Ups and Downs - An Interaction with a Monk

 Ups and Downs

An Interaction with a Monk

 A middle-aged man approached an Old Monk and said, "master, my life is full of ups and downs-what should I do to stabilise it?

The Old Monk replied, "nothing."

The middle-aged man was puzzled and asked, "can you be specific?"

The Old Monk replied, "congratulations." 

The middle-aged man was confused and said, "master can you give me an explanation for your one-word replies? 

The old monk asked, "When you are leading a good life, why should you think about stabilising it?"

The middle-aged man asked, "are ups and downs a good life?"

The old monk replied, "yes, it is, because, during downs, you realise your mistakes, develop your competencies and, you will come out of your difficulties.

The middle-aged man agrees by nodding his head.

Whereas during Ups, you will not think about developing yourself, because you might be busy celebrating your success and living with vanity, once you fall, you will again start the process of development. Hence a good life is a combination of ups and downs. 

The middle-aged man thanked the old monk.

The old monk said "Remember curvy hips make good models and curvy roads make good drivers, Life is a line, but need not be a straight line"

M.L. Narendra Kumar