We'll see...

[negra orquida]

Here is a zen story:

There was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years.  One day his prized horse ran away.  Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.

"Such bad luck," they clucked sympathetically.

The farmer replied, "We'll see..."

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.

"How wonderful!" the neighbors exclaimed.

The old man replied, just as calmly as before, "We'll see..."

The following day, his only son tried to ride one of the untamed horses.  Alas, the wild horse threw him off its back and the son broke his leg and became lame. The neighbours again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

Looking at a distance, the farmer answered, "We'll see..."

Soon after, a terrible war broke out with the neighbouring country.  Military officials came to the village to draft all the able-bodied young men into the army.  Seeing that the farmer's son was lame, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

The farmer said, "We'll see..."

What is this story trying to tell us?

[jeremyg]

I feel the story is teaching us impermanence. When everyone is shocked that the horse ran away, the farmer knows that this is not forever. Again when he brings back three other horses the farmer knows that things can change very quickly. When we don't react, and look for permanence then we won't experience the suffering associated with the loss of something we feel is permanent. When we understand impermanence, we understand one of the core principles of suffering, and the law of karma.

When people react the farmer doesn't. He is unaffected by changes and has a stable mind. When people are happy or sad the farmer understands that things constantly change.

[sonamdhargey]

We are quick to judge a situation and quick to take action. With such hastiness we miss to see the reality and we react based on prejudgement or pre-perceived thoughts. What we think may not be what will happened. Somehow we tend to follow the crowd and what others think and we end up making the wrong decisions. A sound decision does not mean a hasty one, but sometimes letting go of per conditions of our mind may help us making hasty decisions.

[Q]

Very nice story. Thanks for sharing.

I believe the story is trying to point out the nature of our mind... how we always perceive things based on worldly views. Nothing is truly good or bad at any point of time, as either one can always turn against each other any time. It is all the doings of the mind, that perceive what's good and/or bad based on our current situation to suit what's most beneficial to ourselves. The farmer was wise... he didn't ride on the wave of emotions.

[triesa]

Today's happiness may be tomorrow's sorrow.......
Today's misfortune may be tomorrow's luck.......

Never hold onto a perception as it arises out of circumstances and conditions.........
Hold dear impermanace as change is the law of the universe........

[jessicajameson]

Thanks for sharing this story!

When things happen to us, we like to define it as "good" or "bad". We fixate it as having "bad luck" or "good luck".

Psychologically, by defining a situation we may in turn make the .

Like when the son fell off the horse and broke his leg, if the father lamented over the situation and thought, "Oh no, how can my son earn money for the family now...?" etc etc then the entire incident becomes bad... creating unnecessary problems and heartache.

Who's to know that it was a blessing in disguise?

We all create unnecessary suffering lamenting over situations we have no control over.

We just have to let things flow and do the best we can in every situation.

[vajraD]

Thank you for sharing the story.

The story to me basically explains that we can’t control situation but we can control our mind.

The experience may be bad for others but is not bad for the farmer because he realize everything is impermanence. So whatever others say it did not affect his mind.

[Aurore]

The future is unknown. How things will turn out we do not know. This story teaches us to let go because life is impermanent. When something bad happens, it may not stay that way. Bad situations does not have to remain forever, good situations does not last forever either.

When we stop being attached, things will come! The more you hold on to your possessions, it will go.
So whatever comes, comes. Let's take it from there and make the most of what comes ... as whatever situation we are in is only a state of mind.

[kurava]

Nice sharing.

From this story, I learn that by changing our view point we change our experience of things. What  normally considered as good, bad, beautiful, ugly, delicious, awful.... are subjective to so many factors eg. time, culture, individuals.

Even experiences that most agree to be negative such as having a handicapped child can turn into a positive lesson on unconditional love or exploring our human potential beyond physical limitations.

The father in the story is a very wise person. he understands that good or bad is entirely up to individuals' perception and there is no need to be attached to any given situation because it won't last and it's also subjective.

[brian]

For me, this story tells me that every even tht happens do bring a blessing in disguise even if the initial thing that happened to him may seem bad but in the end turns out good for the guy. We just accept what kind of calamities or bad things that happens to us, in the long run, it does not matter as we evolve around the world of karma and we might be moaning or crying now but no necessarily it will be forever like in this case. I feel it is just another day for our lives here and to know nothing is permanent in this world and should instead focus what is in front of us rather than looking back what had happened.

[hope rainbow]

LOL...

Thank you so much for this story, it really got me laughing out loud.
It reminds me of the story of this guy who missed his plane to later find out that the plane he was supposed to be on crashed. If he had never known that the plane crashed he would still be cursing his taxi driver that day instead of treating him like a God's sent angel.

What this makes me think of is this: the help we receive from our Protector comes in many shapes and form and is not necessarily what we EXPECT. Help may very well take the shape of a disaster. So we must keep 3 things active:
1. faith,
2. open mind,
3. a mind free from expectation that it HAS to be this way or that way.

But seriously, I want to know how the story continues... What happens after?

[negra orquida]

Hehe Hope Rainbow, unfortunately there is no ending to the story... not that I know of!

Interestingly I came across this story when I was looking for stuff on gratitude... I was wondering why is this story used?

I suppose if we were to link it to gratitude, if we could see the positive and be grateful for that in any situation, even if we are in a bleak place, we could still be happy or at least not as disturbed as one who would cling on to the negative side of things.  Just like how the old man reacted when his horse ran away and his son became lame.

[Big Uncle]

I was going to give my 2 cents about how easily our mind is quick to react towards any given situation with either attachment or aversion. However, negra orquida has already come back with the original intent of the story. I would have never have linked the story with gratitude but when after reading your brief explanation, I would have to agree. Even when we are at our darkest hour, there is always hope because we are still breathing and we have the capacity to think our way through the problem. When all else fails, just be glad that we are still breathing and we are still alive and capable of making a difference.

[dondrup]

There is nothing inherently good or bad about any situation as illustrated by this Zen story.  Due to our karma, every one of us has a different perception of how things should be in samsara.  If we understand that every phenomenon in samsara arises due to causes and conditions, then we will not react like how the farmer’s neighbours had reacted.  The old farmer had clearly realised the nature of things.  He did not seem to be affected by the change of events as depicted in the story.

It is interesting to note gratitude as the moral of this story.  As we cruise through our short life in samsara, it is almost always we take life for granted.  After we woke up from sleep every night, we should be very happy and grateful to be alive as human to continue our spiritual practice! 

I agree with what Hope Rainbow had said about the protector’s help.  It is not what we want or expect but what we need.  And Dorje Shugden knows how to arrange the necessary conditions to help us.  What appears to us as unfavourable condition ultimately is the condition we need to help us to transform!

[yontenjamyang]

This is an interesting story. The old farmer is definitely very patient and wise. Patient because he did not react to the situation as that could make the situation worse; wise because he did not think his good fortune is something to be overly happy about. In either good or bad circumstances, he displayed wisdom, understand impermanence and practiced renunciation.
Life's circumstances flip flop from good to bad to good to bad and something in the middle (most of the time). Being good or bad also are states of the mind. This story illustrate that clearly, using extreme examples and is very clear.
We need to learn that no matter what happens it not necessarily good or bad because it is just part of the story and workings of karma. We need to cultivate the condition for life's happiness. The most important is for others' happiness. Practice patient, the antidote to anger and wisdom that things are impermanent and that others' welfare is the ultimate happiness we can strive for.
That is why patience and wisdom are part of the 6 perfections of the Great Scope.