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Here is a
beautiful story of how a samurai warrior found out the
difference between heaven and hell.
There was once a powerful samurai warrior in Japan, he was
a leader of men and very faithful to his country. He would
think nothing of giving his own life if it meant helping
his emperor or country.
This warrior was used to battle and he had killed many men
and so he was beginning to wonder if there was a heaven and
a hell and if so how could he get to heaven and stay clear
of hell.
He was concerned that he may not be allowed into heaven due
to the fact that he had killed so many men this lifetime.
He had heard of the famous Zen master Hakuin and was told
he could show him how to get to heaven. He decided to go
and meet him and traveled long and far to find him.
After many days of gruesome travel over mountains and rough
terrain he finally found the master. The warrior was
doubtful when he met master Hakuin, he looked just like a
simple peasant and the warrior really wondered if this
simple man could authentically answer his question.
After all this travel it would be pointless to go back
without asking the question and so the strong warrior asked
Hakuin if indeed there was a heaven and a hell, and if so
how could he get to heaven and avoid hell?
Master Hakuin being a very wise man, answered the question
in a way the warrior would never forget.
Master Hakuin replied, "who are you?" to which the warrior
replied, I am the chief samurai warrior of Japan and I work
directly with the emperor, I am the leader of all samurai
in Japan.
Hakuin laughed and said, you a warrior, you are nothing but
talk, you could not save your self never mind our emperor,
don't waste my time, go!
At this the warrior was deeply offended and was immediately
angry, he drew his sword ready to kill this peasant man in
front of him, but just before he made the strike, Hakuin
shouted, "Stop!" and continued, "this is hell." The warrior
stopped and put his sword back in its sheath and Hakuin
smiled as he said "and this is heaven."
The samurai got the message, the master had shown him how
his anger was his own hell and his alert consciousness was
his own heaven.
He realized that heaven and hell exist within us, it is
always a choice as to how we respond to life.
It is said that the great samurai warrior threw down his
sword and armour and followed the path of the spiritual
warrior.
Always remember that if you react you are unconscious, work
on watching your reactions so that eventually you begin to
respond to life with conscious awareness.
A reaction is following a pattern of behaviour from the
unconscious that you have used to stop seeing yourself more
clearly, or that you have used to avoid feeling your
feelings, especially if those feelings are painful.
With time you will learn to respond to life rather than
react, then you become conscious of who you are in each
given moment and you start to create life the way you want,
you become the conscious director of your own life.
It is not the outside that creates your inner feelings, it
is always the meaning you give to what is happening that
creates your inner world and this meaning you always have
power over, you can decide what meaning you give to
everything in your life.
Decide to allow heaven into your daily reality, its a
choice away and the more often you do it, the easier it
becomes to create regularly.