2006-01-22
Good Luck? Bad Luck? ......
This little story comes from Don Milman's "Way of the peaceful warrior" and is a beautifully clear version of an older Taoist teaching:
'An old man and his son worked a small farm, with only one horse to pull the plough. One day the horse ran away.
"How terrible," sympathised the neighbours."
"What bad luck".
"Who knows whether it is good or bad luck," the farmer replied.
A week later , the horse returned from the mountains, leading five wild mares into the barn.
"What wonderful luck!" said the neighbours.
"Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?" answered the old man.
The next day, the son, trying to tame one of the horses, fell and broke his leg.
"How terrible, what bad luck!"
"Bad luck? Good luck?"
The army came to all the farms to take the young men away for war. The farmer's son was of no use to them, so he was spared.
"Good? Bad?"
from: Three-Circles-Praxis
"The perfect way is only difficult for those that pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike, all will then be clearly understood."
~ Seng Tsan
meyamind at 5:02 p.m.
