PureInsight | April 20, 2008
[PureInsight.org] Xiao Sheng is
a drummer in the school band. At every flag-raising ceremony, all the
teachers and students always listen intensively to his play. One day,
he played some wrong notes and felt very discouraged. After that he
thought of quitting the band. I told him the following story:
Once upon a time a father was very frustrated with his son because he
did not seem very manly though he was already sixteen years old. The
father went to see a Zen master and asked the master to help his son
become a real man.
The master said: "I can help you; however, you will have to leave your
son at my place for three months. For the whole period, you are not
allowed to come to see him. I will assure your satisfaction after the
three months."
As promised, the father did not come back until three month
later. The master arranged a karate match to show the father the
training result.
When the competition was starting, the father found out that the opponent was a karate trainer.
The trainer certainly made sure that he was fully prepared to win
before he started to attack. On the other side, the son fell on the
floor as soon as he was attacked without any resistance. However, the
boy did not surrender and got up immediately after he fell. It went on
like this for no fewer than twenty times. His father was embarrassed
and felt pain but dared not say anything.
The boy lost badly when the match was over. The master asked the father: "Don't you think your son was showing manliness?"
"I felt ashamed of him! After three months' training, what kind of
result is this?! He is so weak and falls to the floor as soon as he is
attacked. I don't think he is manly at all." The father was very
disappointed.
The master said: "I am sorry that you only look at the superficial
forms of failure and success. Didn't you notice that your son had
courage and bravery for standing up after his falls? It is a success if
the standing-ups are more than falls, which is what a real man should
possesses."
The father had a sudden enlightenment and thanked the master deeply, and then he took his son home.
After listening to the story, Xiao Sheng thought it over and told me
that he will keep working hard and will practice all the notes to gain
a new appraisal from others.
Enlightenment from the Story:
We should not just focus on instant results when we do something. The
experiences gained and the effort given are the most precious. If one's
life is always smooth, he/she will not taste the final sweetness of
success after many tries without giving up. The really important virtue
is to remember experiences and lessons from failures and bravely move
forward to the road of success after planning anew.
Translated from:
http://xinsheng.net/xs/gb/da4print.asp?ID=42998
