Stories from Ancient China: A Happy Person Holds Few Desires

Many people are worried about not being able to satisfy their desires in life. Although they are anxious to get rid of their worries, they can not find the real source of the worries. If you ask them the reasons for their anger or unhappiness, they may sum up the reasons as follows: The boss is too mean; their friends are unfaithful to them; their children fail to meet their expectations to attend a famous school; their husbands or parents are too stingy to give them enough spending money, and so on. There is a common characteristic in these people: they think about their personal losses and gains excessively and consider their own troubles as being the fault of others. They never truly look inwards to find their own shortcomings or faults.

Most people are very frail and have difficulty resisting various temptations when dealing with desire. When the desire for material things is ceaselessly expanded, their minds will be deluded easily. People's desires have no limit. If a person cannot see through the true nature of life, he cannot do anything without desire and during his whole life he will never shake off his worries. That is because when one desire is satisfied, another new desire will come up. Only the cultivators who walk on the path of returning to their origin can thoroughly put down the mindset of pursuit of fame and gain and be forever free from worry in this human world.

According to legend, Emperor Suzong was troubled by various worries. So he worshipped Huizhong, a Zen master from Nanyang, as his Master Teacher and hoped the master could get rid of his worries and overcome his difficulties. One-day emperor Suzong asked the Zen master: "How can I obtain the Buddha dharma?" Huizhong answered him: "The Buddha dharma is in one's mind. No one can get it from another! Does Your Majesty see the rosy cloud outside the palace? Can your imperial guards take it down and put it in the hall?" Emperor Suzong answered weakly: "Of course not!"

Huizhong said with a sigh: "People are always seeking things from Buddha. Some ask for honour and an official post; some seek wealth and longevity; some seek a peaceful mind free from reproach. How many people seek cultivation to become a Buddha?" Emperor Suzong asked again: "How can one possess the embodiment of the Buddha?" Huizhong answered him: "Desire makes Your Majesty have such thoughts! If you do not think of cultivating inwards and waste your life in meaningless fantasies, after a few decades of dreaming, you will be just a skeleton. Isn't that so pointless?"

"Oh! How can one have no worries or sadness?" the Emperor asked, backing away. Huizhong answered readily: "Those without worry can see himself clearly. A person seeking Buddhahood will never think of having a tranquil Buddha body himself and will always look within. Only those who worry would think of how to get rid of their worries. Cultivation is a process of clearing one's mind. No one can do it for another. When one gives up personal desires and gives up questing for things, one actually owns the whole world!"

We see that, even a person as powerful as an Emperor, who possessed supreme power, couldn't satisfy his many desires. Common people who do not have any power may even have more desires if they don't know how to desert them. People will have worries if they cannot satisfy their desires. They will be unable to free themselves. People with few desires will be happier. When one understands this simple reasoning, one will be far from worry and live a carefree life.