09. A tale of “Everything Happens for a Reason” (Excerpt from “The Wisdom of Lotus”)

2.1-English.Reciting Everything Happens Reason

This is a story about a king who loved hunting and travelling undercover with his minister. The minister loved to say “Everything happens for a reason.”One day, the king went hunting in the forest and he hit a leopard with a single shot of an arrow. The king immediately went to collect his trophy, but suddenly the leopard jumped on the king, and with all that was left in its last breath, it bit off half the king’s pinky finger. The king invited the minister to join him drinking to drown his sorrow.The minister said his usual comment,with a smile “Everything happens for a reason, let it go!” The king was very angry and said, “If I lock you up in jail, will it serve you right that everything happens for a reason?” The minister replied, “If that is what is meant to be, then it will happen for a reason.”The king got even angrier, and sent the minister to jail.

The time passed and the king recovered from his wound. He then travelled undercover to a remote forest. Suddenly he was met by a troop of tribal warriors and they caught him and tied him up with ropes. The king was brought into the deep forest where the tribe lived and was prepped as a burnt offering to the Moon Goddess. While the king lost all hope , the tribal priest was shocked by the sight of the king’s halved pinky. An offering with a flaw would offend the Moon Goddess and bring disaster as punishment. They eventually let the king go because he could not be used as a perfect offering.

The king was elated and returned to his kingdom. He immediately released the minister from jail and held a banquet for celebration. The king said to the minister, “You have been right all along, everything happens for a reason. If it was not for the loss of my half little finger, I would have lost my life already.”

Then the king continued to ask the minister, “But for you to have gone to jail, what good came of that? Did that happen for a reason?” The minister answered, “Oh well, if I was not in jail, I would have been in your company to travel to the forest. When you were found to be imperfect by the tribal priest, I would have become the burnt offering.” It is so true! Everything happens for a reason.

The moral of the story is to teach us not to worry or lose hope when we are in difficult situations. We should not fixate on the problem that we are facing, because that will only make us feel resentful of ourselves or others. We should know that everything happens for a reason. With such belief we are able to look beyond the problems and have a positive mentality to thrive. Remember! When one door closes, another one opens.

“Everything happens for a reason”should become our motto in life. Once it is implemented in our minds and our actions, our life will gain tremendous improvement immediately. Whoever pursues and persists will validate the truthfulness of this motto. It requires patience, and an unshaken belief in the karmic influences of causes and effects. If you take a look back to all the past events that happened in life, you will agree that: Everything happens for a reason.

If anyone around you who is in need of your help; they might be feeling low, or even ranting or behaving angrily, please share this story with them. A kind and sincere guidance of the psyche is far more effective than any precaution.
Hence everything happens for a reason. We are grateful for everything that comes in our life.

How does one believe in the karmic influences of causes and effects? When we are getting hurt, we likely curse, “You will go to hell as you should see the karma of the things you did to me.” Such negative thoughts or curses will actually create unwholesome karma for ourselves, because our afflicted mind is a karmic cause too. If you truly believe in karma, you should never be angry and fall for hatred. Hateful emotions are harmful to ourselves and others. We understand that you are the victim and it is all due to the harm that others have done to you.

However, if you transpose the hurt into a lesson to learn, you will eliminate many hindrances. If you practise patience, your spirituality will be augmented and your past karma will be eliminated. Some small thoughts of hatred are difficult to observe, they are hidden because you chose not to show your anger. Can you observe your subtle thoughts? These hidden energies will cause physical illness and that is a form of karmic influences. The truth is that all thoughts create ripples of effects, you may not notice all the arising thoughts but they certainly bring consequences. There are always causes and effects.We should always reflect on our status of “to what extent do I truly believe in the karmic influences of causes and effects?”

—— “Everything happens for a reason”