In life, we should know to be single-minded

 There is a temple in a remote mountain in Sichuan. There are two monks in the temple. One is very poor, not fully clothed and simple to eat; The other monk was very rich, wearing silk clothes and eating good food.

At that time, people thought that Nanhai (now Putuo, Zhejiang Province) was a Buddhist holy land, and many monks from other places regarded going to Nanhai once as their ideal life. One day, the poor monk said to the rich monk, "I'm going to Nanhai. What do you think?"

The rich monk couldn't believe his ears. He looked at the poor monk seriously and burst into laughter.

The poor monk was puzzled by his smile and asked, "what's the matter?"

Monk Fu asked, "I heard you right. Do you want to go to Nanhai? By what do you go to the South China Sea? "

The poor monk said calmly, "just take a kettle and a rice bowl."

"Ha ha ha ha!" The rich monk laughed out of breath. "It's thousands of miles to go back and forth to the South China Sea. There are many difficulties and obstacles on the way. I began to prepare to go to the South China Sea a few years ago. When I get enough food, medicine and equipment ready, I can buy a big ship, find some sailors and bodyguards, and then I can start. And you, forget it, don't dream. "

Poor monks no longer argue with rich monks. The next day, the rich monk found that the poor monk was gone. It turned out that the poor monk quietly left the temple early in the morning and walked to the South China Sea.

Sure enough, as the rich monk said, the road to the South China Sea is very long and hard. However, the poor monk has long been psychologically prepared. The poor monk experienced all kinds of hardships along the way. Many times, he was dizzy, frozen and fell down. However, he never thought of giving up, always heading for the South China Sea. A year later, the poor monk finally arrived at the South China Sea.

Two years later, the poor monk came back from the South China Sea, still with a kettle and a rice bowl. The poor monk became a highly respected monk after he returned to the temple because he learned the profound meaning of Buddhism in Nanhai. And the rich monk is still preparing to buy a big boat!

Everyone hopes to work out a detailed and perfect life plan, and intends to implement it step by step after making the plan. It's true to think like this, but if you indulge in perfecting the plan and don't take the first step bravely, you will never reach the goal in your heart. After all, no amount of preparation can replace the first step.

What should we pay attention to?

Yourself do things yourself. A believer was sheltering from the rain under the eaves when he saw a Buddhist monk passing by with an umbrella, so he yelled: "Buddhist monk, master Zen, please help all living beings. How about taking me for a ride?"

Zen master replied: "there is no rain under the eaves. You don't need me to spend it." The believer immediately walked out of the eaves and stood in the rain: "now I'm in the rain too. It's time for Zen master to spend me!" Zen master replied: "I will not be caught in the rain, because I have an umbrella; You are caught in the rain because you have no umbrella; If you want to be punished, you don't have to look for me. Please look for your umbrella. "

Then he left. Some people in life, like this believer, always hope to get shelter from their parents and friends, so as to resist the cruelty of reality. They like to find all kinds of excuses for their laziness and cowardice, and even feel complacent that others are busy and they are leisurely. As everyone knows, in such leisure, we lose the opportunity to understand Zen from work and life, and learn to take responsibility from busyness and trivia. And such a person who lacks action will never be able to pursue his ideal.

Right now. People often waste their time for two reasons. One is that there is an excuse for tomorrow. It doesn't matter much if today's time is wasted, but "tomorrow comes back tomorrow, how much tomorrow is". Many things are often put on hold forever in such an excuse and repetition; Second, they feel that they are not well prepared and that the time for doing things is not ripe. But if everything needs to be well prepared to start, we may not be able to do a few things in our lifetime. We might as well learn the attitude of an old monk.

One day, the monk saw Dianzuo alone in the hot sun, bending over to dry the seaweed. He could not bear it, so he came forward and said, "this work is too hard. You are old. You'd better ask the young monk to help you." Dianzuo said lightly: "others are not me." The monk then advised, "why don't you wait for the sunshine to be smaller?" Dianzuo still said indifferently: "time is running out." Cherish the time, do the things at present, this is the best attitude to do things.

Do everything with your heart. In the world, the way to success is very simple; In Buddhism, the method of liberation is also very easy. If you are single-minded and persistent, you can naturally achieve success in any field. This is also the reason why the poor monk can walk to the South China Sea thousands of miles away with only one kettle and one rice bowl. In our daily life, there are not many things we need to deal with, and they are not so difficult. At home is nothing more than doing housework, at work is nothing more than busy. But these also need us to do wholeheartedly, because the more you work hard, the more you can appreciate the fun, and you won't complain about boring life and boring work.

Only by doing it ourselves, doing it now and doing it with heart can we understand the wisdom of "taking decisive steps". We care more about the smoothness and comfort of the journey than the pursuit of goals. Although such a person envies the free and easy way of riding the wind and waves, he doesn't really cherish the sea. That's why some people really Wade step by step towards the sea. Some people just build ships in the mountains, hang sails and decorate their houses.