Zen Weekly #3
relsan
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 3720Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 3720Members, Constellation
in Discussions
<div class="IPBDescription">Is that so? Trees not included</div> A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?"
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.
For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.
For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
Comments
Nice story, I don't like it at all
Essentially my impression was very basic. The Zen master understood that resisting or trying to deny the accusations would require a great deal of energy and effort. His response did not accept the accusation, nor did it deny it. Instead he allowed events to play out on their own. He understood that withstanding the ridicule of the town was well within his powers, and that said ridicule did not affect his outlook on himself. Letting events play out simply required less effort than fighting them.
Moral: Go with the flow, if it is within your power to accept what life offers you then by all means accept it.
Imagine what kind of a boost that kid will have in life having been partly raised by a Zen Master.
He gave the daughter an opportunity to mature and in doing so she would be ready for the responsibility of being a mother.
He realized that although he could try point out the truth, it was better to let all concerned come to the truth themselves.
I see compassionate wisdom here.
The kid was only with him for "many" months. chances are, the kid wont remember a thing, and it will have very little affect on him whatsoever, as he got transferred to another family where things would have been very difference
The fire of life is the Universal force that endlessly shapes and alters us until we come to realize who we are in relationship to the rest of the Universe, and learn to act accordingly.
Usually, the altering process takes the form of adversity, and, as far as outward appearances are concerned, seems to be working against us, when, actually, it is working for us. To see each of those instances for what they are, opportunities for growth and improvement, is the way of the sage.
Seeing them in that light will bring an amazing change in our outlooks, for we will then see all obstacles and adversities as opportunities, and we consequently lose our resentment of them. For being successful in that endeavor, we will be profoundly rewarded by the Universe.
Maybe if the sage had said, "That isn't so", it would have given the parents the chance to grow. At least he wouldn't have been shunned by the village and landed with a baby.
He is talking about mental and spiritual rewards that can last a lifetime and benefit not just you but those around you. I think every single person in the story above benefited from the way the Zen master handled the situation. Through his compassion, its possible some compassion may have rubbed off on them as well.
Do you really think a Zen master would be afraid of being shunned by a whole village or given the responsibility of caring for a child? I think you all should consider how a man could seemingly effortlessly do the things that this Zen master did in this story. That is where true power lies; the power of love.
On the other hand, what could have happened if the sage had said, "It isn't so!"? It would have forced the parents to seek the truth. It might well have forced the girl to come to terms with her situation.
It might not have worked like that. Maybe the sage did do the right thing. But the way the story's told, it's as if he <i>knew </i>that being a whipping boy would mean that everything would turn out a-okay. There's no way he could have known. <i>That's </i>what I don't like about the parable.
more that you should alow events to influence you, as ultimatly there is no right or wrong, only different experiences.
I'm under the impression that saying "It isn't so" would simply have caused the villagers to see him as a guilty man protesting, and make them feel even more negatively towards him.
I just don't agree with the moral. Life isn't neat - matters won't "sort themselves out" if you just leave them be. If all you do is go with the flow, you'll probably end up adrift.
more that you should alow events to influence you, as ultimatly there is no right or wrong, only different experiences. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree with this point as well.
Wouldn't it?
In this story, if the Zen master points out that the woman is not telling the whole truth about the situation then the woman wouldn't have learnt anything; getting caught in a lie doesn't make you learn a lesson as much as confessing a lie would.
If the Zen master refused the infant, he would've been viewed as the guilty one, and if he Returned the baby it's mother wouldn't have been mature enough to deal with the child, anyways. As well, when the child grows up, if the child's mother isn't entirely mature and still tells lies, what would happen to the child? Atleast when the child grows up with the Zen master that the child is raised correctly.
And the last blow is that the Zen master probably knew just what to do in such a situation, anyways. Some matters wont set themselves strait, but some matters will; and it's those matters that do set themselves strait that we shouldn't interfere in.
