The Other Side of the River

once upon a time in ancient China, there was a ferryman who worked along a stretch of the Yangtze river. There were several villages and towns on both sides of the river, so he had steady business taking passengers from one side to the other. Over the years, this brought him into contact with people from all walks of life.

One day, a villager approached the ferryman as he was waiting for potential passengers by his boat. The villager said: “Sir, perhaps you can help me with a question. I’m thinking about moving to the other side of the river. You are probably quite familiar with the people over there. Can you tell me about them?”

The ferryman was curious: “Why are you thinking about moving? Is there something wrong with your village?”

“My village is horrible,” the villager said. “I am surrounded by the worst people you can imagine, so I do not want to live there any longer than necessary. My neighbors make noise when I need quiet. They do not care about the streets being dirty. They have no respect for me. Therefore, I also have no respect for them.”

“That does sound horrible,” the ferryman sympathized. “Have you ever let them know how you feel?”

“Oh, absolutely!” The villager said, with much anger: “I give them unmistakable signs! They disturb me during the day, so I make noise to disturb them at night. They never clean the streets, so I push my trash out the door to teach them a lesson. Whenever they are rude to me, I am rude to them twice as much. Of course they know how I feel!”

“I see,” the ferryman nodded. “Well, I have bad news for you. The people on the other side of the river are not so different from the ones in your village. You will find all the things you dislike about your neighbors quite prevalent there too. If you decide to move, you’ll expend a lot of time and effort, only to end up in the same situation.”

“I knew it!” the villager exclaimed in frustration, and started walking away. “There must be a better place somewhere. I’ll find it!”

Moments later, another man, much younger than the first, approached the ferryman. “Excuse me,” he said, “I am thinking about moving to the other side of the river. You are probably quite familiar with the people over there. Can you tell me about them?”

Again the ferryman expressed curiosity: “Why are you thinking about moving?”

The young man said: “I would like to study spiritual teachings with a Tao sage who lives on the other side. If I move closer to him, I can save a lot of time crossing back and forth. However, I am a little reluctant to leave my home over here.”

“Why the reluctance?”

“My village is a wonderful place to live,” the young man beamed. “I have the best neighbors you can imagine. Everyone is kind and considerate, and we are always looking out for one another. Everyone works to keep the neighborhood clean and make it a pleasant environment. There is much mutual assistance and respect, and that is why I am reluctant to leave. I am just not sure I can find such great neighbors when I’m on the other side of the river.”

“I see,” the ferryman nodded. “Well, I have good news for you. The people on the other side are not much different from the ones in your village. You will find all the qualities you like about your neighbors just as prevalent over there. If you do decide to move, it won’t take you long to become part of a community in the new place that you will enjoy.”

The young man was happy to hear this. He thanked the ferryman profusely before heading back home, to start planning his move.

A nearby street vendor, who had been watching quietly all this time, came over as the young man left. He said to the ferryman: “I could not help but overhear the conversations you just had. It’s especially interesting to me, since I know those two fellows. They come from the same village, and both of them asked the same question. Why did you give them such different answers?”

“The difference came from them, not from me or the place,” the ferryman said. “The first villager is unaware that all the things he hates originate from within himself: the noisy disturbance, the dirty environment, the lack of respect, and so on. His environment reflects what is already in his heart. Unless he changes himself internally, he will continue to recreate the same negative setting no matter where he goes.

“It was similar with the young man,” the ferryman continued. “He may not realize it, but all the things he enjoys about his neighborhood also originate from his heart: the kindness, the consideration, the mutual assistance and respect, and everyone pitching in for the greater good. As long as his positive nature does not change, he will always create the same positive setting no matter where he goes.”

“Ah, I see,” the street vendor smiled in comprehension. “So… things are not necessarily better on the other side?”

“No,” said the ferryman, “but things definitely get better on every side… when they get better on the inside.”

Now you know the truth. The grass isn’t really greener on the other side, but it is definitely greener on your side — because you make it that way. It can be as green as you want it to be, through the work of internal cultivation..

Light bulb

Once there was a young man who worked at a factory. His mentor, an old technician, taught him to talk less, do more, and never stop developing his skills in every aspect of the factory’s operation.

Ten years later, the old man retired, and the young man became a technician himself. He continued to do his work with the same dedication and diligence as he was taught.

One day, he visited with his mentor. The old man saw that he seemed unhappy, and asked what was troubling him.

The young man sighed and poured his heart out: “I have been following your instructions exactly all these years. No matter what I work on, I keep quiet and focus on the job. I know I have done good work at the factory, and I have learned all the skills that can be learned there. What I don’t understand is that the guys who don’t have my experience or capabilities have all been promoted, while I am still making as little as I did before, when I was your apprentice.

The old man asked: “Are you positive that you have become indispensable to the factory?”

The young man nodded: “Yes.”

The old man paced back and forth to think. After a while, he turned to the young man: “You must request a day off, using whatever reason you like. It’s time for you to give yourself a break.”

The young man was surprised by this advice, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He thanked his teacher and left quickly to make a time-off request.

When he returned to work after his day off, the Manager called him into the office to tell him that things did not go well at the factory while he was gone. Others encountered many problems that normally would be handled by him, and they had no idea how to solve them. Realizing his importance, the Manager decided to promote him to the position of Senior Technician, to thank him and encourage him to keep up the good work.

The young man was grateful for his mentor’s wisdom. Surely, he thought, this was the secret to success!

