the virtuous man

A samurai became so drunk, so intoxicated with drink that on his way home he met an old monk walking on a different direction.  He accosted the monk and very rudely asked, what is heaven, what is hell?  The monk knowing that the samurai is so drunk ignored him and went off his way, but the samurai insisted in questioning, what is heaven, what is hell?  The monk then quietly and calmly told the samurai that it is better for him to take a rest first before venturing into such questions.  The monk even went so far as to help him walk and offer him his cottage.  But the samurai had none of these.  He felt even more insulted he got so mad, shouted on the monk, and threatened to cut his head off with his sword. But the monk looked at him calmly and said, “now, that is hell.”  Shocked by the clam reaction of the monk, the samurai finally came to his senses and felt deep remorse and guilt because of what he did to this poor monk.  So he went up to the monk, knelt down before him and said, “brother monk forgive me for insulting you like this, I am so sorry.”  The monk looked at him and said, “now that is heaven.”

The peace that the Lord is leaving us is not a primarily a condition around us.  It is rather an attitude, it is how the spirit in us reacts to what is happening around us. Confucius has a nice way of illustrating this kind of peace.  In the art of archery, when an archer shoots his arrow and misses the target, he does not go about fretting, blaming the wind that blew his arrow off-target.  He does not blame the light that made his eyes squint.  No.  Instead the archer looks at himself and asks, “where did I go wrong?  Why did I not adjust my sighting when I felt the wind blowing strongly or changed my position when my eyes were squinting from the light?  Like the archer, the virtuous man looks at himself inwardly and asks, what is wrong with me?  I cannot control the wind, can I?  I cannot control his reaction, can I?  But I can control my own reaction to things.  The situation may be damming but the virtuous man is not disturbed because the problem is not simply out there.  It is primarily within.

Lately there has been a lot of boxing matches in the news.  And it is not just of Mayweather and Cotto. So I would like to say this by way of conclusion.  There are times in our life when we will be called to love the unlovable, to embrace the dreadful, to accept the horrible, to cuddle the revolting, to suffer the insufferable.  There are times in our lives when you have to do the bidding of others however repugnant that may be to you.  There will be times in your life when somebody will take your hand and lead you to something you dislike.  So what are you going to do, give him a jab or give an uppercut? 

Peace is not a condition around you.  It is an attitude, and condition within.  Jesus did not overcome the pharisees and the priests by force though he tried to convince them to his side by argument.  Jesus did not defeat the devil by sparring with him.  No.  He won the devil by becoming obedient to the Father.  He won them over by dying for them.  In the end it is what he did in and to himself that made him triumphant.

The world is unfair.  It will always be unfair.  So we better learn to accept that reality, otherwise we will move about with so much anger, with so much spite in our hearts.  Yes we will try to make this world better.  But know that we can only do as much and to a certain extent, because only God can perfect our work. 

Peace is an attitude within.  I am not in control with how others act and react.  But I can always be in control of mine.  The world will always be a windy place, a place where the glare can oftentimes make our eyes squint.  Then I know that I have to adjust my arrow to the force of the wind, and change my position so that the glare will be behind me.  The virtuous man will always be at peace because he knows where he stands.