Author Topic: We'll see...  (Read 16654 times)

pgdharma

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2012, 11:24:54 AM »
Thank you for sharing this zen story, negra orquida.

Everything in life is impermanent, nothing last forever.  When something bad or good happened it may not stay the same way forever.  Sometimes a bad incident can turn out to be a blessing in disguise as in the case of the farmer, whose son became lame and need not join the army. We have no control of any situations, but we can control our mind and perception on how we would view the situations.

He may be a farmer with no education, but he has wisdom, a mind that is stable and not affected by the change of events/situations.

Jessie Fong

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2012, 12:41:53 PM »
Such a beautiful story.

On first reading, my little mind thought "Oh, the farmer knows only two words .... " but upon further reflection, I realise that he was aware that all events are not permanent and that he being a simple man has no ability to know/see into the future.

He was not fazed when his horse ran away, he was not jumping up and down and it brought back companions.  We can say that the accident that caused his son to be lame could be a blessing but all events were not within his control.

He let things go their way, as they were meant to be.

Klein

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2012, 03:53:01 PM »
My interpretation of the story is the similar to all of yours. The neighbours symbolise a mind that labels what's good and bad based on short term results. The farmer has a more long term view. I feel that either mind is neither right or wrong. It's just how soon we wish to make a conclusion. 

Good and bad is also very subjective. I guess from a Buddhist point of view, it'll be based on whether the action brings positive or negative karma. If our actions create causes for us to gain attainments and be closer to Enlightenment, then I think that's good. Otherwise, that's bad.

Tenzin K

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #18 on: March 24, 2012, 06:22:36 PM »
What a wonderful teaching.

We use to perceive things happen as what it is. Actually whatever things happen around us whether good or bad it’s all our karma. At one point it may look bad but because we only see it at a very short distance, sorry to say we are not Buddha yet to have a whole vision of our lives. But the bad situation happened which actually is a good things eventually which we discover at later time. Things is impermanent and it’s always like that. What determined the result of the effect is the cause that we have carried out before. This doesn’t mean we just let it be and just wait for it to happen! We still can make the change by collecting merits through dharma work.

The old farmer was so calm every time he says “We’ll see…” is just that he has so much confident that things/situation will always change and whether the result may not what we presume as it will lead us to another but what important is we have enough merits to lead the situation for a better result. 

Carpenter

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #19 on: March 24, 2012, 07:07:02 PM »
The farmer has a very high wisdom, he sees things and accepts things differently, when problem arises, he does not put a conclusion to it because he knows that everything happen for a reason and it is not permanent.

Sometimes, in a situation, whether it is bad or good, it depends on our perception, a situation is bad for me but it might not be bad for other people, it could be a good opportunity for some people.

Due to the law of impermanence, things changes every minute, every second, if we make conclusion immediately after an incident happened, it will affect our decision, when we are so panic to find a solution that is ‘good’ for us might not be favourable to us anymore, because things just keep changing, but if we stay calm, look at the problem carefully, we might find something favourable to us, and this chance, it can come and go very fast, so without a calm and wise mind, we will lose out many opportunity in life. Worth it not? Again, it depends on people.


lotus1

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #20 on: March 24, 2012, 10:26:11 PM »
This is from a Chinese proverb: ????????? that is used to describe:
1.   A setback may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
2.   Every cloud has a silver lining.
However, it is also a great Buddhism story on Karma and impermanence!  :)
It is full of wisdom! If we see thing happens as it is and do not put in our own judgements to interpret it as good or bad, instead, we keep creating causes for positive virtues, we will be happier person.  8)

rossoneri

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2012, 08:48:07 AM »
Patiently accept for the fact that every things happened for reason, instead of sulking when unfortunate events occurred or overly enjoy when good things come around. It is a lesson to some of us for the fact that the existence of happiness is due to sadness. It won't be a happy moment if we have not encountered sadness. We can't maintained our feelings for a long period of time, be it happy or sad. It'll be good if we can detached ourself from the things that we like slowly after all we can't bring those things along when the time comes.

The farmer have a lot of understanding about how the universal works, also understand the law of cause and effect, practicing calmness and awareness of things do change eventually so why do we live our life worrying about it. Learn to except and move on...we'll be a happier person.

Tammy

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2012, 11:22:57 AM »
This is story is well-known in Chinese communities around the world, as it is the story behind a Chinese proverb "???? ????“ which translate to 'Blessing in disguise'.

To me, this story teaches us to :
(1) Not take everything at it's face value
(2) Dont judge a book by it's cover
(3) Before drawing conclusion on a subject matter, we must give due consideration from all angles


Down with the BAN!!!

Dolce Vita

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #23 on: June 10, 2012, 03:13:02 AM »
It seems from the surface that the farmer is 'numb' he is not happy nor sad for the 'good' or bad things happen to him. But if we examine carefully, he is living his life without the eight wordly concerns. He is not affected by external factors at all, I guess he has truly understand impermanence therefore he can take thing easy.

Eight wordly concerns:
1) Getting what you want
2) avoiding getting what you do not want
3) Wanting (instant) happiness
4) not wanting unhappiness
5) Wanting fame
6) not wanting to be unknown
7) Wanting praise,
8) not wanting blame.

ratanasutra

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #24 on: June 26, 2012, 05:24:30 PM »
Well.. i will say that the old farmer has a very calm mind, he can control his mind not to go up and down with what is happening in front of him.

