12th May 2011
"I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude."
Anonymous
There are certain virtues and values which are purely voluntarily and no one can force them on anyone. Discipline, obedience, truthfulness, punctuality etc are personality traits which cannot be forced on anyone. Even the so called most indisciplined person will be highly disciplined in certain occasions if he chooses to be so.
While I write this, I recall a Zen story I read somewhere.
There was a Zen master with great wisdom. His talks were attended by thousands of his followers. He will talk not from his lips, but from his heart. One day a person from a rebel group attended his talk. This man was determined to debate and quarrel with the Zen master. When the Zen master was giving a talk, this person interrupted and shouted that he will never obey the Zen master and challenged him if he can make him to obey him.
The Zen master called him to the dais where he was sitting and asked him to sit to his right. The man went up to the dais and sat to the right of the Zen master. The Zen master then asked him to come to his left and the man did.
Then the Zen master complimented him and said that he is the most obedient disciple he ever had!
This is a simple but a powerful story. I had to read it several times to understand the principles hidden in the story. Sometimes we do display certain virtues like obedience without our being aware of the same. We may think that we are lazy. But there are occasions where we were very brisk and active. We may think that we are very kind and people loving. But it is likely that others may find us to be unkind and unreasonable without our being conscious of the same.
May be we have to introspect and do a self audit on our own hidden personality so that there is a congruity between what we think we are and what we are really!
N C Sridharan
ooo
Posts
