The Stone Cutter Story

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THE STONECUTTER

 

There was once a stonecutter who was dissatisfied with

himself and with his position in life. One day, he passed

a wealthy merchant's house and through the open gateway

saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How

powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter.

He became very envious, and wished that he could be like

the merchant. That he would no longer have to live the

life of a mere stonecutter. To his great surprise,

he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries

and power than he had ever dreamed of. He was envied

and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon

a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair,

accompanied by attendants, and escorted by soldiers

beating gongs.

 

Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the

procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought.

"I wish that I could be a high official!" Then he became

the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered

sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around, who

had to bow down before him as he passed. It was a hot summer

day, and the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky

sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in

the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun

is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!" Then

he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching

the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. A huge

black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light

could no longer shine on everything below.

 

"How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that

I could be a cloud!" Then he became the cloud, flooding the

fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found

that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized

that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought.

"I wish that I could be the wind!" Then he became the wind,

blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, hated

and feared by all below him. After a while, he ran up against

something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew

against it - a huge, towering stone.

 

"How powerful that stone is!" he thought. "I wish that I could

be a stone!" Then he became the stone, more powerful than

anything else on earth. As he stood there, he heard the sound

of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock and felt himself

being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the stone?"

he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of

a stonecutter.

 

The Moral(s) to this story:

 

(1) Why waste our time in envy, ambition and the search for power

(ultimately all forms of mundane temporal sense gratification)

(2) punar musika baba - again become a dissatisfied mouse

(3) the only constant in the material world is change

(4) learn to appreciate the value and inter-active dependancy we all have

under God

(5) permanent situations are not available in a temporary realm

 

...I'm sure that you can think of heaps of others too !!!

 

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