There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, ‘Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?’
A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, ‘Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?’
Then, when the farmer’s son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, ‘Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?’
Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?
Ah- So…..
PS: “Ah, so” is an informal way to say “Is that right?” or (“Hai” is “Yes”, and “Naruhodo” “I see”). For formal conversation “Ah, so desu ka” is more appropriate as it is a signal of respect to the person talking that you are listening.
I like to think of Ah-So as a space of Equanimity…..Maybe, Maybe Not.
It’s that place that is revered by Masters who warn against extreme responses to anything for we never really know the way of things, do we? If we had made that plane that went down we would not still be alive. If we had stayed with that murderous boyfriend, if, if, if…..There’s a reason why they refer to a tantrum as “blowing a gasket” and folks die of heart attacks and injure their organs by throwing fits. (and other reasons too.)
Ah-So helps me to stop and take pause to consider just what the gift of the assumed bad luck might be. It’s there. We just have to give it time to reveal itself.
In India, there is a story about a kind, quiet man who would pray in the Ganges River every morning. One day after praying, he saw a poisonous spider struggling in the water and cupped his hands to carry it ashore. As he placed the spider on the ground, it stung him. Unknowingly, his prayers for the world diluted the poison.
The next day the same thing happened. On the third day, the kind man was knee deep in the river, and sure enough, there was the spider, legs frantic in the water. As the man went to lift the creature yet again, the spider said, “Why do you keep lifting me? Can’t you see I will sting you even time, because that is what I do?”
There are many reasons to be kind, but perhaps none is as compelling as the spiritual fact that it is what we do. It is how the inner organ of being keeps pumping. Spiders sting. Wolves howl. Ants build small hills that no one sees. And human beings lift each other, no matter the consequence. Even when other beings sting.
Some say this makes us a sort lot that never learns, but to me it holds the same beauty as berries breaking through ice and snow every spring. It is what quietly feeds the world. After all, the berries do not have any sense of purpose or charity. They are not altruistic or self-sacrificing. They simply grow to be delicious because that is what they do.
As for us, if things fall, we will reach for them. If things break, we will try to put them together. If loved ones cry, we will try to soothe them — because that is what we do. I have often reached out, and sometimes it feels like a mistake. Sometimes, like the quiet man lifting the spider, I have been stung. But it doesn’t matter, because that is what I do. That is what we do. It is the reaching our that is more important than the sting. In truth, I’d rather be fooled than not believe.
Nemo continues with several opportunities for consideration:
Recall a time when you were kind for no reason.
It could have been as simple as picking up what a stranger dropped. Or leaving an apple in the path of hungry birds.
Meditate on what such acts have done for you. After being kind have you felt lighter, more energized, younger, more open in your heart?
Connect with Alvina via phone, set an intention, sit back and relax or assist by holding your own acupoints or heart space.
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