PSYCHIC POLARITY
An old monk and a Samurai meet. The Samurai asks the monk: "Please, explain to me what paradise and hell are." The old man stares for some moments at the Samurai's powerful frame. Then an insulting sneer appears on his face and he says: "Step aside and make room for me, you dirty, stinking soldier."
The Samurai, offended by these words, turned red with anger and his eyes flashing with vengeance, takes out his sword. He advances towards the monk with his sword ready to hit. The old man looks calmly at him and then says: "This is hell." The sword slowly comes down and the Samurai's face is covered with amazement. With his heart still beating fast he understands that the old monk has just risked his life to explain this truth. Now he feels only gratitude and his eyes reflect of this feeling. The monk concludes: "And this instead is paradise."
Torment, anger and sadness are feelings very near to everything that opens up to us- love, joy, and gratitude. They are near because there is only a fraction of a second that separates one state or condition from another. We think that love and hatred, joy and sadness are alien to us, distant from each other. When we are enveloped by one feeling, the other seems unthinkable. Passing from one state to another of these feelings instead, can be spontaneous and unexpected as in the case of the Samurai.
Word Watch:
Samurai - a Japanese warrior
Katana - sword use by the Samurai
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