Source: The Internet
In the history of Japan, there were two great swordsmen, one was called Miyamoto Musashi and the other one was known as Yagyuu Matajuurou. Yagyuu Matajuurou was Miyamoto Musashi’s student.
Due to Yagyuu Matajuurou’s wild and carefree living when he was young, he did not accept his father’s teaching of swordsmanship. His father expelled him out of the family. As a result of this impact, Yagyuu swore that he would one day become a great swordsman. Alone, he went to a deserted mountain to meet the most famous swordsman at the time, Miyamoto Musashi. He begged Miyamoto Musashi to be his master in swordsmanship.
After greeting Miyamoto Musashi, Yagyuu eagerly asked, “If I practise diligently, how many years will it take for me to become a first class swordsman?”
Miyamoto replied, “The rest of your life!”
“I can’t wait that long,” Yagyuu said impatiently. “As long as you’re willing to teach me, I’m willing to undertake any kind of hard work to achieve my goal, even to be your servant, attending to all your needs. How long will it take then?”
“Then, it’ll take ten years,” said Miyamoto Musashi.
Yagyuu became even more anxious and said, “Ohooo! My father is already old, I want him to see I become a first class swordsman whilst he’s still alive. Ten years is too long. What if I practise even harder than before, how long will it take?”
“Umm, it’ll take thirty years,” Musashi said slowly.
Yagyuu became so anxious that he started crying and said, “If I’m willing to work extremely hard, whatever the conditions may be, and practise continuously night and day with all my heart and soul, how long will it take?”
“Ah, it may take about seventy years,” said Musashi, “or there’s probably no hope for you to become a good swordsman at all during this lifetime.”
This time, Yagyuu was locked in a maze of his own confusion, he asked, “What do you mean? How’s it possible that the harder I practise, the longer it takes for me to become a good swordsman?”
“Since both your eyes are only focused on becoming a first class swordsman, where’s the eye that watches over yourself?” Musashi said calmly, “A key condition that a first class swordsman must meet is to always keep a watchful eye on oneself.”
What does Yagyuu’s ‘first class swordsman’ represent to you? Is it power and status? Is it money? Or is it his goal or his ideal? In terms of your organisation, what does a ‘first class swordsman’ represent? Is it profit? To achieve a crucial strategic position? Or even to serve the community in order to fulfil ultimate kindness?
What made Miyamoto Musashi say that, should one vow to work extremely hard and practise night and day continuously with all one’s heart and soul, it may have the opposite effect of making it impossible for one to become a first class swordsman? Moreover, a key condition that a first swordsman must meet is to always keep a watchful eye on oneself. What did Miyamoto mean by this? What is the true meaning of ‘keeping a watchful eye on oneself’?
Nowadays, whether at work or in our daily lives, the world is changing at such a high speed. The rapid current of information transmission makes everyone worry that they will lag behind if they do not keep learning, hence everyone unceasingly craves for new knowledge; however, in the silence of the night, one will be perplexed with these questions: “Who am I?”, “What am I striving for?”, or “The way I’m constantly striving for new knowledge, is it my ideal way of life?” Consequently, one suffers from long-term insomnia.
This phenomenon happens precisely when “both eyes only focus on being ‘the best swordsman’, therefore, how can one still keep an eye to ‘watch oneself’?”
Perhaps it is about time we start keeping a watchful eye on ourselves. The sword practice that makes you work extremely hard, and makes you practise continuously night and day with all your heart and soul, what does it actually represent in you? Which eye will you keep to watch over yourself? When you have totally exhausted yourself by criticising others, do you still have energy to keep an eye on yourself? In the vast flood of knowledge in one’s lifetime, when one actively seeks to learn new knowledge, which eye will you use to watch over yourself? If you are now truly keeping a watchful eye on yourself, what do you really see?
In a society, if everyone demands on taking from others, and neglects giving to others, who then, are the true givers? If you only know how to seek and take from others and forget to search within yourself, to practise and learn, then, how can it be possible for you to achieve the true meaning of life?
The true meaning of life is to offer one’s life to help others!
Postscript:
We learn a great principle from the above small story. In essence, the Chinese proverb ‘If rush, one won’t arrive at destination’ sums it all up. In Buddhism, we often witness certain phenomena; here we can interpret the above story as follows:
After greeting Rinpoche, the disciple eagerly asked, “If I practise diligently, how many years will it take for me to reach great enlightenment (or become a Guru)?”
Rinpoche said, “The rest of your life!”
“I can’t wait for that long,” the disciple said impatiently. “As long as you’re willing to teach me, I’m willing to work extremely hard to achieve my goal, even to be your servant and to serve you anywhere. How long will it take then?”
“Then, it will take ten years,” Rinpoche said.
The disciple became even more anxious and said, “Ohooo! My father is already old, I want him to see I achieve great enlightenment whilst he’s still alive. Ten years is too long. What if I practise even harder than before, how long will it take?”
“Umm, it will take thirty years,” Rinpoche said slowly.
The disciple was so anxious that he started crying and said, “If I’m willing to work extremely hard, whatever the conditions may be; read sutras, chant mantras and cultivate the dharma continuously night and day with all my heart and soul, how long will it take?”
“Ah, it may take seventy years then.” Rinpoche said, “Or there’s probably no hope for you to achieve great enlightenment (or become a Guru) at all, during this lifetime.”
This time, the disciple was locked in a maze of his own confusion, he asked, “I don’t understand! How’s it possible that the harder I practise, the longer it takes to achieve great enlightenment?”
“Since both your eyes are solely focused on achieving great enlightenment (or becoming a Guru), where’s the eye that watches over yourself? This is precisely what we mean by ‘Rush one won’t get’,” Rinpoche said peacefully.
Rinpoche gave further discourse, “The key condition that a first class great Siddhi achiever must meet is to always keep a watchful eye on oneself. This eye is the ‘Eye of the Mind’, which can reveal ‘obsessions within the mind’. When one stubbornly holds the view of wanting to achieve great enlightenment, one does, in fact, possess ‘obsessions within the mind’; therefore, ignorance unconsciously arises, and one will never achieve enlightenment, how can ‘great’ enlightenment be possible. To cultivate Buddhism, one needs to let go of two kinds of stubbornness (Self-stubbornness and Dharma-stubbornness). Non-participation is a kind of participation itself. To achieve enlightenment, ultimately, it’s like people drinking water, one will know oneself whether the water is warm or cold.”
What does the disciple’s ‘attainment of great enlightenment’ represent to you? Religious status, dharma power or money? A goal or an ideal? One easily abandons what one has achieved. What does ‘attainment of great enlightenment’ mean to you? To fly, to walk beneath the earth, or to be invisible? To see the past and predict the future! Is it to enable oneself to manipulate the rise and fall of share prices in the stock market so that one can buy and sell at the right time? Is it to see through other people’s privacy (hence becoming a gossiper) and manipulate to your advantage? Or, is it that you have psychic powers to show others as to persuade them to practise Buddhism? No need for them to even initiate their Bodhicitta! All of the above are merely twisted and distorted views. As for those who carry the above views, there is not even a chance for them to walk into a Vajrayana temple, not to mention the ‘attainment of great enlightenment’. Thus, a great sigh for those kind of worldly people, as they are just too far from the correct Buddhist path.
