The moon cannot be stolen!

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A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain.

One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away.

The Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."- .

This little Zen Story highlights the fact the moon cannot be stolen because it is not something that can be owned. Everyone can partake of the beauty of the moon without diminishing anyone else's enjoyment of the moon. Thus the experience of the moon is not a finite resource that can only be had by so many people. This is also to illustrate that there are a number of wonderful things that we possess without realizing it. All that is required of us is to simply sit back and recognize them. However, all too often we are too busy working to get things we don’t have that we have no time to appreciate the things we already have. Do you think of any other things you cannot buy in stores? What about love, friends, happiness, time, your dreams? .

🎼Listening 🎧“Haru” by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Fennesz
📷 via @sounthwes by Wes Walker