Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Originals & Carbon Copies!


The great Zen master Bankei's talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart and used to reach the hearts of his listeners.

His large audiences angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. So one day the self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to debate with Bankei.

"Hey, Zen teacher!" he called out, "Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like me does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?"

"Come up beside me and I will show you," said Bankei.

Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.

Bankei smiled. "Come over to my left side."  The priest moved himself to the left side of Bankei.

"No," said Bankei, "we may talk better if you are on my right side. Step over here." And the priest proudly stepped over to Bankei’s right.

"You see," observed Bankei, "you are already obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen to me."

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, jealousy is the by-product of our conditioning for comparison. If one can drop comparing, then jealousy will disappear. Jealousy is one of the most prevalent areas of psychological ignorance about oneself and about others.
Comparison is a very foolish attitude, because each one of us is unique and incomparable. Once this understanding settles in, jealousy disappears. We are just ourselves, nobody has ever been like us, and nobody will ever be like us. We need not be like anybody else, either.
Friends, existence creates only originals, it does not believe in carbon copies.

Have a Nice Day Friends !

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