjoy the ride.

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Carpet The Earth

One day, a young King decided to visit the local townspeople. He rarely went outside of the palace grounds, but he did enjoy meeting the people that came to visit him. He also enjoyed being barefoot. He loved to stroll through his scenic gardens and green lawns, enjoying the feel of the well tended earth beneath his feet.

The day was beautiful, so, with his court accompanying him, the King began walking towards the nearest town.

The road was hard and barren, with wheel ruts, and sharp pebbles in the street, and while the townspeople were thrilled to see their King, the poor King was in terrible discomfort the entire time.

After returning to his palace, the King examined his feet. They were blistered and bruised from the day's walk. He had never been in so much pain.

He didn't want this to dampen his spirits, though. He had enjoyed his visit with the local people, and he wanted to see them more often, but he couldn't bare the thought of spending another day on that terrible road.

While sitting on his throne, with his advisers all around him, the King suddenly had an idea. He shouted, "I hereby decree that all roads be covered in the finest carpets we have!"  

"Well," his advisers thought, "this was a brilliant idea." and quickly set about making plans to carpet the road.

The Court Jester happened to be nearby when the announcement was made, and he began to laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" shouted the King. "I've solved the problem of the horrible road, and my blistered feet, and now I can spend more time with my people."

"Certainly my Lord," replied the jester. "You truly are a generous and caring ruler."

"Then why are you laughing?" asked the King.

"Well I was wondering," replied the jester, "wouldn't it be easier just to put on a pair of shoes?"

--

There's an old Zen saying: "It is easier to put on a pair of sandals, than to carpet the entire earth."

Like a lot of Zen sayings, this one is about looking inward and changing ourselves. Most of the time we do the opposite of this. We look outward, we see everything that everyone else is doing wrong, and then we set about trying to change everyone.

The king in our story suffers from this same way of thinking. His intentions are good, but in the end, the King is trying to carpet the earth, instead of just putting on his shoes.

When we shout, people shout back. When we push, people push back. When we use force, an opposite force will eventually oppose us. Our good intentions are irrelevant.

Mohandas Gandhi once said: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

If we want the world to be peaceful, then we should be peaceful in dealing with others. If we want the world to be smarter, we can educate ourselves. If we want the world to be cleaner, we can clean up our own backyards.

After all is said and done, we can only change ourselves.   That is one of the hardest lessons to learn.

Enjoy the ride. 

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The Cracked Pot

A water bearer for the King had two very large pots, each hung on the end of a pole that the bearer carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

Several times per day the water bearer would bring water from the local river to the King's palace, but the cracked pot always arrived only half full. For years this went on, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots of water each time to the King's palace.

One day the King finally took notice and asked about the half filled pot. "Why do you keep that thing?" asked the King. "I want you to get rid of it. You could save yourself some work with two pots that remained full."   

"My King, do you and your wife enjoy the beautiful flowers at your dinner table every evening?" asked the water bearer.

"Certainly," replied the King, "But what does that have to do with a half-filled water pot?"

The bearer responded, "I would like to ask my King to accompany me to the river this afternoon. I will show you what I mean."

The King agreed, and that afternoon both men walked to the river. Along the way, the King noticed the beautiful flowers on one side of the path.

"These are the flowers that decorate our palace and dinner table," said the King. "But why are they only on one side?"

The bearer responded, "After I discovered the cracked pot, I planted flower seeds on that side of the path. When I return from the river, I water the flowers with the cracked pot. This means a little more work for me, but I am able to enjoy a beautiful path for my efforts, and the flowers now grace your home."

After a pause, the water bearer added, "I understand your wife also loves the flowers very much, Sir."

"Keep your cracked pot," said the King.

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Accepting flaws, making the best of things, being innovative, sharing... all are important points in this story.

Our water bearer is a sage and probably doesn't know it. Or maybe he does?  

Enjoy the ride.

Gone Fishing

One day, a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, but he wasn't fishing. He had put away his net, and was enjoying the beautiful sunset and the crashing surf, when a man came walking towards him. The man noticed the fisherman just lying there, and decided to find out why he wasn't working harder.

"You're not going to catch many fish that way," said the man, "You should be working harder, rather than just sleeping on the beach!"

The fisherman looked up, and replied, "Then what?"

"Well, you could get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the man's answer.

"And then what?" asked the fisherman.

"You will make more money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will result in larger catches of fish!"

"And then what?" asked the fisherman again.

The man was starting to get a little annoyed with the fisherman's questions. "You could buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said.

"And then what?"

Now the man was really getting angry. "Don't you understand? You could build up a fleet of fishing boats and let your employees catch fish for you. You could become so rich that you would never have to work again. You could spend your days sitting on the beach, without a care in the world!"

The fisherman looked up and asked, "What am I doing now?"

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Our story touches on moderation and balance in our lives, two very important themes.

The fisherman in our story is just enjoying what he can. He works hard on most days, he makes money for himself and his family, but quite often he stops and enjoys the moment. Sure, he could work harder, everyone could work harder, but then how much more work is enough?

A small net becomes a larger net. One net becomes ten nets. A small boat becomes a larger boat. A larger boat becomes a fleet. Where does it end?

In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says, "He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."

Our fisherman has found his center. He works hard, but he also takes moments for himself. He doesn't constantly push for more, just because more is possible. He enjoys the moment when he is fishing. He enjoys the moment when he watches a sunset. He even enjoys the questions from a stranger on the beach. Moderation and balance have become companions in his life.

