Thoughts of a "Master"

The other day, on a trip through the US, my 7 year old son threw a rock into a river we were walking by.  After he did, he immediately turned to me and said, "Dad, if you throw a rock in the river, it changes the river forever."

Yep, just some Buddha like wisdom from an innocent kid.  It got me thinking about how we treat others.

We come in contact, one way or another, with many humans on a daily basis.  Online, at work, at the store, etc.  Every interaction with someone else is this: us throwing a rock into the river of their life.

It may be a positive rock, a negative rock, or even a seemingly neutral rock.  But a rock is thrown in their river and they are changed from it.  Just as a real rock in a real river, we may never know how we affected their life and to what extent.

A single kind word, a good deed, or a friendly wave can have a positive effect on their life.  Just as a grumble, sideways glace, or ignoring someone can have the opposite.

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仁(Jin)

I really enjoy studying ancient cultures.  Specifically martial arts cultures.  No one comes to mind more easily to everyone than the Samurai of Japan.

Though the Samurai did not start out with a "Code" or "Tenets", it did gain them during a time of general peace in Japan.  Once the civil wars of Japan stopped in the early 1600's.  After that, with no wars to fight, the Samurai turned more inward and focused on building themselves into a culture with "higher" thinking.

The Bushido Code or Bushido Virtues was created.  All this to preface Jin!

Jin(仁) is by far my favorite!  Jin translates to benevolence or compassion.

As human beings, we interact with other humans all the time.  It is within the interaction and motives that Jin falls.  If I train myself to have compassion for others, then I can truly reach for understanding.  My motives can then change from practicing compassion toward others for a specific reason.

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