Last evening, a world famous potter was the house guest at the Monastery. He had travelled with seven of his famous figurines and these were displayed in the main hall for the monks. After tea time, the potter was requested by Sensei to demonstrate his skills.
The Potter sat down, began his potter’s wheel and placed one of the famous figurines in the centre. The Monks were surprised.
Then the Potter began to spray the world famous figurine with lots of water until it began to melt. There was a sense of shock in the room.
After adding more water, the Potter carefully handled the ruined figurine and transformed it into a nice round ball of clay. Once this ball was perfect, he picked it up and placed it on the side.
Then he got up, bowed to Sensei and invited the other monks to transform the rest of his figurines into clay balls. None of the monks said a word. Sensei requested the Potter to say a few words.
The Potter said, “For half my life I turned soft, supple clay into proud figurines of men and women. These figurines stood out in the world. They became stiff, inflexible and unalterable. From a humble beginning, I also moulded myself into a proud and arrogant man. As the years went by, my pride made me so stiff that one day I could no longer use my fingers to mould new figures. My fingers were set in stone. That’s when I realized that I had reached the end. Today, I used the chance to be blessed by Sensei to become humble again, and began the process by using my stone fingers to turn one of my proud figurines into a ball of clay again.”
Sensei softly clapped thrice and said, “It’s important to mould ourselves constantly. When you feel you have become rigid and proud, just put yourself in the centre of your actions and re-sculpt yourself.”
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