He is wise and do not look at things at the surface, he also learn how to let go and accept in the fact without making noise and blame others when bad things happened with him as it beyond of his control.

We always label thinks surround us and attach with the label we created which lead us to have more delusion mind.
 

Carpenter

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #25 on: June 26, 2012, 06:06:51 PM »
Well.. i will say that the old farmer has a very calm mind, he can control his mind not to go up and down with what is happening in front of him.

He is wise and do not look at things at the surface, he also learn how to let go and accept in the fact without making noise and blame others when bad things happened with him as it beyond of his control.

We always label thinks surround us and attach with the label we created which lead us to have more delusion mind.


When we do not be attached to what we don’t have or what we have, our mind will eventually be very clear and easier to let go. The farmer is calm because he is not attached to anything in that scenario, when we can control our attachment, then it is not difficult to control our mind.

He understand the cause of this incident that took place and he knows if it is the karma to get this, then nothing can be done, but if the karma is for us to be better, then so be it. Because Karma is out of our control, we can only face it, whether to face it happily or sadly, we still have to face it. So when it comes out as bad things, ourselves is to be blame, because we created the cause.

biggyboy

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #26 on: June 26, 2012, 06:36:56 PM »
Due to narrow minded views and perception, we acted according to every situations arises without much contemplation.  Many would perceived many different ways of the situations. 

http://dailylamrim.com/

"We ‘see’ these objects and mistake them for being single, inherently existent objects because of our ignorance. Though this bad mental habit, we ‘see’ the object over and above the parts we actually see with our eyes.

But when we look again, with wisdom, we clearly see that the object we perceive does not exist in the way it appears – when we search for it, it fades and cannot be found."

Hence, it will be more meaningful if one would look at all situations are non-inherent and to be more fluid in one's perception and not holding on to what it should or should not be.  For a simple reason that all things and situations changes every time...impermanence.


bambi

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #27 on: June 27, 2012, 03:26:41 AM »
In my opinion, its a rather ironic story. Even though at first when I read it, it sounded sad but it ended with something good. The farmer is definitely an optimist who doesn't take things for granted and every time something happens, he feels that it was not just meant to be bad, it is for something better. Ahh.. Yes.. While reading the story, it is my perception of how the story should be and how the villagers have wrong view towards the farmer. But the farmer is patient without looking at it in a negative way.

I found a nice story to share :

THE BUDDHA once told a story about a young man who was a trader and had a beautiful wife and baby son. Sadly, his wife fell ill and died, and the man poured all his love into his little child, who became the sole source of his happiness and joy. Once while he went away on business, bandits raided his village, burned it to the ground and captured his five-year-old son. When he returned and saw the devastation, he was beside himself with grief. He found the charred corpse of a small child, and in his desperation, he took it for the body of his son. He tore at his hair and beat his chest, and wept uncontrollably. At last, he arranged a cremation ceremony, collected up the ashes, and put them in a very precious silk pouch. Whether he was working, sleeping or eating, he always carried that bag of ashes with him, and often he would sit alone and weep, for hours on end.

One day his son escaped from the bandits, and found his way home. It was midnight when he arrived at his father’s new house and knocked on the door. The man lay in bed, sobbing, the bag of ashes by his side. “Who is it?” he asked. The child answered, “It’s me, daddy, it’s your son. Open the door.” In his anguish and confusion, all that the father could  think of was that some malicious  boy was playing a cruel trick on him. “Go away,” he shouted, “leave me alone.” Then he started to cry once more. Again and again, the boy knocked, but the father refused to let him in. Finally, he slowly turned and walked away. The father and son never saw one another ever again.

When he came to the end of his story, the Buddha said, “Sometime, somewhere you take something to be the truth. But if you cling to it too strongly, then even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it.”

What is it that makes us cling so strongly to our assumptions and beliefs, so strongly that we miss the truth and ignore reality altogether, like the father in the Buddha’s story? In the Buddhist teachings, we speak of ‘One Ground, and Two Paths’. By this, we mean that, even though the 'ground' of our original nature is the same, the buddhas recognize their true nature, become enlightened and take one 'path'; we  do not recognize, become confused, and take another. In that failure to recognize, that wasteland of unawareness, we invent and construct a reality all of our own. We make what is in fact a wrong view into our view, the view that shapes our whole lives, and colours our entire perception of everything. Wrong views, according to the Buddha, are the worst, and the source of all those harmful actions of our body, speech and mind that trap us endlessly in the cycle of suffering known as ‘samsara’.



Dorje Pakmo

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Re: We'll see...
« Reply #28 on: June 27, 2012, 05:39:19 AM »
One should always not view things as good or bad. The old farmer was calm, and composed when dealing with all the situations in the story. It is about achieving a state of stability arising from a deep awareness and acceptance of the present moment. In other words, he has achieved equanimity (evenness of the mind). By looking at things with a mind that is at peace even when unpleasant situation arises shows that the old farmer have realize the true nature of things which is ever changing (impermanent).

One will continuously, suffer and have much dissatisfaction if one clings on to temporal feeling and experience of happiness or unhappiness.
DORJE PAKMO