Sighs

A great official often sighs even during his leisure time. One of his disciples asked why.
​
The official said: “I wish all nations would get along with each other so that we could do away with all the weapons of destruction. I also wish that great men would train even more great men so that the remaining small men would have no choice but to withdraw and disappear."

---

​"I wish that men could find wives and women could find husbands so that we would all be content and live in harmony. I wish that people would work hard so that the annual harvests would be bountiful and that there would be no more famine. I also wish that we all would do good and would be inclined toward goodness so that our ancestors’ teachings would have not been in vain…

I have many such wishes but not a single one has ever come true. That is why I often sigh.”

*****

Why not wish that all of our fingers are equally long so that there isn’t even the slightest chance that they could be jealous of each other?

Why not wish that women became men or vice versa so that there would be no more gender discrimination?

This great official seems to suffer from excessive false thinking from the Mahayana Chan meditation perspective.

If there were no problems how could there ever be great inventions or improvements? If we did not feel the need to rack our brains to solve a big problem, how could we possibly acquire real wisdom?
​
In fact, each problem is actually a great opportunity to mankind to rise to the occasion. That is why the Buddha said that affliction is Bodhi.

The next time you have a problem, shake off the negativity. Instead, calmly examine the situation and solve it like a real human being.