From that point on, whenever the young man felt like he deserved more than what he was getting, he would take a day off. When he came back the next day, the situation would improve to his satisfaction.

This pattern continued for months. One day, the young man found that he was blocked from going into the factory. Much to his shock, he found out that his employment was terminated. He could not believe it. Not knowing what else to do, he went back to see his mentor, to try to figure out how things had gone so wrong.

“Why did I lose my job?” he asked with much wounded pride. “Did I not do everything as you instructed?”

“Actually, you did not, because you heard only half the lesson,” the old man shook his head. “You understood right away that no one pays any attention to a light bulb that is always on. It is only when it goes off that people suddenly take notice and realize they’ve been taking it for granted. You were so eager to apply this understanding that you left before hearing the second half.”

“Second half?” it began to dawn on the young man that perhaps he made a big mistake. “What was the second half?”

The mentor spoke slowly to make his point: “The second half, more important than the first, is the realization that if a light bulb goes off frequently, then sooner or later it will be replaced with one that is more reliable. Who wants a light bulb that no one can count on to provide illumination?”

One teaching we can immediately extract from this story is about the light bulb that is constantly on. Are there friends and loved ones in your life who are like the light bulb, always giving light but never really noticed by anyone? Have you taken them for granted because of their constant, reliable presence? What if they are no longer there one day?

Do not wait for such a day to suddenly realize how important they are. Give thanks today for the good fortune of having them in your life. Let them know you are thinking of them and send them an expression of your gratitude.

Also, think about how this teaching applies to you. Are you like the light bulb yourself, always on and therefore taken for granted?

Only a difference of thought

Once upon a time in ancient China, there lived a sage who was known for his ability to solve difficult problems. One day, he had two visitors who needed his advice. Both were polite young men, and each insisted that the other should go first. After some discussion, they discovered that their questions were essentially the same, so they settled on speaking with the sage at the same time.

One of the young men asked: “Master, our problems are similar. We are both low-level employees being treated badly at work. We get no respect at all, and our employers constantly push us around. Can you please tell us if we should quit our jobs?”

The sage closed his eyes and meditated at length. The two young men waited patiently, until finally the sage opened his eyes. He gave them the answer in five words: “Only a bowl of rice.”

The two young men thanked the sage and departed. They contemplated the answer as they walked back to the city. After a while, one of them broke the silence: “That was interesting. What do you think the sage meant?”

The other one was thoughtful: “Well, it’s fairly obvious that the bowl of rice represents our daily meals.”

“I agree,” said the first young man. “I think he was telling us that the job is nothing more than a means to make a living.”

“Yes, when you come right down to it, that’s all we get out of the job — our daily meals.”

They went their separate ways. One of them continued working at the same place. The other one submitted a letter of resignation immediately upon his return. He went home to the countryside and took up farming.

After several years, this young man achieved considerable success as a farmer. He used what he had learned in the city to import high quality seeds. The fruits and vegetables he grew became known as the best in the region. He enjoyed not only great profits, but also a reputation as an expert.

The young man who remained at work also did well. It was as if he became a different person. He took on difficult tasks and demonstrated an ability to handle adversity. He rose up through the ranks and received one promotion after another, until he became a manager.

One day, the two of them met again by chance. Once they got caught up with one another, they realized that they had taken two very different paths — based on the exact same answer from the sage. They were both wealthy and happy, but which path was the correct one?

“How strange!” the manager was puzzled. “The Master said the same thing to us, and we both heard it the same way. Why did you quit?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” the farmer was also puzzled. “I understood his words immediately. The job was nothing more than the means to get my daily meals, so why force myself to stay in a horrible situation just for a bowl of rice? Quitting was obviously the right thing to do. Why did you stay?”

“I also think it should be obvious,” the manager laughed. “The job meant nothing more than a bowl of rice, so why was I getting so worked up over it? As soon as I understood this, I realized there was no need for me to get so upset. I did not have to take the abuse heaped on me personally, so of course I stayed. Isn’t that what he meant?”

“Now I am completely confused,” the farmer shook his head. “Did he mean for us to take your path or my path? Let’s go see him again and get to the bottom of this.”

Once again they presented themselves before the sage and explained the reason for their visit. “As you can see, Master, we would really like to know the real meaning of your advice all those years ago. Can you give us some insights?”

Again the sage closed his eyes. The two men waited patiently as before. After a spell, the sage opened his eyes and gave them his answer… again in five words: “Only a difference of thought.”

Upon hearing this story, some may think it does not have a proper ending. The sage did not say which was the right path. Doesn’t this make the story ambiguous? How can we learn anything from it?

But  I  feel .. the ambiguity is the point . The two young men took paths that seemed diametrically opposite (staying versus quitting), and yet both achieved the same dream (wealth and happiness). In a similar way, we all have our own paths to follow, and even the paths that appear to have little in common can nevertheless lead us toward the same destination

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The second, and more important lesson from the story is exactly as the sage expressed: one small difference in thought can make a huge difference in life. Both young men in the story made the right decision, but this was a stroke of luck. It does not mean all paths are equally correct. Although we can take countless different roads to reach the same destination, there are just as many roads that take us further away. One decision to turn left or right at an intersection can mean the difference between arriving safely and being hopelessly lost., the sage pointed to the power of a single thought making a single choice. We may not think of this as being important, but it is a lever that has the potential to move the world and change your life.

Only a difference of thought. That’s really all it takes. One impulse, one idea, one decision with convection  and  faith  can change everything