The Root Of Suffering

A student was on his way to the temple when he saw something amusing. He thought to himself to quiz his Zen Master when he arrived at the temple later. Upon arrival, the student and his Master sat down for a session of tea appreciation and conversation. All of the sudden, the student asked, "What is going around in circles?"

"Everything because the rope has yet to be released," the Zen Master replied casually.

Hearing the Zen Master's reply, the student was startled and asked the Zen Master, "How did you know? I am amazed! When I was on my way here, I saw a cow being tied through its nose to a tree by a rope." He continued, "To me, it seems like the cow was trying to escape to the grassland to graze on the grass. However, all it managed to do was to keep going around the tree with no chance of freeing itself. I never thought that you would have seen it too. Hence, I did not expect that Master would be able to answer the question so easily.”

08.19.2016

The old Zen Master smiled and said, “The question you asked is about a worldly affair, but my answer is based on reasoning. You asked about a cow that was tied with no way to free itself. My answer is about our assumed inabilities to untangle ourselves from attachment and entanglement. You see, this one reasoning could be adapted to basically anything that happens in our life.”

The student reached a realization. A kite, no matter how high it flies, would not be able to reach thousands of miles of altitude because it is being held by a string.

A sturdy horse, no matter how strong it is, would be led by its master once the saddle is put on and the horse whipped.

What then is holding you back in your daily life?
...
• A document could occupy our mind every moment.
• A title could cause us to toss and turn restlessly at night.
• Win and loss could exhaust all of our mental and physical efforts.
• Success and failure could lead to bitterness.
• Love could lead us to sorrow and anguish.
• For money, we go round and round all corners of the world.
• For power, we move up and down the ladder.
• For desire, we go back and forth hastily.
• For fame, we scurry ahead all day and all night.

Where then is happiness? Where is peacefulness then?
...
Due to a string attached to it, a kite loses its broad sky. Due to a rope tied to it, a cow loses its grassland. Due to a rope controlling it, a fine horse loses its freedom to gallop freely at its own speed.

Earthly temptations are akin to that rope. Human beings are just like the cow being tied down with a rope, entangled in a web of worries and desires that leads to no room for escape.