Our fisherman lives in the center.

Enjoy the ride. 

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Three Teachers

A young Zen student approached a sage, and asked about the first test he would undergo.

"It is simple," replied the sage. "Walk through the woods and follow the path you see before you. Along the way you will encounter three teachers."

"That's it?" replied the astonished young man, "When can I start?"

"Right away if you would like, but do not forget about the teachers."

The young man walked outside of the village and found the path. After a few hundred yards, he encountered a creek. The water was muddy and shallow, and someone had already placed a log across the creek, so he used it to cross over. The log was very slippery though, and after two steps the young man lost his footing, and fell into the water. His shoes were now wet and filled with mud.

The young man cleaned himself up as best as he could and continued on his way, but he was furious with himself for having been so careless.

A few minutes later he saw a huge boulder in his path. As he approached it, he realized he'd never be able to move it, so he decided to go around. On both sides of the boulder there were thick brier patches and the briers clung to his pants and scraped against his legs.

"This is crazy!" he thought. "Why doesn't someone clear this path? And where are the teachers?!" Angry, annoyed, and in a bit of discomfort, the young man continued on. He walked for several hours, but no one appeared. "This is horrible." he thought, "I've wasted my entire afternoon!" After another hour he finally reached the end of the path. It had brought him back to his village.

Once there, he found the sage waiting for him. "Did you meet the other teachers?" the old man asked.

"No," the angry student replied. "I have scrapes on my legs, mud in my shoes, and the teachers never showed up!"

"That's not true at all," said the sage. "Your first teacher was the log. You trusted it and used it to benefit yourself, but in the end it let you down. You will encounter many people in life that are just like that log. Next you encountered a boulder. It was large and immovable, and it forced you to change your path. This caused you to experience pain. You will encounter many people in life that are just like that boulder."

The sage added, "Anything that is angering you, annoying you, or testing your patience, see that as your teacher."

"I understand," said the student, "But what was my third teacher?"

"You," said the sage. "You carried patience with you on this journey, but you refused to use it. You also carried anger, annoyance, and impatience, and at the first opportunity you chose to use those negative feelings. Did they make your trip easier?"

"No," replied the young man.

"We all carry good and bad with us everywhere we go," said the sage. "You must choose which one will help you on this great journey."

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We've all known the slippery log. It can be a person we trusted, or a situation in life that we thought would be favorable to us, but in the end things did not work out well.

We've also encountered people who are like the boulder. Their presence is large in our lives, they seem immovable, and quite often they are in our way. Having to go around them causes us pain.

Our young student only encountered two difficulties on his path, yet he allowed them to ruin his entire walk. He never noticed the beauty of the trees, the song birds, or the sunlight through the leaves. He walked for hours after seeing the boulder, yet he spent the entire time miserable and angry.

Every life will have boulders and slippery logs. That is a fact. All we can do is accept them, learn from them, and continue on.

Enjoy the ride. 

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Her Mirror

There once was a young woman who carried a mirror in her purse everywhere she went. Now there's nothing strange about carrying a mirror, lots of women carry them, the unusual part was how she used it. She would take the mirror out of her purse, look into it for a moment, and immediately put it back. Then she would quickly repeat the process. Always looking into the mirror twice.

One day a shopkeeper, who was new in town, noticed the young woman's behavior and thought to himself, "That woman must be so preoccupied with the way she looks that she has to carry a mirror around all the time. She shouldn't worry about the way she looks on the outside, it's what's inside that counts."

The shopkeeper decided to approach the woman and satisfy his curiosity. He walked over and asked, "Miss, why do you use your mirror in such an odd manner?"

The woman turned to the shopkeeper and said, "I use it when I feel troubled, sir. I look into it and it shows me the source of my problems."

"Well, that sounds rather depressing," said the shopkeeper. "Every time you look into your mirror you see a problem?"

"Not at all," said the woman. "When I look into it the second time, I see the person that can solve it."

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Like many Zen stories, this one is about looking inward, at ourselves. In this case, the young lady in our story has taken an extra step, and literally looks at herself in the mirror first. It may seem strange, but it's effective.

Our young lady has figured out that everything in her life begins and ends with her. That doesn't mean she's selfish or narcissistic, quite the opposite, actually.

She has accepted that all of her problems are hers to solve. She owns them. She doesn't blame others when trouble comes her way. She doesn't try to control people, or tell them how to live their lives, or change their behavior. Even if the behavior of others is the source of her problems, she still looks inward for the solution.

Our young woman knows that the only thing in this world she can truly control is herself. 

Enjoy the ride.

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Become a Lake

An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining. One morning, he sent the young man out for some salt.

When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to pour a large handful of salt into a cup of water, and then to drink it.

"How does it taste?" the master asked.

"Salty, bitter, just horrible," replied the apprentice.

The master chuckled, then asked the young man to pick up another large handful of salt. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake. Once there, the old master told the young man to toss the salt in. After the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped from the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?"

"The same as always, delicious," remarked the apprentice.

"Do you taste the salt?" asked the master.

"No," said the young man.

At this, the master sat down beside the young man and said, "I want you to see the pain of life as pure salt, my son. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same, but the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain into. When you are in pain, the best thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things."

"Stop being a cup. Become a lake."

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Enjoy the ride. 

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