Short story: The Zen master who complained
@innertalks (21907)
Australia
April 19, 2021 11:04pm CST
The Zen master, Horez Zerthom, always seemed to be complaining, about all manner of things.
A student asked him,
"Why complain, please explain."
The master simply said,
"If l do not complain, who will complain. Somebody always must complain, for something to be done."
Then he added some more words of explanation:
"It is the way that you complain that is more important."
"Complain without complaining. That is the secret of complaining, by not complaining."
"To complain properly is to give love out to the world, not hurt."
"Complaining can connect you to the other person in an active way, a loving way, when you complain with the spirit of enterprise attached. It levers free solutions, when complaints are directed to the source, in the right way."
"Complaining makes things better, when your complaint is really heard. Make sure that it is so heard."
"Complaining solves problems when the intellect that is behind the complaining is providing solutions for each complaint as well."
"The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced."
somebody once said, but it will stay there squeaking, if we do not acknowledge its complaint.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
The complaining Zen master always complained in a nice way.
4 people like this
3 responses
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
20 Apr 21
Thanks, I am glad that you agreed with me, as I suspect that a few people will not agree.
Some people think that we should do all things without complaining.
2 people like this
@Yara165 (23)
•
20 Apr 21
@innertalks if the man didn’t complain from not being able to see in the dark, how could he invent the light “ or fire at the time “
The point is to complain and then find a solution..
If we think about it we all can agree with you..
2 people like this
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
20 Apr 21
@Yara165 Yes, you said it right, to complain and then to help to find the solution.
Complaining just for complaining's sake, can become irritating sometimes, though, as some people will complain about the weather, what's on TV, about their food, about anything, but they are only just serial complainers, loving to complain, but not wanting ever to do anything to find a solution for their complaining attitudes though.
2 people like this
@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
21 Apr 21
if I have no voice, than i cannot complain.
but if I cannot complain I cannot change what is around me.
love this one!!!!
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
21 Apr 21
Yes, most things are not completely black and white, but paradoxically work together for oneness, in their way too. We should work alongside this process, not against it.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
22 Apr 21
@DocAndersen That's a pretty grey area for us to talk about then.
I wake up feeling grey, and then gray up some more by the end of the day too.
We all live such a gray day then, until we add some more colours of love to our lives.
@DocAndersen (54402)
• United States
22 Apr 21
@innertalks we are the gray line between the yin and the yang. The moment of separation. we are the gray!
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26669)
• Singapore
21 Apr 21
It reminds me of what I learned early in my career.
I was running a big organization sort of by default in the sense though nor designated the CEO, I was taking all the responsibilities that came with that job.
When I had to decide on important issues, I wanted to keep my Board informed. I used to explain the different options and what was the best in the circumstances.
The idea was to make it easy for them and at the same taking responsibility as I was the one facing the daily music! I was being constructive like the Zen master who complained.
Also, like the squeaking wheel, I wanted to keep the Board informed of the various challenges though a few could have thought why to bother them at all and could be thinking a replacement would ease heir task
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
21 Apr 21
You have done a lot in your working life, and dealt with a whole gamut of scenarios.
Perhaps, I should write one about the Zen accountant next, Siva.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21907)
• Australia
21 Apr 21
@Shiva49 Ear to the ground? I used that expression once when I applied for a job in a pay office, which was just on the other side of the wall from the office where I worked in.
I said that I kept my ear to the wall, and I could hear what was going on in there, so I knew it all without even having worked in there before.
The boss in there knew that I was saying that he had a loud voice, that should have been kept quieter, while talking about sensitive pay issues, but as he was the interviewer for that job too, I did not get it of course, but I did have a bit of fun with the interview.
Perhaps, you have a book up your sleeve, just waiting to be written.
"The accountant who never blinked, or winked things by."
or something like that... lol...
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26669)
• Singapore
21 Apr 21
@innertalks I have written a few pages about my gamut of experiences that could serve as an eye-opener to a few.
They deal mostly with the reality behind the scenes of a turbulent era, with human drama too, as I kept my ears close to the ground all the time, reading between lines, to understand beyond the spoken words.
I live those moments when I recollect them, the personalities involved.
1 person likes this
