John: Goke tells the story of an old Zen Master, Sengai. As he puts it “Many pupils were study­ing med­i­ta­tion un­der the Zen mas­ter Sengai. One of them used to arise at night, climb over the tem­ple wall, and go to town on a plea­sure jaunt. Sengai, in­spect­ing the dor­mi­to­ry quar­ters, found this pupil miss­ing one night and al­so dis­cov­ered the high stool he had used to scale the wall. Sengai re­moved the stool and stood there in its place. When the wan­der­er re­turned, not know­ing that Sengai was the stool, he put his feet on the mas­ter’s head and jumped down in­to the grounds. Discovering what he had done, he was horrified. Sengai said: “It is chilly in the ear­ly morn­ing. Be careful not to catch a cold.” The pupil nev­er went out at night again. 

It is funny how great people have come into my life when I have needed them the most. But maybe it is not so funny – they are there for a reason.  

My dearest friends are not only someone to laugh and share dreams with – they also hold me accountable. Essentially, they are mirrors and I spot my reflections in them. 

Look, I know right from wrong – my mom and dad taught me at a young age. I always know. What I need to know is why I started doing it in the first place. 

My best friends live by the examples they set and cause me to want to be more like them. No one can set a better example than living through actions rather than words. That is where I want to spot my reflection.  

Thoughts?  

Sandy: Lots of good thoughts here John. 

Isn’t it fun to see how the right people seem to come into your life just when you need them?  I’ve found that when I think about the positive, good things often appear.  Of course, the opposite also happens.  When I get negative, more negativity shows up. 

I agree that even though we are taught right from wrong, it doesn’t mean we will always make the right choice to follow what we were taught. 

Sometimes we choose to not do what we know is right.  It might be because it requires some effort, or in the short term it isn’t as fun as doing something else, or the people we’re with don’t want to do it that way. 

When you are wise enough to surround yourself with people who exemplify the positive things you were taught and believe to be true, you want to fit in with them, so will notice and catch yourself when you don’t live up to how they behave. 

When you do this, you not only seem to have more good things appear and feel positive about yourself, you also become a positive example to others, just as your friends have become to you. 

Please comment so others can benefit from your wisdom and experience. 

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