Sweat and Shiver

 

Sweat and Shiver

Inspired from a zen quote

A middle-aged man was walking on a sunny afternoon back to his home, after completing his farm activities, he decided to take some rest under a tree where he used to regularly sit. When he went closer to the tree, he found an old monk sitting under the same tree and sat next to him. After wiping his face, he greeted the old monk who in turn acknowledged by smiling

The middle aged man said “I have never seen you before” the old monk said “I am a traveler” the middle aged man asked “What do you do for living” the old monk said “I live” the middle-aged man with a doubtful face said I meant what job do you do? , the old monk said “I clean, I wash, I cook, I carry luggage etc. I will do it when the need arises, in short, I earn for my need”

The old monk asked, “What do you do” the middle-aged man said, “I am a farmer,” the old monk with a smile said “the Saviour” Middle aged nodded his head. The middle-aged man said “Summer is killing, it is extremely hot” the old monk said “the purpose of summer is to keep the place hot and make us sweat, whereas the purpose of winter is to keep the place cool and make us shiver” As human beings we can appreciate winter, only when we sweat and similarly we can appreciate summer only when we shiver.

The value of the tree is appreciated only when you rest under it after a tiring walk on a sunny day, the value of a winter clothing is appreciated only once you shiver.

Life is combination of happiness and sorrow, profits and losses, success, and failures, in order have a balanced life we need to experience both extremes, otherwise we will not know the value of anything in life. Unless you miss something, you will not know the value of what you missed.

The middle-aged man stood and greeted the old monk and said “ I never expected my simple statement “Summer is killing” will help me learn such a wonderful life lesson, the old monk said “ The lesson is yet come, the true lesson is, instead of using a negative phrase “Summer is Killing” use the phrase summer is helping me to consume more liquids & it helps me to avoid activities that dehydrates my body, when you accept the season for it is, you will appreciate what the season brings along with-it and learn how to live with the nature. This kind of acceptance and appreciation will help you to think progressively and act accordingly, instead of worrying about the present situation.

The middle-aged man nodded his head and bowed down to greet him to tell bye to him and he lifted his head up towards the sky to take a look at rain drops which slowly started approaching the ground, the old monk with a smile said “Now you  know the value of every drop of the water that comes from the sky, because you had already experienced the heat after a long day’s walk”

It started raining for a while and the middle aged man asked the old monk where will you stay tonight, the old monk with a smile said “This tree can be my shelter” the middle aged man, immediately invited him to his house, despite of the old monk refusing, he pleaded to give him an opportunity to be his host” once the rain stopped, they both started walking towards the near by village

When we appreciate what we have, the value of what we have goes up both in the mind and the reality 

M.L.Narendra Kumar