315-The wise ruler- Buddhism in daily life

The wise ruler


In a beautiful land once ruled a king, but on his territory the
people were poor, the harvests were changeable, the soil
difficult to cultivate. The subjects feared the king and because
of the many famines they were dissatisfied and disappointed, they
blamed their ruler for their predicament.


Now the ruler truly could not change anything about the
circumstances, he tried his best, but his possibilities were
limited.


On a particularly beautiful day, the ruler called his subjects
together in the main square; he had news to announce. With
grumbling the inhabitants of his capital gathered, full of fear
and curiosity they waited closely for the appearance of their
regent.


What will come, what is so important to call a meeting?


The worries of the waiting people increased, the clamor of voices
reached its peak when finally the monarch appeared in front of
his palace. The king greeted the waiting crowd politely and with
great kindness, the people's worries quickly diminished, the
people hung spellbound on his lips.


My son shall not grow up as a prince, the king said, he shall get
to know the life of the people normally, like any other child of
my people in my country, without privileges, without status. Only
then will he become a good king, only then will he truly
understand his subjects. So I gave my son to a family some time
ago, his new parents do not know who he is, I exchanged the child
of a simple family with my son, the other child is now growing up
here in the palace.


But I instruct you to take good care of my son, no harm shall
come to him, if something happens to him I will call you all to
account!


Then the ruler said goodbye and went back to his palace. The
crowd remained perplexed, and after a while they all went their
separate ways.


But in the minds of the subjects what they had heard remained
ever present, no one forgot the words of the monarch. And they
began to treat all the children in the city and in the country
very well, after all, every child could be the king's child.


Time passed, year after year passed, the children grew up, had
children of their own, still no one knew who the prince was.


Through the love and new cohesion of the community among
themselves, the city and the country developed splendidly, the
territory of the ruler developed rapidly, there were many


Schools, libraries and hospitals were built, and children's
voices were also heard more than in other countries; a child's
opinion now carried great weight in this country.


People were content and happy, achieved a certain prosperity, the
country was unrecognizable.


And why?


Because everybody treated everybody like a king.


WHAT YOU TELL ME, I FORGET. WHAT YOU SHOW ME, I REMEMBER. WHAT
YOU MAKE ME DO, I UNDERSTAND.


- CONFUCIUS - KONG FUZI (CHINESE 孔夫子) - CHINESE PHILOSOPHER - 551
B.C. CHR. UNTIL 479V. CHR.


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