Healing

     “... an interesting story about how a famous psychologist in Japan cured a young girl after she suffered a nervous breakdown. The girl was from a wealthy family, and the psychologist met her regularly. But he didn’t do or say anything. He just sat with her. One day, as he was sitting with her, the girl peed on the floor right in front of him. He was a very neat gentleman, and he was dressed in a very fine suit. But the moment she did this, he immediately took the beautiful handkerchief from his breast pocket and, without comment, cleaned up after her.

     In time she completely recovered. She later recalled this incident, because she was very impressed by the psychologist’s actions that day. Without any hesitation, he just mopped the floor with his fresh, neat handkerchief. There is no way to explain why she recovered. He didn’t do anything. He only cleaned up after her during this one incident. But she could feel something very soft, gentle, and magnanimous coming from each pore of his body. She really respected him.

     Have you ever met such a person? The moment you meet such people you feel relief just by their presence or their smile. Such people actually do exist in the world. How can we cultivate and nurture this kind of character in ourselves? It is not done through any intellectual process."

     Katagiri D. “You have to say something. Manifesting Zen insight.” Shambhala, Boston, 1998. 

Photo: Colin Bates   http://www.coastalimageworks.com/