The Story of the Zen Master and Its Importance Not Only In Crypto, But Life

There is a story that I have heard a few times in movies and other media so I decided to look it up a while ago and I feel that it has benefitted me by doing so and I want to share it with you. There are many different ways the story is told, but ultimately the message is the same and the wording is pretty similar. If you have seen the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War”, you might recognize this story as it is told by Phillip Seymour Hoffman who plays a CIA logistics man. Let me begin with the story.

In a poor village in Indonesia there lived an old Zen Master who was known for his wisdom villages around. One day one of the children in the village turns 16 and his father gives him a beautiful stallion to celebrate this great occasion

Everyone in the town says “How Lucky!” the boy is, but the Zen Master only says “ Well See”.

The next day while riding his horse, the boy falls off and the horse tramples his leg breaking it and leaving the boy unable to move or work in the fields for his family.

Everyone in the town says “How terrible!” but the Zen Master still says “Well See”

The day after news breaks out that the local warlord has gone to war and men from the military come into town looking to conscript fighters. All the young men are taken away but the boy with the broken leg.

Everyone in the town says “How lucky!” the boy is and still the Zen Master says only two words “Well See”

This story can be interoperated in many different ways and in fact I suggest that you interpret it in any way that speaks to you most. For me I see it as a lesson that we should not be too quick to judge events that happen in our life for good or bad. Perhaps something that might seem terrible to you now, might end up being something that has benefitted you tremendously.

I find this story in crypto extremely relevant as many people here are quick to trade off or sell their stakes on any news that might seems bad, or at the first sign of something wrong, but they might end up just shooting them in the foot. We saw this happen with a massive selloff after Mike Hearn exited the project at around 300 or so dollars and the people who sold are beating themselves up for it now.

Remember everything has a cause and effect and perhaps rather than trying to look at something at face value, you might analyze the situation and weigh potential benefits with negatives before you make any large decision. Or simply relax and let the chips fall where they may like the zen master.