A very young and devout Zen priest needed to relieve himself during the evening. He went out into the dark night, did his business and upon returning to his quarters stepped on something extremely squishy. The thoughts went through his head that he had stepped on a frog...and not just a frog, but a frog full of eggs. He felt really bad as he had taken a vow of not killing. Not wishing to disturb anyone he vowed to return in the morning to clean up the mess.
All night long he tossed and turned in bed, worrying about breaking his vows of not killing. He even had a horrific dream of frogs chasing him and wanting him dead. Upon the break of dawn he rushed out to where he squished the frog only to discover he had stepped on a rotten eggplant! His eyes were opened and now he "understood."
Can you see you how have squished frogs? I've done this so many times in my life as well. The biggest frog I ever squished was when I needed a job 8 years ago after getting laid off from my previous job. We had lost a major contract in our agency and I had least seniority, so I was given a severance and let go. The job search wasn't easy, but a job for a child therapist opened up on a nearby reservation. My wife encouraged me to apply but I told her my specialty is not working with children and plus I am not sure if I would even like working on a reservation. I was imagining a whole bunch of negatives.
My wife, in her sweetest kick butt voice said, "You need a job. Fake it till you make it" So I applied. During the interview I discovered it was the wrong ad in the paper and they were looking for someone with my skills....ah, eggplants. What a relief. To make a long story short, I got the job and have been there ever since....one of the longest and best jobs I have ever had.
If I would have not applied due to my squishing frogs delusion, I would have missed out on a wonderful opportunity to work in a great community and meet some really fantastic people. How many of us live in these delusions without ever going into the daylight and seeing that all along we have just been stepping on eggplants?
So, ponder how you squish frogs. Be here now....it is where the sunshine is.
Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen
