Friday, January 06, 2006

zen story: more is not enough

read this simple yet meaningful zen story frm http://www.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/more.html.

More Is Not Enough

The Stone Cutter
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"

Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.
He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

i guess this story illustrates e true nature of human.. always desiring/ craving for more, never satisfied with wat we have. perhaps we shld stop all these cravings for a moment & be contented with wat we already have! as e saying goes: e grass is always greener on e other side. no point having false illusions of e "other side".. cos it might not turn out as good as u perceived it to be.

e stone cutter in e story desires to be better/ more powerful.. however look at wat he got in return? hatred & cursing frm e people. i believed that when u gain something.. u tend to lose something as well. in his case.. he had gained power, but lost e gd relationship with pple. if we look at it frm a diff perspective, he might be happier living a simple life as a stone cutter even though he is poor.

another point is e way we look at things. in our life we might be clouded with desires that we do not appreciate how much we actually have. in e stone cutter's case.. he is in fact more "powerful" than a rock (haa.. sounds silly but true) however he craves to be "better".. which ends up having to realise that all e power-chase r futile. it is juz how we perceive things... thus, always have a positive attitude in life! it will make u a happier person~ :)

Posted by *Mu| and ChAng* at 10:43 PM