Recently I led a retreat at the Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley California. Among the
retreatants was an older Chinese man whom I had never met before. From his dress I could
tell that he was quite wealthy. Although he was quite uncomfortable sitting and bowing, he
practiced with sincerity and intensity for three days. During a chat after the retreat he
told me that he was from Indonesia and here in the States for just a short time visiting
his son, who attended the University of California.
Suddenly, concern and sadness filled him with emotion. He told me something very shocking:
just a couple of weeks ago he was quite wealthy -- his family had been living in Jakarta
for several generations but now, because of the recent turmoil in Indonesia he had little
left. Ethnic Chinese had been targeted in the riots there, and his business was destroyed.
Even his wife could not leave the country because her passport was kept in a bank which
had been looted. When he saw the poster for our retreat he walked in off the street and
sat down; he said it was the only thing he could do!
This man's story reminded me of something. Every winter in the mountains of Korea our
school holds a ninety-day retreat at Shin Won Sah Temple. Within the temple complex there
is one building dedicated to a protective god recognized in the ancient religion of Korea.
The building was originally built in the early Yi Dynasty, late fourteenth century, as a
place where the queen could pray for the protection of the nation. During retreats many of
us would go up to this building to do midnight practicing. As with many traditional Korean
temple buildings, the gate at the entrance is supported by two columns. Painted on these
columns are Chinese sayings intended to inspire and encourage the practitioner. On the
left-hand post it says, "Three days looking into the self, thousand year
treasure." On the right it says, "One hundred year life, chasing after power and
things, turns to dust in one day."
This is our life. No matter what we get -- even if it's the result of a hundred-year
struggle -- can go away in less that a day. But the benefit we get from practicing gives
us a lasting reward, a look at our true self and clear direction in our life. What a deal!
The man from Jakarta was indeed fortunate -- there was nothing else for him to do.
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