Compassion and Concentration
A long time ago, a very young man came to a Buddhist temple. He had been sorely disappointed by life and had already suffered bitter blows of fate in his young years.
When he stood before the abbot, he said: "My life has been terrible for me up to now, providence has played badly with me, suffering, sorrow and toil characterize my path, great calamity breaks over me again and again, tragedy and desolation accompany me. Now I have come to you to improve my fate, I have heard of the teachings of the Buddha, now I would like to try my salvation with the search for "enlightenment", is there a chance also for me"?
The abbot examined him long and thoroughly, then he said, "Yes, awakening is also possible for you, tell me about yourself, what can you do, what have you learned, where are your strengths?"
The young man considered, then he spoke quietly, "I am not very talented, my family is rich, I don't have to work, I can't concentrate well either, in truth I am weak and timid, have little discipline, but one thing I can do well, I play a lot of chess, that is where my talent lies."
The white abbot thought about it, then he called for a certain monk and instructed him to bring a chess set. He said to the monk, "As a monk of this temple, you owe me obedience in all matters, at all times. I now instruct you to play a game of chess with this man, and you must win. If you do not, I will kill you. If you win, I will kill the young man, it is a game of life and death."
Both "chess partners" looked at the abbot doubtfully, was he serious, in a Buddhist monastery he was going to kill a man? There was no emotion in the abbot's face, yes, he meant what he said, it was clear now.
They started to play, the young man was completely upset, he started to sweat, he was playing for his life. His opponent the monk however was calm, he accepted the things that were coming, he also trusted his guide and in the teachings of Buddha, he was in tune with his being.
At first the youth played badly, hastily, unfocused, made some mistakes, but with time he calmed down, his moves became better, the monk did not have so much practice in the game and fell behind.
The young man had become a little more confident and looked up from the board, he looked into the peaceful face of the monk, a face of peaceful serenity, insight and sincerity, no fear played in the facial expression of the Buddhist brother. Now thoughts arose in him, his life passed before his inner eyes, all at once feelings for the monk stirred in him, he compared his life with that of his counterpart, how useless his way to this point had been. And if he would win the game today, then this special man would lose his life, because of him, a good-for-nothing. He started to play badly on purpose, he wanted to lose, a wave of compassion ran through him, he wanted to give his life for that of the monk.
Then the abbot suddenly reached into the board and knocked over the pieces.
Both players looked up irritated, the game had captivated them.
The abbot said: "Today no one will win or lose, no one will die! You, young man, have learned something today, namely compassion and concentration, you were absorbed in the game and still thought about the fate of your opponent, you even wanted to die for him. You may stay with us, you shall receive training, awakening will come to you, you are ready for it"!
That's how it happened!
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