Zenseday
Find a Conversation
| Tue, 02-08-2011 - 10:32pm |
I know it's early, but I wanted to get this written while it's quiet tonight. I've been thinking about the balance of effort and patience. Many of us try SO hard to move forward, get better, stop feeling, stay NC, etc. I've read several comments this week "when will this stop?" I found this story:
A young man in Japan who wanted to be the greatest martial artist of the land. He thought that to reach this goal, he must study with the best instructor, who lived many miles away. One day he left home to go study with this great Zen teacher. After traveling for several days, he arrived at the school and was given an audience with the teacher. "What do you wish to learn from me?" the master asked. "I want you to teach me your art and help me become one of the best martial artists in the country," the young man replied. "How long must I study?" "Ten years at least," the master answered.
The guy thought, ten years is a lot of time. I want to get his done sooner than
that. I don't have that much time. Certainly if I try harder I can complete
this task quicker. So he asked the master, "What if I studied twice as
hard as everyone else? How long would it take then?"

Pages
Thanks Bodhi, good one!
Pages