Near Tokyo lived a great Samurai warrior, now old, who decided to teach Zen Buddhism to young people. In spite of his age, the legend was that he could defeat any adversary.
One afternoon, a warrior – known for his complete lack of scruples – arrived there. He was famous for using techniques of provocation: he waited until his adversary made the first move and, being gifted with an enviable intelligence in order to repair any mistakes made, he counterattacked with fulminating speed.
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 on the town square, and the young man started insulting the old master. He threw a few rocks in his direction, spat in his face, 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.
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a lesson I really need to learn… thanks a lot Mr. Coelho
When I was a child we had an old saying: “I am rubber you are glue what ever you say bounces off of me and sticks onto you!” This reminds me of the same, do not except the evil or bad brought to you, just let it go back with the one who brings it in the first place. Two wrongs never make a right! Thank you for sharing this story.
Rebecca, you remind me of a similar saying we used to have as a child, when somebody insulted you: “al wat je zegt, ben je zelf” which means: “everything you say, you yourself are”. Same bouncing principle. Thanx!
I am sorry but with regard to my experience and many bad things sent to me with envy,malice and spoken lies,i can’t stay still.I give back 10 times more,it is unacceptable to me leaving evil to command and spread ignorance and lies.
I BEAT evil each time,i won’t alllow it to rule and cover everyone’s great intention and love.
Thanks
Hi Slavica, I used to do the same thing. Fight the evil. That is until I came across a person that really did not have a conscience. After trying to fight him and all his evil ways for a long time I realised that I was just feeding him, draining myself with doing so, and he was actually using my defence-attacks against me.
So for the past 6 months he’s still spreading lies and evil about me, and he’s quite famous so it really is not a fair fight anyway, but I took this advice about the present belonging to the sender, and stopped reacting. And it works. For the past months I’ve been watching him fall down; in 6 months he lost his marriage, his reputation, some of his friends, and from the looks of it he’s turning a bit mad actually.
What I also noticed that while “fighting evil”, before you know it you end up being just as bad as the one that caused it in the first place.
And I try to keep in mind another thing “What you do to others will return to you 10 times worse”. It’s a law of Karma, the way the yogi’s describe it. And it is always true in my experience. As soon as I stop fighting the “evil”, some sort of way the universe takes over and the “evil person” gets his punnishment 10 times worse than I could ever do. Just a matter of letting go of the ego a bit.
Anyways… just my humble opinion and experience, this little story actually helped me quite a lot to try things differently for a change.
Love
Loved your story, Marielle
Marielle,
beautiful story & viewpoint. I completely agree. You have cultivated the strength & the wisdom of the old man in this story. Blessings :)
Great!!!
Thanks!
We will all be face to face with this proud warrior. The samurai’s chosen reaction or shall I say non-action separates those with true strength.
Very simple message. Goes straight to the brain. Paulo keep it up.
never be selfish, never take anything that is not for you!
Me hace pensar en cuantas veces he dado ese tipo de regalos sin darme cuenta que en realidad siguen quedandose conmigo, eso explica la sensacion de vacio que me queda…
Gran gran enseñanza, gracias
Y I never thought abt it??? Its so true……I guess I m blessed to read this
When they are not accepted, they continue to belong to the one who carried them.
-paulo coelho
thank you for this piece of advice packed in a subtle yet inspiring story.
i am a newbie in the adult world. a neophyte,etc.
and recently, i failed myself for i did not deliver an excellent work
and been thinking of probable insults thrown to me by my superiors and myself included.
i’ve not been a good help to myself lately.
but thanks to my family, my faith and your stories,
i am beginning to accept my mistakes, think positively,and gradually move up.
:)
thank you.
oh.. it’s touching…
It is a reminder for me to keep practicing- remain quiet and calm in this kind of situation,although difficult to control reaction.
Pablo, las envídias, los insultos siempre van a existir, pero hay que perdonar porque hay tanta ira en las personas que no saben como sacarla ó hacía quién dirigirla, lo mejor es no sentirse aludido. T.Q.M
is good not accept the bad feelings … but is so sad when you want to help someone who has these feelings … sometimes we need the force under attack for helping the heart to win. the best weapon is love.
It´s really true, and I never think about it.
Uma bela lição, muita gente deveria ler…
inclusive eu…
Negativity is like a gift and if you refuse to accept it, the giver is left to carry it around with themselves :)
Interesting title!
And I believe gifts of that nature should not be accepted. To reject it is indeed tough. The same extent when one is rejecting a bag of gold as a gift.
With so much hatred in this world, packaging of a gift can really be confusing!
Dios si te guia hacia la luz, hoy lo hizo conmigo al darme la oportunidad de leer este mensaje, Gracias….
This is what I believe in with full faith… insult, humiliation, anger, guilt all of them can manifest in us only if we let them to… if we don’t take them in they cant come to us and we remain unaffected by them!
I remember reading something similar, to the blog above, about a year back … somewhere on the net or in some book… and it stayed with me so much so that I have even practiced it many times in the past one year and it helped tremendously!
In the past year many things happened which I wouldn’t really consider to be pleasant or aesthetically satisfying … like being asked to leave a job at an hour’s notice without any reasons, or sitting at home with no job, or being compared with married friends over and over again … but I just decided to not let them affect me whatsoever.
I decided nothing in this world has the power to kick my confidence and make me falter.
I decided that it’s not me who is at fault and hence no guilt and no frustration.
I decided nothing lasts forever and it’s all a phase which would pass and thus no need brooding over it.
I decided that the person in front is just letting his/her insecurities fall off him/her and I wouldn’t help by retaliating and showing that I have been put off balance.
I decided that I will take ownership of MY actions… ONLY.
I decided not to accept any insult or humiliation because it’s not for me and I will not take it.
And believe me it helps … it helps when we decide that nothing from outside will affect us …. That we and only we have the power to decide what we let in our life.
It has to be a conscious decision to accept or not accept what ever is being offered – love or hatred… humiliation or praise… happiness or sadness… poker face or smiley face… guilt or ownership!!!
Saloni
Beautifully said, that is what is called being actor of one’s life, taking responsibility for ourselves ….
Thank you
Hélène
Thanks Helene.
Saloni
Dear Saloni,
“I decided not to accept any insult or humiliation because it’s not for me and I will not take it.”
May I enquire how you put that decision into action?
Example: Someone insult you right here and right now, what would you do/not do, say/not say?
Gaby
Beautifully said!! awesome!!! :)
Thank you for putting these thoughts here!!
Dear saloni
Consciously i have decided not to please any one for his/ her/ any kind of dependency on me. Infact my consciousness is not accepting his/her insecurities of life and without any guilt i have decided that nothing from OUTSIDERS can USE my confidence and selfless efforts for his/her convenience. we are sharing the same thaughts! Thanks!
It takes great inner power to not accept such gifts. I loved the story. Mr. Coelho, I feel better armed to face life’s challenges after reading your stories….they are always filled with useful tools. Thank you!
i don’t think someone in real life can stay calm in this kind of situation.The idea is very good in general but it doesn’t apply in real life.however, thank you for sharing this on your blog.
I like this one very much and the cracked jar… both reflect the wise ending result against the conclusion we get in the first place.
Also, is this somehow talks about the attraction law? Where one shouldn’t pay attention to negativity coming from others!
tough one! so true and so simple, yet the hardest thing to do.