The secret of satisfaction
In the here and now life. How a Zen master tries to teach this to some seekers is shown in this inspiring short story
Once upon a time a few seekers came to an old Zen master.
“Master,” one of them asked, “what do you do to be happy and content? I would also like to be as happy as you.
The old man replied with a mild smile: “When I lie, I lie. When I get up, I get up. If I go, then I go and if I eat, then I eat”.
The questioners looked into the round a little stepped. One burst out: “Please, don’t mock us. What you say, we do too. We sleep, eat and walk. But we are not happy. So what is your secret?”
The same answer came:
“If I lie, then I lie. When I get up, I get up. If I go, then I go and if I eat, then I eat”.
Looking at the restlessness and resentment of the seekers, the Master added after a while: “You are also safe, and you also go, and you eat. But while you are lying down, you are already thinking about getting up. While you are standing up you are thinking about where you are going and while you are going you are wondering what you are going to eat. So your thoughts are always somewhere else and not where you are right now. The actual life takes place at the intersection of past and future. Let yourself be fully involved in this unmeasurable moment and you will have the chance to be truly happy and content”.
according to a Zen Buddhist parable