{ Helvetica; **Speaker A**:
Hi, this is Margaret Meloni, and welcome to the Death Dhamma Podcast. In a series I used to read, occasionally one character would say to the other, may you live in interesting times. It was understood that this was a curse where interesting times meant chaos and difficulty. Well, we do live in interesting times. I mean, don't we always? So this season together, we will explore equanimity and chaos, recognizing that many aspects of life are beyond our control. Let's find a sense of balance and peace amid external chaos. Today I bring to you a story of the Chinese farmer. You know, I've thought about bringing this story onto the podcast quite a few times recently, and each time I stop myself and think, they know. They know this story. It's a very popular story. They've heard this story. And then today I thought, well, what if they don't know? And even if they do know, can't it sometimes be helpful to hear a story or a lesson or a thought more than one time? Because each time maybe it lands a little bit differently. So whether this story is new to you or a repeat, I bring you this story of the Chinese farmer. I think it originates from Zen Buddhism. To tell you the truth, I've seen a few different attributions, and I really thought, this source doesn't matter. The message is what matters. See, trying to maintain my equanimity there. And I think that perhaps during the week and other times, it could be something that's useful. I know that it's useful for me, and so thank you for allowing me to either introduce you to or reintroduce you to the story of the Chinese farmer. And it goes like this. Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. And that evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate, and they said, we are so sorry to hear your horses run away. This is most unfortunate. And the farmer simply replied, maybe. The next day, the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it. And in the evening, everybody came back and said, oh, isn't that lucky? What a great turn of events. Now you have eight horses. Once again, the farmer simply said, maybe. The next day, the farmer's son decided to break one of the horses, meaning to get it used to being ridden, not to actually harm it and break it, but to get one of the horses used to being ridden by a human, which is called breaking. And while riding it, he was thrown by the horse and he broke his leg. So the neighbours then said, oh, that's too bad. And the farmer said, maybe. Well, the Next day, they came around from the army with the conscription officers who come and forcefully recruit people, young men at that time, to join the army. But they couldn't take the son. They rejected him because he had a broken leg. So again, all the farmers came around and said, isn't that great? And the farmer said to his neighbors, maybe. And there you have it. So we've got this story of fortune and misfortune, and maybe it is fortune and misfortune, and maybe it isn't right. So we often label our experiences as bad if we don't like it, or good if we like it. But we don't really know what something's going to bring. We don't know what consequences will come. What we know is that something has happened. And accepting and noting that that something has happened is such a good part of our equanimity practice. And so I invite myself and you with me during this week to notice what happens. Instead of saying, oh, this is bad, or oh, this is great, be like that farmer and say, maybe because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune, or you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune. It's a short one this week, that's all. Thanks for being here and thank you for being part of my community. You've been listening to the Death Dhamma Podcast with your host, Margaret Maloney. Thank you so much for being here. Come find me on margaretmaloni.com M A R G A R E T M E L o n I.com and until we meet again, may you be well, may you be happy, may you be at ease, and may you be free from suffering. Bye for now.