Cherishing Today

[PureInsight.org] Long ago,
there was a young monk living in a temple. His duty was cleaning the
courtyard in the temple so he had to get up very early every morning.
The courtyard was actually quite tidy, however he needed to clear the
falling leaves. It was not easy to get up early and fulfill the duty,
especially during the time between the fall and the winter. When it was
a windy day, enormous numbers of leaves fell off because of the wind.
The monk had to take quite some time to clean up, which gave him a
headache. He wanted to find a way to relax himself.



There was another monk who thought of himself as a smart guy. He told
the young monk: "Why don't you shake the trees violently tomorrow
before you clean up? All the leaves will be shaken off so then you
won't have leaves to sweep after tomorrow." The young monk thought that
was a good idea. On the second day, he got up very early and shook
every tree with his full strength and expected that he would clean up
all the leaves this time, so he was very happy for the whole day.
However, the next day, he went to the courtyard and was so surprised to
see the ground covered in leaves. He had to do it again and again. The
master of the temple saw the unhappy face of the monk and asked about
the reason. The young monk told him what happened, the master said:
"Son, no matter how hard you shake the tree, the leaves will fall
tomorrow anyway."



There are many things in the world that can not be moved up, because
they were arranged by the providence. The best attitude for one's life
is to grasp today and be down to earth. One should not expect too much
from tomorrow since there are many unknown things in the future. What
one pictures for the future is always unclear due to uncertain
circumstances, which are hard to realize, acknowledge and ascertain. If
one insists on waiting for the future, then the present time will be
wasted unconsciously and, consequently, good opportunities will be
missed.



Only today is the real time, since a person's past successes and
failures are not important in today's path of life. The pain and tears
of the past can be wiped out today and the dreams of yesterday can come
true. If one grasps today, it means that one grasps the vital point in
time. It also means that if a sincere and kind seed is sowed in the
rich soil of today, then a happy and desirable result will be achieved
in the future. Cherishing today means not wasting time, means not
missing opportunities, and cherishing one's life so well that one has a
fulfilled life without any regrets.



Translated from:

http://xinsheng.net/xs/articles/gb/2007/11/2/41778.htm