PureInsight | August 12, 2007
[PureInsight.org] A
seventy-year-old Japanese elder took a valuable painting handed down
from his ancestors to an expert for appraisal. He told others that the
painting was a treasure worth several million dollars according to his
father. He always safeguarded it nervously. Because he didn't
understand art, he asked an expert to assess its value. As it turned
out, the expert believed it was a reproduction and might worth only ten
thousand yen or less. People asked him, "You must be very disappointed!"
This elderly gentleman from the countryside replied with an easy
manner: "Ah! It may be good it turned out this way. No one will try to
steal it and now I can hang it in my living room and feel at ease." The
elder's cheerful humorous response makes one sigh with emotion: Losing
something can actually be more relaxing than owning it.
A wealthy man once sent his son to a very poor village for one month to
let him learn to cherish what he had. After a month, the son came home
full of vigor and didn't show any misery. The wealthy father was very
surprised and wanted to know the reason. He asked his son: "Now you
know that not everyone can live like us in such good conditions."
The son answered: "They live better than we do.
We have only lamp at night, but they have a sky full of stars.
We must buy our food, but they grow their own food for free.
We have only a small garden, but to them everywhere is a garden.
We only hear noise, but they hear music from nature.
We work in stress, but they sing while they work.
We need to take care of our servants and our workers but they only need to take care of themselves.
We shut ourselves inside the air conditioned house but they enjoy the coolness under the tree.
We worry others might steal from us but they have nothing to worry about.
We always complain about our food but they are happy just to have something to eat.
We always suffer from insomnia but they sleep soundly.
Thank you, Dad. You let me see that we can live such a good life."
Through losing thing we can appreciate more beautiful things.
When we own something, we are always afraid of losing it. But perhaps
we must lose it so that we will not limit ourselves but, instead, have
more beautiful experiences. When we lose our love, we agonize over how
much she let us down. But there are reasons for being parted, so why
not console ourselves after suffering? I used to worry that we would
break up, but now I have no such worry. I used to complain that she
wasn't treating me right. Now I don't have to be treated like that
anymore. Before, I could only be by the side of a single blade of
grass, but now fragrant plants are everywhere.
If we do not just focus on the lost thing, lost love, lost jobs, lost
marriage, losing it may bring us a wider view. As long as we do not
lose our life, it will be still very promising.
I always believe in the old saying: "If heaven shuts a door for me, it
will open a window for me." Often, the distance between the door and
the window can be long, longer than we can imagine. But we will find
the path to the window and we will see a view of blue sky. The blue sky
is always there, but we always lock ourselves in the house.
Translated from:
http://xinsheng.net/xs/articles/gb/2004/12/1/29876.htm
