rancha.xyz Be free to choose their own route to self-knowledge, health and balance of body and soul.
We find in oriental phrases and stories an enormous wisdom that could be considered classic, because even today, despite the centuries that have passed, it remains important and pertinent. That’s why today we’ll focus on one of those beautiful stories that give us a great life lesson in dealing with a provocation: the story of the old samurai.
One of the many phrases attributed to Buddha says, “We are in this world to live in harmony. Those who know this do not fight among themselves”. A wise phrase that can be helpful in responding to a provocation properly. So, let’s get to know the story of the old samurai.
the old samurai
A long time ago, in the vicinity of Tokyo, lived an old samurai. He had won many battles and for that he was highly respected. However, his time as a fighter was over.
All his wisdom and experience was used by the young men the old warrior taught. At that time, there was a legend surrounding this old samurai: he was such a formidable warrior that he could beat any rival, however brave.
In the summer, a famous warrior, known to be ungentleman, showed up at his house. His provocative character created a lot of discomfort in his opponents who “lowered their guard” out of anger and attacked blindly. Therefore, he wanted to beat the old samurai, to increase his fame within the very legend he intended to write with his attitude.
However, this warrior of the dark arts failed to provoke the old samurai. As much as he tried, the samurai did not draw his sword. Then, the warrior gave up and felt very humiliated.
The old samurai’s students were very upset by this attitude; they considered it a cowardice of their teacher. Then, they reproached the samurai for not fighting and he replied that a gift that is not accepted belongs to the sender. Likewise, anger, hatred and unaccepted insults belong to the one who uttered them. Unless you accept them and make them yours, of course.
What can we learn from the story of the old samurai
As you can imagine, we can learn valuable lessons from the story of this wise old samurai. Because we all carry a lot of dissatisfaction, anger, frustration, guilt and fear. However, that doesn’t mean we should share our frustration with others.
However, no matter how much load we carry, we will always find other people much more toxic than ourselves. Destructive people who disguise themselves with the intention of helping to harm, generate guilt, diminish our efforts, feed our fears and insecurities.
But if we are able to respond without reacting, we can maintain that serenity that is so needed at all times. That is, if you do not accept the provocation, responding consciously and avoiding your toxic gifts, you will avoid the contagion of your poison.
Respond to provocation consciously
If we learn to consciously respond to provocations rather than react promptly, it will be more difficult to offend ourselves. In this way, we won’t be defenseless, we won’t feel attacked by trifles. For this it is very useful:
- Discover what makes us react and in which situations we lose control. So we can rationalize to avoid these explosions.
- Leave the past behind. What’s done is done; we cannot live in shame or fear of what happened a long time ago. It is necessary to learn from mistakes so that they are not repeated. Learning is precisely what empowers us and gives us security, regardless of whether we are successful or not.
- Controlling emotions will be very helpful. If we get carried away, it’s easy to lose control. If we rationalize, we can identify what can cause us suffering, we will be prepared to avoid any toxicity.
Therefore, it is in our hands to act like the old samurai when faced with a challenge: to accept or reject what the other wants us to take as our own.
