Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
“Come on, girl” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t do near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”
This is a famous parable and story sometimes told about crossing a river or instead of a lady there is a raft. Each story has their significance of characters, but nevertheless doesn’t hide the importance of the moral. The moral mainly told here is that there are things that we come across in life. Whether it be good or bad, it could be kept long over due. It could be kept by the mind or in some material fashion.
While it could be great to always have the good things in life, it’s just not realistic.
By material, it’s easy enough to understand how things age from something new to old. Therefore things can come and go. But by the mind, things doesn’t have to be real, but somehow it’s kept in the forefront of the mind. When you think about it, you can hold in yourself the thoughts about things that happens in life. It could be about the past, present, or future. And this could be kept for a long time due to the habit of keeping something or bottling it up for awhile.
The interesting part of this is that things can start as a seed, then it grows and matures. What will it mature to?
It’s best to train ourselves to not hold things that cause disharmony with yourself. And not to go after things that come and go. This can disrupt the harmony with yourself.
It seems easy enough, however the mind has a tendency to flicker back and forth if it is not properly trained. Hence, when you are in a situation when you seem to be carrying something which is not beneficial for yourself, be aware of it. Look at yourself in that moment and not attach the festering disagreements (or agreements). You can train yourself to be more stable. Having a stable awareness helps so that you are not overly attaching yourself to things that don’t serve you. While it’s best to go after things that do serve you, don’t cause yourself misfortune. This is just a stage of awareness, but helps.
Thought Lighthouse 