A man has a horse to work the fields and the horse runs away one day. The man’s son becomes very anxious and worried that they will not be able to work the fields without the horse. The father says, “Do nothing. This may be a blessing.”
A few days later the horse returns with a group of horses. The father and son are very happy because of their luck and now have many horses to work the fields.
Since they have so many horses the son is now able to ride a new horse every day. His father warns him not to take so much pride and to stop riding the horses, but the son ignores him. One day the son falls from the horse that he was riding and breaks both of his legs. All the neighbors come to tell the father this is terrible luck as his son will be unable to help in the fields. The wise father tells his neighbors, “Do nothing. This may be a blessing.”
A few weeks later, war breaks out in the region and all the young men are taken off to fight in the war. Many of the boys die; however, the son who has broken his legs is unable to leave and fight and his life was spared.
This story brings us to…
“Good or bad, hard to say.”
How many events in life you think you can control? How many of your plans have gone as expected? Very, very few, I’d say. That mentioned, good or bad hard to say, for those uncontrollable events and unexpected results of your plan do bring some good opportunities or even teach you unforgettable life lessons. That’s why you should…
Stop fighting and go with the flow.
This expression derives from an important concept in Taoism known as Wu Wei (meaning non-doing, non-action, or non-reaction). The idea is to to be at peace with whatsoever comes your way. Good or bad.
Whatsoever! Will you still “go with the flow” if people accused you of doing what you didn’t do and demanded that you be responsible for it? Take a moment to enjoy this zen story.
A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter’s accusation, he simply replied“Is that so?”
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. “Is that so?” Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.
For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. “Is that so?” Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
Now you say, he is a zen master. Then enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 48 of Tao Te Ching (or the Canon of the Way).
In pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can’t be gained by interfering.
This was written for novices like you and me to stop worrying and start living life. All you need to do is to act spontaneously, naturally and effortlessly on events that come upon you. Try it. So next time, listen carefully both within and your surroundings and remember this: “Good or bad, hard to say. So I’ll go with the flow and remain still until action becomes necessary for me to change.”
I’ll now end this post with this from Chapter 2 of Tao Te Ching about good and bad and why you should learn to go with the flow.
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn’t possess,
acts but doesn’t expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
