311-Compassion and Concentration- Buddhism in daily life

Compassion and Concentration


A long time ago, a very young man came to a Buddhist temple. He
had been sorely disappointed by life and had already suffered
bitter blows of fate in his young years.


When he stood before the abbot, he said: "My life has been
terrible for me up to now, providence has played badly with me,
suffering, sorrow and toil characterize my path, great calamity
breaks over me again and again, tragedy and desolation accompany
me. Now I have come to you to improve my fate, I have heard of
the teachings of the Buddha, now I would like to try my salvation
with the search for "enlightenment", is there a chance also for
me"?


The abbot examined him long and thoroughly, then he said, "Yes,
awakening is also possible for you, tell me about yourself, what
can you do, what have you learned, where are your strengths?"


The young man considered, then he spoke quietly, "I am not very
talented, my family is rich, I don't have to work, I can't
concentrate well either, in truth I am weak and timid, have
little discipline, but one thing I can do well, I play a lot of
chess, that is where my talent lies."


The white abbot thought about it, then he called for a certain
monk and instructed him to bring a chess set. He said to the
monk, "As a monk of this temple, you owe me obedience in all
matters, at all times. I now instruct you to play a game of chess
with this man, and you must win. If you do not, I will kill you.
If you win, I will kill the young man, it is a game of life and
death."


Both "chess partners" looked at the abbot doubtfully, was he
serious, in a Buddhist monastery he was going to kill a man?
There was no emotion in the abbot's face, yes, he meant what he
said, it was clear now.


They started to play, the young man was completely upset, he
started to sweat, he was playing for his life. His opponent the
monk however was calm, he accepted the things that were coming,
he also trusted his guide and in the teachings of Buddha, he was
in tune with his being.


At first the youth played badly, hastily, unfocused, made some
mistakes, but with time he calmed down, his moves became better,
the monk did not have so much practice in the game and fell
behind.


The young man had become a little more confident and looked up
from the board, he looked into the peaceful face of the monk, a
face of peaceful serenity, insight and sincerity, no fear played
in the facial expression of the Buddhist brother. Now thoughts
arose in him, his life passed before his inner eyes, all at once
feelings for the monk stirred in him, he compared his life with
that of his counterpart, how useless his way to this point had
been. And if he would win the game today, then this special man
would lose his life, because of him, a good-for-nothing. He
started to play badly on purpose, he wanted to lose, a wave of
compassion ran through him, he wanted to give his life for that
of the monk.


Then the abbot suddenly reached into the board and knocked over
the pieces.


Both players looked up irritated, the game had captivated them.


The abbot said: "Today no one will win or lose, no one will die!
You, young man, have learned something today, namely compassion
and concentration, you were absorbed in the game and still
thought about the fate of your opponent, you even wanted to die
for him. You may stay with us, you shall receive training,
awakening will come to you, you are ready for it"!


That's how it happened!


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