Fili’s world

My current status and future is an issue that constantly preoccupies my mind. Entering the big three O, I am regularly faced with the eternal question of whether the path that I’ve chosen for myself is indeed the right one for me.

I was watching an “okay” Hollywood movie the other day which had this one short story that made an impression on me about one Zen master. Sharing this story with some of my Taiwanese friends it was fascinating to hear that they actually recall variations of this story taught to them by their parents when they were little.

I’d like to quote the story of what they called “The child and the Zen master” with the reference to the old Daoist tale :

Movie version

In this village, a little boy is given a gift of a horse. The villagers all say, "Isn’t that fabulous? Isn’t that wonderful? What a wonderful gift."

The Zen master says, "We’ll see."

A couple years later the boy falls off the horse and breaks his leg. The villagers all say, "Isn’t that terrible? The horse is cursed! That’s horrible!"

The Zen master says, "We’ll see."

A few years later the country goes to war and the government conscripts all the males into the army, but the boy’s leg is so screwed up, he doesn’t have to go. The villagers all say, "Isn’t that fabulous? Isn’t that wonderful?"

The Zen master says, "We’ll see."

…

(source)

Taiwanese/original version

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.

"Such bad luck," they said sympathetically.

"We’ll see," the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.

"How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.

"We’ll see," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

"We’ll see," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

"We’ll see" said the farmer.

…

(source)

With what ever it is that I’m facing I think we can be wise to follow the words of the old man-Zen master by applying the ever inspiring “We’ll see”.