Last night, after dinner, Sensei told the monks an amusing incident.
One of Sensei’s relatives was an Ambulance driver and a really good one. His record of reaching distressed people in time and driving them to safety was impeccable. Sadly, this man boasted about this. Wherever he went, the moment someone asked him what he did, he would begin a long speech and say, “I’m an Ambulance driver and I save people. I’ve rescued 357 persons and made their families happy, etc, etc.”
His wife was weary of his habit of boasting and always nudged him to keep quiet.
Once, over the weekend, at a party the Ambulance driver, his wife and a rather distinguished looking man began a conversation. The refined man asked the Ambulance driver, “So, What do you do?”
Just as the man began rambling as usual, his wife poked him to keep quiet. The Ambulance driver controlled himself and instead asked the dignified looking man, “Sir, what do you do?”
The man answered, “Oh, I make very special Ambulances. We are the world’s largest in that business. We have about 30,000 ambulances deployed all over the country, driven by some really qualified drivers. Our Ambulances and these fine drivers as a team have saved the lives of over 3 million people. I am so proud of what I have achieved.”
The Ambulance driver was so moved that he broke down.
Sensei told the monks, “It’s important to understand that you are just a small gear in a very large machine. Celebrating insignificance is what one should learn.”
*****
