ZenView
By Mary Layton
Destiny
A friend of mine told me a story about destiny. He didn’t know the origin of the story. But I liked it and want to share it with you.
A beggar comes home to his shack and sees a mouse eating his food. He is upset. “Why do you take my food? Why don’t you go to the rich people and take their food? Everything I gain I lose again.” The mouse says: “It is your destiny to be poor.” “Why should it be my destiny? “ the beggar cries. The mouse replies “I don’t know, go ask Buddha.”
So the beggar gets on the road to find Buddha. Night-time falls and the beggar passes by a house that belongs to rich people. He rings the bell and asks if he can rest there one night. The owner of the mansion wants to know what he is doing to be out so late and where it is that he’s he going? The beggar tells him that he is going to see Buddha to ask him a question. The man says “Oh, we have a daughter who cannot speak. Can you please ask a question for us?” The beggar says: “For sure I will ask Buddha for you.” The next day he continues on his journey. He finally reaches many mountain peaks. He meets a wizard. The beggar says, “ I need to get over the mountain peaks.” The wizard tells him that he can take him there. As they land on the other side, the wizard asks, “So where are you going?” The beggar says I have a question for Buddha. The wizard says, “Can you ask him a question for me? I have been here a 1000 years and I’m supposed to go to heaven. Ask Buddha what I have to do.” The beggar says, “For sure, I’ll ask.” After that he walks to a lake that he cannot cross. A giant turtle shows up. The turtle asks : “Where are you going?” The beggar says I got to get across the lake. The turtle says, “Get on my back, I’ll take you there.” When they get to the other side the turtle asks, “Where are you going?” The beggar says that he has a question for Buddha. “Can you ask a question for me?” the turtle says “I have been around for 500 years, by now I should be a dragon. How can I be a dragon?” When the beggar finally meets Buddha, Buddha says, “Anyone can ask only 3 questions.” The beggar thinks to himself, I have 4 questions. I will forget about my own question, and so he asks the question about the daughter. Buddha says the girl will speak when she meets her soulmate. When asked about the wizard Buddha says he must get rid of his wizard stick, because it grounds him to the earth and therefore he cannot go to heaven. And when asked about the turtle Buddha says he has to get rid of his shell, then he can fly and be a dragon. The beggar returns to the turtle and tells him what the Buddha said. When the turtle gets rid off his shell there are pearls that were lodged under the shell. They fall into the beggar’s hands as the turtle flies into the air. Then he returns to the mountain where the wizard is waiting to hear the answer to his question. As the wizard gets rid off his wizard’s stick all his wisdom is imparted onto the beggar. Finally, the beggar returns to the rich people’s mansion. The beggar tells the people that the girl will speak when she sees her soulmate. The girl comes out and when she sees the beggar she says: “Was this the boy that was here a week ago?
For more info go to: taichi4modesto.com or call (209)572-4518
