THE ENGLISH WEATHERMAN AND THE GYPSY NOMAD (A short but meaningful story showing us the beautiful virtues of contentment, hope, acceptance and openness to whatever Life brings us. Please meditate upon both the short story and my own reflection after the story. Thanks.) THE STORY: An English weatherman attended a Conference on Climate in one of the cities in Eastern Europe where Gypsies abound. Soon after the conference, he had free time for the whole afternoon before going back to England by train at midnight, so the weatherman decided to take a walk to a nearby village. On the road, he met a Gypsy nomad sitting by his beautiful wagon-house. The weatherman greeted the Gypsy and engaged him in the following light conversation... Weatherman: “Do you know what kind of weather are we going to have today in here?” Gypsy Nomad: “Yes sir… The kind of weather I like.” Weatherman: “Oh… but how do you know that it will be the kind of weather you like?” Gypsy Nomad: “You see Sir, having found out in my travels that I cannot always get what I like; I have learned always to like whatever I get. So I am very sure that we will have the kind of weather I like.” (My own adaptation of the story from the book, “The Heart of the Enlightened: Sufi Wisdom Stories for Everyone”, by the Rev. Fr. Anthony de Mello, SJ. New Delhi: Image Books-India, 1991; p. 176.) LESSONS FROM THE ANECDOTE: Contentment and Acceptance in Whatever Things that Life Presents to Us. Happiness and unhappiness are just the ways how we interpret and perceive events and circumstances in Life, and they are not in the very nature of those events and circumstances themselves. In reality, there is neither “built-in joy” nor “built-in sadness” in this life; there is only our biased and judgmental mind that continuously judges and compares one event as joyful and another as sad—discriminating one event as fortunate and the other event as ill-fated. The wisdom of the Gypsy in our story lies in not judging things and events, in not comparing this thing as blissful or that event as sad. The Gypsy accepts everything that comes his way without judging and with a heart of openness that each events and circumstances in our lives can teach us valuable insights and lessons in living, and that we should not prefer one thing or event over the other. For is it not true that only those who have experienced profound despair can truly feel and experience what real bliss is all about? Is it not also true that only those who have experienced the brink of death and were given a new lease of life are the only ones who can truly appreciate the beauty of every waking moment of their second-life? Therefore, let us accept whatever things and events that Life gives us with hope and openness and without judgment and discrimination. For me, life can only be lived meaningfully if we truly adapt the heart (and the mind) of a Gypsy whose life-principle can be summarized in just these three beautiful words: Hope… Wait… Accept. (NOTE: The Lesson from the Anecdote is written by: Prof. Henry Francis B. Espiritu on May 16, 2012 at 6:23 PM. Re-posted tonight [January 25, 2015] in his Facebook Page.)
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:08:09 +0000
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