I just don't agree with the moral. Life isn't neat - matters won't "sort themselves out" if you just leave them be. If all you do is go with the flow, you'll probably end up adrift. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
The moral of the story is not that life is neat and matters will sort themselves out. You are assuming that the moral of the story has something to do with the daughter confessing and the parents taking the baby back because TO YOU that is a good neat ending. But that's not at all what the moral of the story is about. It is about the actions of the Zen master regardless of the ending. This is a Zen story. It is about the Zen master and nothing else.
Focus on the Zen master for a moment in this story. When the parents came to him the second time and asked for the baby back, what did he say? Was he relieved? Was he wiping sweat off his brow saying "Thank goodness that's over with!"? No. He said the exact same thing that he said when the parents accused him earlier, made him a pariah before the whole village, and then demanded that he take the child. "Is that so?"
You assume that he could only do this because he had faith that the situation would resolve itself, but that's not the case at all. That is not how a Zen master thinks and that is not what Zen is about.
The Zen master is not concerned about what the parents think.
The Zen master is not concerned about how the village sees him.
The Zen master is not concerned about taking care of a child.
These are simply "things" and "situations" that have no effect on his spirituality. He is beyond them. The only thing that matters to him are his reactions to these "things" and "situations". He does not attach himself to "things" and "situations" because they are always changing and unstable. His strength comes from his inner self because that is the only thing that he can depend on to always be there. By building his inner self he is able to react to all "things" and "situations" with grace, wisdom, and love. That is basis of Zen.
To a Zen master, babies, daughters, villages, accusations... all of these things combined are simply a path to be traveled and experienced. It does not matter in what way they come; every situation "good" or "bad" is an opportunity to a Zen master.
Or maybe not. Maybe the story wasn't supposed to make sense at all - in which case it is a lesson of caution into reading too much into Zen stories, or in fact is truly about nothing in particular.
Myself, I don't think the story has a moral. It's intent is to put the reader in a state of mind in which he is constantly trying to resolve contradictions, and then puts the mind in enough knots that the contradictions become self apparent, and simply are (aka enlightenment).
Aspiring Zen masters probably could use a lot of Aspirin...
But as I said earlier, you can't know that. Maybe, by refuting her claim, it would have forced her to face the truth? It just seems as though he knows what the outcome will be, when he couldn't.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->And the last blow is that the Zen master probably knew just what to do in such a situation, anyways. Some matters wont set themselves straight, but some matters will; and it's those matters that do set themselves straight that we shouldn't interfere in.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He wasn't interfering, he was involved.
Relsan: I still don't see how denying the charge would be less graceful, less wise and less compassionate than not doing so. He would not be attaching himself to "things" and "situations" any more than he did the other way. He would still have drawn on his inner strength for support. He would still be constant.
Imagine if the sage had said "It isn't so", but the story carried on as it did because he wasn't believed. The parents still hoist the baby on him, village shuns him, the mother confesses etc. etc. Would that have made him less of a sage? And why? He would still have operated by the same code of conduct you described in your post.
Would the parents have really taken someone else's word over their own daughter's?
By merely saying 'is that so?' he neither accepts or denies, he merely questions. Obviously he knew he wasn't the father (or at least we hope he does ^~ ) but by a simple non-commital phrase he makes it seem doubtful while not actually denying anything directly.
Note that it's not so much the situation that resolves itself but the people... I don't think the moral lies in others though like rel points out. The zen master deals with the situation without a jerry-springer style fiasco nor meek acceptance. The story isn't about being a human welcome mat, it's about responding to matters appropriately so that you don't complicate life more than necessary... if he had argued which had been very un-zen-like then wouldn't the child have suffered unnecessarily? If he'd accepted it totally would it have not been upsetting when the child was finally given back?
Instead he merely looked after the child, never pretending it was his; just bringing it up and bringing as little grief to others as possible, including the kid themself ^^