Source: The Internet
Two good friends, Mr. Cheung Senior and Mr. Lee Junior, were wandering around in a night market and saw someone selling watermelons. Since it was cheaper to buy a whole watermelon, Mr. Cheung Senior said, “Let’s buy one together.” They each took out half the amount of money from their pockets and gave it to the owner of the stall.
From a macroscopic point of view, there is often a different logic.
When they had finished shopping, both went back to Mr. Cheung Senior’s house for a cup of tea and a chat. It was soon getting late and Mr. Lee Junior got ready to go. Mr. Cheung Senior cut the watermelon and gave Mr. Lee Junior his half share. Mr. Lee Junior was astonished and asked, “Did you forget to wear your spectacles? Why’ve you given me the bigger half?”
Mr. Cheung Senior said, “I know that you’ve more family members in your household, as I only have two.”
However, Mr. Lee Junior said, “How can this be, did we not agree each to pay half? You’re not fair!”
Mr. Cheung Senior said, “It’s fair to me as I’ve given it to the one who needs it most.”
Later, a friend who had heard about this matter asked Mr. Cheung Senior, “Was it not better to divide it equally? Why didn’t you follow the principle of fairness?”
Mr. Cheung Senior smilingly said, “I thought I was very fair!” His friend was very confused by this. Mr. Cheung Senior continued and said, “Up until now, I’m financially better off than Mr. Lee Junior, I feel that I’ve been treated well by the ‘Old Sky’, I only gave away what was too much for me to those who needed it, that’s very fair!”
If you can follow the principle: ‘The cognition of Having Less’, you are, in fact, not ‘Having Less’.
I believe that most people in the above situation will divide the watermelon in two equal halves, since this is normal human nature; there are not many people who will think in the same way as Mr. Cheung Senior. However, in this world, there are different people who possess different kinds of thought. That is why, living in this world, we need to learn to know how to pay attention to other people’s different ‘definition of fairness’. In this way, we can naturally analyse other people’s logic of behaviour, and then we can go on to subsume those who are different from us.
Those who insist that “The ‘Old Sky’ treats us unfairly”, are the ones who easily express discontentment and hatred, and also love to take advantage of others. To those who often meet up with friends such as these, if he is very poor, then let him ‘rob’ you as you will accumulate virtue; if he is richer than you and he still wants to ‘rob’ you, then let him ‘rob’ you. Heaven will naturally arrange to deal with the excessive money which he cannot ‘swallow’. You do not have to deal with this.Human Life is existed in the game of bouncing between ‘Gain and Loss’.
Not knowing how long time actually went by, I suddenly realised that I, myself, was living continuously in between ‘gain’ and ‘loss’ every day ; and since I was able to perceive this, I could also understand and awaken to the true meaning of the saying ‘do not worry about gain or loss’.
For example, the car is bumped and dented, and costs a few thousand dollars to repair. In the past, I would say “Damn, how bad!” to myself; now, I will just smile and say to myself, “What’ve I gained today?” and then, I will think: “Next time, how can I improve things so as to avoid a bigger loss in the future.” Generally, can the pattern of this way of thinking explain that this is, in fact, the true concept of ‘Gain’?
As long as you are still alive, you will ‘lose’ something every day, for example, time. However, you must hold onto the opportunity of ‘Gain’, as this is the game of life which the ‘Old Sky’ likes to play with each and every one of us. It is possible for you not to ‘lose’, should you be more careful, be a bit cleverer, and try, on a regular basis, to learn new knowledge and new information. How much can you grasp when the opportunity of ‘Gain’ arises? How much can you keep? All these are within your own palm of manipulation and solely depend upon your ability and patience!
The ‘Old Sky’ is fair because every matter is not ‘definitely fair’. This correctly proves a famous saying ‘Fairness is in one’s heart’. If we use a macroscopic thinking to view when we face the countless occasions of ‘Gain’ and ‘Loss’, we will naturally adopt a better, wider, fresher and extraordinary attitude towards life in general.
Postscript:
Human beings in this sentient world all go through life in between worrying about their gain or loss every day. However, Buddhist practitioners should not possess this worry of gain or loss in their hearts, because this shows that they have a calculating mind. Buddhist practitioners should always maintain usual mind, in this way, their state of mind will remain clear and free, naturally leading to stability in Buddhist meditation!
