Zen master in Communicating through hollywood

I once incidentally saw a movie on HBO. (ohhh.... I love watching movies)-Charlie Wilson's war. Following is a dialogue in the last scene  of the movie


Gust Avrakotos: There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, "How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, "How wonderful." 
Charlie Wilson: Now the Zen master says, "We'll see." 


Reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/quotes?qt0436729

Probably it may not sound so powerful while just reading it, however in the movie (based on US' covert support for Afghan rebels during Russian occupation) it is masterfully placed and conveys a very serious and thought provoking message.

Summary of the message was thus : You may think yourself to be doing good while in the end the result is f**ked up beyond recognition. Similarly you may be messing up and suddenly there is a heap of rewards in front of you.

I wouldn't go too much further in this post because probably zen master explains it the best.
Just  simple questions for you whenever something positive happens to you: What just happened was good? really? should i rejoice? or maybe should i not?

Probably this positive may lead to something not really positive or something real bad.

Similarly for every negative outcome: Is it bad? really? Should i be sad? or maybe not. This negative may lead to something positive which you might have not thought of before or considered possible.

In short be a little skeptic when good happens and little content when something bad happens. It is a natural course of life and what happens is how it is meant to be.

Unity of the universe

I recently read this book "The Tao of Physics". I will admit that i didn't understand most of it and I don't appreciate a lot of what the author 'implied'- Modern science tending to Eastern Mystical thought. However I will concede that I found the book a little informative. It made me understand a lot about quantum physics, relativity theory. It also made me understand lot about Hindu, Buddhist, Zen and Tao thought etc.

My post today will be really a "Random thought" as below: 

Reading the book and thinking a lot I have developed a belief. Each and every act by everybody effects everybody (Humans, Animals and the Inanimate). I don't imply that we have the right to meddle in other people's affairs. What I state here is that each and every thing that we do or happens happens exactly the way it is supposed to happen. There is no other alternative. This is the only way the worldly equilibrium can be maintained.

For example: Today is a lazy Sunday afternoon and I am writing this blog. How does it affect your life? It affects your life in the following manner-

1. I could have been doing a million different things rather than writing this blog right now (Lets take 3):
• Watching television
• Working on career development
• Making plans for world domination
2. Now these scenarios could effect you in a hundred different ways
• Watching television
• I could gain an idea and discuss this with a friend. he writes a status update on facebook related to it. You are his friend's friend and you see it. You build some knowledge around it. You are asked some question in your job interview which you can answer based on what you learnt
• I see a news show. Gain some knowledge. Call up KBC lines. End up at fastest fingers first opposite to you and then beat you there. 
• etc. etc.
• Working on career development
• I end up in an interview panel where you interview me and you select me (and then you suffer me)
• I beat you in an interview
• I get misguided and lose to you
• I interview you
• I interview some relative of yours and select him. Your cousin idolizes that relative and follows his footsteps. The cousin is successful and he proves a great help to you in your bad times
• Making plans for world domination
• I dominate the world- you get affected
• I do something real crazy- somebody you know gets affected. you get depressed
• I don't do anything- but i am still out there
3. All the above means that in that case i don't write this particular blog. Now
• You are not reading it now
• Any effect, belief or comic relief this blog brings to you is negated. The corresponding after effects too
• You would be doing something else rather than reading this blog
• That something else could have affected so many others (including me). In turn this would affect so many others

The universe would be absolutely different if I am not writing this blog. We can say it cud have been better or worse. In a mystical sense however I would say that any other scenario the universe would be unstable. Me writing this blog right now and you reading it right now or not reading it at all is the only way the universe can be stable.

There seems to be a suggestion here that we don't have control or choice about our actions. However I would think of it differently. There can be no action without control or choice. Lets not desist ourselves from doing any good, striving for excellence, caring for others because we think that we don't have choice or control. Our ability to have a choice and control over our very own actions keeps this Universe in equilibrium. We can hope that doing good will spread good. Lets do what we want to do and the Universe to take care of its own. Thus the Bhagvad Gita says

कर्म कर फल की इच्छा न कर. 

"Do your job don't care about results or rewards"

If anybody really does read this post and finds it worth a thought. Please do drop in a comment

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