A teaching story…

One day, a famous samurai set out to find a monk who was known to be very wise. When he arrived at the monastery, he demanded of the serene man, “Tell me, you are learned in this matter. What is heaven and what is hell?”

The monk turned and looked up at the warrior. “You call yourself a samurai warrior,” he said.”Why, look at you. Your’re nothing but a mere sliver of a man! I doubt you could cut off the head of a fly with your sword.”

For a moment, the samurai stood amazed. No one talked to a samurai like that! Then, as if someone had waved a red cloth in front of a bull, the samurai’s face contorted in rage. “How dare you! I won’t let you get away with such an insult.”

Pulling his sword from its sheath, he raised it high above his head, ready to kill the little monk. Unperturbed, the monk looked directly into the eyes of the furious warrior and said, “You asked what hell is. This is hell.”

The samurai froze,, his sword still raised, as the hatred and anger that had consumed him drained away. He looked at the wise monk in amazement, realizing that this small man had risked his life to answer his question. “Thank you for your teaching,” the samurai said humbly, his heart filled with love for the monk’s gift.

The monk smiled at the samurai and said, “And this, my friend, is heaven.”

 

 

Our experience of heaven or of hell is just that: our experience.

We live in our hearts and in our minds and we can (and do!) choose.

Let’s make the peaceful and loving choice every chance we get!