ALL in the MIND

 

Two thought-provoking stories I read somewhere.  Hope you can be  enlightened too....

 

Long ago there was a young man living in Korea, who felt that his life was filled with emptiness. Shaving bald, he made his way up to the mountains to live the life of a monk. After studied diligently for many years, his mission was still not accomplished as he did not really understand how to set his mind free.

Words got around that certain Zen masters living in remote places of China may be able to offer solution. He packed up some belongings and headed for a long and arduous journey across arid plains.

For several days, he would walk for many hours, and would stop only after finding a patch of land that had a source of water. Finding water was not a simple task in such dry lands. There were many times he had to walk until late in the evening before finding a suitable location to rest and refresh.

On a particularly hot day, the monk walked on endlessly, unable to find an oasis. When he eventually found a shaded area, his body was so tired and slept for couple of hours. He woke up past midnight and was extremely thirsty. Crawling around on his hands and knees in total darkness, a roughly made cup was spotted that must have been left behind by a previous traveler. The custom of leaving a cup with some water in it, for the next traveler to drink from was quite common in those days. He drank the meager amount of water in the cup and felt very blessed and contented. Too tired to get up, he continued to sleep in a comfortable manner.

Upon waking up the next morning, he was horrified to see the roughly made cup was actually the shattered skull of a baby wolf, caked with dried blood, and numerous insects floating on the surface of some leftover filthy rain water.

The monk was dumbfounded and started to vomit. He had a great wave of nausea, and as the fluid poured forth from his mouth, it was as if his mind was being cleansed. He immediately felt a deep sense of understanding.

What he could not see last night was a great cup of water left behind by a fellow traveler. What he saw this morning was the thought of what he had done the night before that made him sick to his stomach.

 He understood that it was his thought, and not the water that made him felt ill. It was his thinking that created the feeling of good and bad, right and wrong, delicious and foul tasting.

WITH NO THINKING THERE WAS NO SUFFERING.

How about you? Is there some situation in your life where it is your thinking that makes for the suffering and not the actual circumstances you are embroiled in?

If this is so, it is a great opportunity for you to cleanse your mind and be free.

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During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, “I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose.”

“Destiny will now reveal itself.”

He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.

After the battle, a lieutenant remarked to the general,

“No one can change destiny.”

“Quite right,” the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.

Just like the general, many of us have the habit of tossing coins to make decisions. Looking at the outcome, we might want to toss again. Well, why do so if the answer is already obvious. How influential is the toss of the coins on our mind? I think it is not important.

When we are determined to strive, the coin is as good as having equal sides.