The Gift of Insults

 

“He who does not take insults seriously is on the path to wisdom.” ~ Paulo Coelho

 Near Tokyo lived a great Samurai, now old, who decided to teach Zen Buddhism to young people.

One afternoon, a warrior – known for his complete lack of scruples – arrived there. The young and impatient warrior had never lost a fight. Hearing of the Samurai’s reputation, he had come to defeat him, and increase his fame.

All the students were against the idea, but the old man accepted the challenge.

All gathered in the town square, and the young man insulted the old master. He threw a few rocks in his direction, spat in his face, and shouted every insult under the sun – he even insulted his ancestors.

For hours, he did everything to provoke him, but the old man remained impassive. At the end of the afternoon, by now feeling exhausted and humiliated, the impetuous warrior left.

Disappointed by the fact that the master had received so many insults and provocations, the students asked:

“How could you bear such indignity? Why didn’t you use your sword, even knowing you might lose the fight, instead of displaying your cowardice in front of us all?”

“If someone comes to you with a gift, and you do not accept it, who does the gift belong to?” asked the Samurai.

“He who tried to deliver it,” replied one of his disciples.

“The same goes for envy, anger, and insults,” said the master. “When they are not accepted, they continue to belong to the one who carried them.”

The moral of the story is that we should not let the chaos on the outside disturb the calm on the inside of us.

How many times have we opened ourselves to the chaos outside and allowed it to rearrange our inside? What insults, anger, envy, and fits of jealousy have we allowed to rob us of our peace? Figure out who you are and whose you are. Let everything else be measured against that knowledge and do not accept gifts that do not belong to you.

“I choose not to let others define me because while they may know my name, they might not have a clue of who I truly am.” ~ Gift Gugu Mona

 

Story adapted from Paulo's blog

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