Saturday, April 14, 2012

Is That So?


Something crappy happened at work recently. Not life alteringly bad, no one died, just something to be filed under the title Sometimes Life Sucks.

When I got finished whining about it – which admittedly took a very long time – I calmed down and was able to reflect. Trying to remember that I am voluntarily attempting to always be a student of that University called Life, I asked myself, what is it I am supposed to be learning from this? As I contemplated, this Zen koan that Eckhart Tolle mentions in A New Earth came to mind:

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parent went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?"


Sometimes you can be going along, doing everything right, and life hands you a big ball of crap. Or, you know, a baby you didn’t father. When this happens it’s not always necessary to get up on your high horse or your soap box or whatever you need to get up on since you’re only five feet tall, and shout from the roof tops that you’ve been wronged. It’s likely no one wants to hear or will pay attention anyway. Sometimes all you need to have is a little patience, a little perspective, an ability to sit back and say, Is that so? And believe that the power of the universe is so strong it will eventually right itself.

So today all I’m saying from my soap box is, Is that so?

Is that so?

1 reasons for living:

Scott Culp said...

Tried to rationalize this with someone at work the other day and have found that people get quite defensive when you question their inherent right to judge things as good or bad; right or wrong.

Conversation went something like this....."Clearly this is unacceptable and wrong", to which I responded, "No, it just IS, your experiences and perspective have lead you to believe it is wrong"

You know the saying if looks could kill? Well for a while there I was worried that a mug to the head might be the weapon of choice!! LOL

Note to self....Not everyone is ready for a Zen existence. Which truly, I knew anyways since I am probably not ready for one either.

I do have my moments of clarity though and when they do some, they can be overwhelmingly peaceful. Hope you found yours peaceful as well. :-)

HUGZ