Dharma Talk

Mr. Sei's Horse

by Gerry Shishin Wick, Roshi

Mr. Sei lived in a small, poor village. He owned a horse and was one of the wealthiest members of the village. His neighbors used to come to him and tell him how lucky he was to have that horse because he could plow much more field and have a larger income and take better care of his family. Mr. Sei was a very wise man so he didn't say anything. He just nodded his head. One day the horse ran away and his neighbors come and told him how unlucky he is that his horse had run away. Again Mr. Sei nodded his head. Then the horse returned and a second horse was following. Now Mr. Sei had two horses The neighbors came and said, "How lucky he is that his horse ran away and came back with an extra horse. Now he has two horses." Again Mr. Sei just nodded his head. Next the son was plowing the field with the second horse and had an accident and broke his leg. The neighbors rushed over again. "How unlucky he is that he had that second horse otherwise his son never would have broken his leg and now he can't help him in the fields." Mr. Sei nodded. War erupted in the province and the lords were conscripting all of the young men to fight. Mr. Sei's son had a broken leg, so he didn't have to go into battle. The neighbors came again and told Mr. Sei how lucky he is that his son broke his leg. This story has no end and continues today.

We never know what is to be good or what is to be bad. We think we know what is good and what is bad, but we do not know. . The same event can be good under some conditions and bad under others.

Most people would agree that being laid off from a job is a bad thing. When I was once laid off, I read that 80 to 90 percent of people who have been laid off find a better situation than the original. It was true for me. I found a job that paid well and allowed me more freedom to spend with my family and on my Zen pursuits. Sometimes being forced to change allows us to be more flexible and less frightened to take that plunge into the unknown.

In the late 1960's, I had a fellowship in physics research in England. When my money ran out, I received another fellowship to do research in France. However, my wife at the time became ill and could not make the trip to France. So I was in London with no job and no prospects. As it turned out, I started a new career in science writing and journalism that opened many new opportunities. Most important to me, during that time I met Sochu Roshi in London and practiced Zen with him. Like Mr. Sei's neighbors, the voices in my mind told me how unlucky I was that I could not take the position in France. The same voices told me later how lucky I was to have remained in London and met Sochu Roshi.

In the Bible it says, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they shall both alike be good." (Ecclesiastes XI:6) Whatever comes up for you in life, put your very best effort into it. Do not hold back whether it be at work, in relationships or in spiritual practice. You will not know whether this or that will prosper, but when you make your best effort, you will be successful in one way or another. From a Zen perspective, making your best effort means to let go of your ego-grasping mind and to see the situation clearly.

Around the world, a tremendous amount of money is spent for medical research to ameliorate the effects of sickness and old age. The Buddha sought to eliminate the suffering due to old age, sickness and death. He was not trying to eliminate old age and sickness, just the suffering we experience when we do not know how to deal with them. I like the quote attributed to the ageless baseball pitcher Satchel Paige: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" We can also ask "How sick would you be if you did not know how sick you were?" Or how smart would you be or how attractive would you be?

We have all kinds of ideas. We think so much about how we want our life to be and ignore how it is. At each point in our life we have two choices: to choose our life as it is and to chose our life as it isn't. The second choice definitely leads to suffering because it is just an idea in your head. By choosing our life as it is, we are not rejecting ourselves, but we are on the path to realizing the truth that human beings are all intrinsically buddhas.