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| Zen in Practice |
There are many old, wise men in ancient China, with a long white beard, who can jump to the top of the roof or kill a fly with chopsticks. Today I would like to tell you a story about one particular wise old man that owns a horse. This story is wide spread in the Mandarin speaking areas… generations after generations…
This particular old, wise man is believed to live in 200 BC.
As I said, he was OLD…. No one remembers his first name, but everyone knows his
last name, Sai. He has a long white beard… just like other wise old men in
ancient China…
As we said earlier, he had one horse, the one and only horse.
One day, his horse ran away.
His neighbors said, “I'm so sorry, Mr. Sai. This is such bad
news. You must be so upset.”
The man just said calmly, “We'll see.”
A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild
horses following. The man and his son corralled all 21 horses.
His neighbors said, “Congratulations, Mr. Sai! This is such
good news. You must be so happy!”
The man just said calmly, “We'll see.”
A few days later, one of the wild horses kicked Mr. Sai's
only son, breaking both his legs.
His neighbors said, “I'm so sorry, Mr. Sai. This is such bad
news. You must be so upset.”
The man just said calmly, “We'll see.”
A few weeks later, the country went to war, and every
able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed
every young man, but Mr. Sai’s son was spared, since his broken legs prevented
him from being drafted.
His neighbors said, “Congratulations, Mr. Sai! This is such
good news. You must be so happy!”
The man just said, “We'll see.”
That is the end of the story. Basically misfortune begets
fortune, and fortune begets misfortune. This goes on without end, and thus we
shall not oversad with misfortune and overhappy with fortune. And our mood
could then be always at a neutral and balance state. The philosophy is deeply rooted in the Taoism
and Buddhism practiced by majority of Taiwanese people. We will discuss more
common beliefs in upcoming posts.
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Friends in
Taiwan Adventure
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