By Paulo Coelho
A young man said to the abbot of a monastery:
‘I would really like to become a monk, but I have learned nothing of importance in my life. My father only taught me how to play chess, and that does not lead to enlightenment. And besides, I was told that all games are sinful.’
‘They can be sinful, but they can also be a diversion, and perhaps this monastery needs a little of both,’ came the reply.
The abbot called for a chessboard and summoned a monk to play with the young man. However, before the game began, he added:
‘We may need diversion, but we cannot have everyone playing chess all the time. We will have only the best players here. If our monk loses, he will leave the monastery, thus creating an opening for you.’
The abbot was deadly serious. The young man played an aggressive game, but then he noticed the saintly look in the monk’s eyes, and from then on, he began to play deliberately badly. He decided that he would rather lose because he felt that the monk could prove far more useful to the world than him.
Suddenly, the abbot overturned the chessboard onto the floor.
‘You learned far more than you were taught,’ he said. ‘You have the powers of concentration necessary to win and you are capable of fighting for what you want, but you also have compassion and the ability to sacrifice yourself for a noble cause. You have shown yourself capable of balancing discipline and mercy; welcome to our monastery!’
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Yes. The will and ambition to do well doesn't make right walking over people to get to where you want.
Compassion is such an important ingredient of love.
Kathleen xx
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Pichu,
It reminds me also this movie:
” Five people you meet in heaven”.
with Jon Voight.
love
Agnieszka
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Thank you for sharing that Pichu. I agree totally.
Kathleen xx
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Aditya
To grow, to evolve spiritually!
love
Agnieszka
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he thought Chess wouldnt take him anywhere. haha! Life´s like a “Game Of Chess”.
People usually think that way (negativity), they lack imagination, they lack “Compassion” dont dare to take “Risks”. They Limit their lifes and wont see beyond their fingers. I remember Muhammud Yunnus - awarded nobel Peace prize- once describing how he helped many women living in extreme conditions, Poverty. And when he spoke to each and everyone of those women they all answered they were no good, because they were poor, and none of them had chance to go 2 school. making poverty their excuse for doing nothing and limiting themselves because of their condition.
so he asked “What can you do?” they all answered “nothing” so he asked if they could cook? or do laudry? and they said, “yes i cook for my husband” or “yes i do laudry, my kids cloth, and my husbands”… but of course none of those would take them anywhere just like the chess boy “they knew nothing about the importance of life”
So he said, well, “you all want to live in better conditions” they all answered yes! And they discovered they could cook not only for their husbands but also for their neighbor, and he and his family will not only eat their food but also pay her for cooking. They are all capable of making lots of things. So he compared, if you take a poor kid to live in a palace as a kings son, and a prince into the poor kids home, the prince will be a poor kid and the poor kid will be a prince. Poverty is not in your mind its in what sorrounds you.
I just wanted to share this. Coz this story of the chess game tells much more between lines. and its not only a fun story, its a huge and great lesson.;)
Blessings…
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“‘You have the powers of concentration necessary to win and you are capable of fighting for what you want, but you also have compassion and the ability to sacrifice yourself for a noble cause. You have shown yourself capable of balancing discipline and mercy; welcome to our monastery!’”
huh !! one joins a monastry to ‘get there’ where this chap is or one joins a monsatry after alreday being capable of balancing discipline and mercy ??? to do what ???
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There is that word again -Diversion !!
Great story ,I loved it and I must admit I play badly when I see that look in someones eyes, compassion it can get you every time…
Blessings Tania
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if someone fights for what he wants, but then he sacrifices himself for a noble cause, then he stops fighting for what he wants (dream). But if he won’t sacrifice himself for this other cause, then he will feel guilty.. SO someone what should he do? In this story, the young man achieves both..But that doesn’t happen most of the times..
Personally, i can say that i sacrificed many chances so that others can have more and feel happier.. But what i regret till today is that i sacrifices for a while my dream for my parents so that they could feel that they have a ‘normal’ daughter..that made them really happier ) but that made me feel content only for a while..It made me then miserable..
so i guess the trick is to seperate what is more important..
Any thoughts?
Annie
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I love this story. Compassion and seeing another as yourself is essential. In fact, those who see enlightenment as anything different than this have some unlearning to do.
Loving Awareness: A Journey to Wholeness
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Dear Paulo,
Such a beautiful story!
Sacrifice?
Mercy?
Do they still exist?
I would say with sadness, they’re almost extinct.
Everybody wants to win, to own, more and more, no matter what.
I wander sometimes, why there are no books, manuals, about human values, how we should behave between one another.
About kindness.
Well, there are - Your books Paulo.
Thank You
love
Agnieszka
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Dear Mr. Coelho,
After hearing excellent reviews of ‘The Alchemist,’ I finally read it. It took one day and it’s one of my favorites now. In particular, I loved the fact there were only a few names. Much less confusing. Great job!
Thanks,
Sam
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Yes. The will and ambition to do well doesn’t make right walking over people to get to where you want.
Compassion is such an important ingredient of love.
Kathleen xx
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