The Mice Who Taught the Monk to Smile
"Around eight hundred years ago in Tibet, lived a cranky, ancient monk. He was a peaceful man, but not a happy man. It was as if a cloud of gloom continuously rained upon him; after many years his face became deeply chiseled with a sour scowl. Mostly he kept to himself, living as a hermit alone in a cold and desolate cave. From his mountain perch he contemplated the world below. But sadly, the more he thought about the world beyond his cave — the senseless wars, the poor or sick — the more it hardened his heart. The more he thought over the suffering that all creatures endured, the more fixed his frown.
"Occasionally, when the old monk begged for meals in a nearby village, he would meet up with fellow brothers. The other monks reminded him that the Buddha was cheerful and content. 'Don't you remember?' they pleaded. 'Buddha said that life is as quick and changeable as a dream! If you're always this serious, it'll be gone before you've ever enjoyed a minute!'
"But the miserable monk responded, 'Well, then it's all the more awful that we should suffer from a dream!' So saying, the monk returned to his gloomy meditations.
"Sometime later, the monk appeared in the village especially glum. The other monks inquired, 'What happened? Did someone die?'
" 'Well, is there anything that doesn't!' stammered the monk. He turned and trod slowly back to his humble cave.
"But one day, while seated at the wooden table in his cave, something happened that changed the monk forever. As part of his religion, he created mandalas: beautiful, symbolic designs made from colored rice and semiprecious gems such as turquoise, garnet and tigereye. Just as the old monk was arranging the bright colors into a lovely pattern, a mouse appeared on the tabletop. It scampered directly over to the mound of rice and stones and tried to remove the largest piece of turquoise! But the gem was just too big for the mouse. It wouldn't budge.
" 'Furry little sir,' the monk addressed the mouse, 'tell me your purpose! That blue stone is not a morsel of food! Why do you trouble yourself so?' But the mouse continued in its determined challenge. 'Oh, you are just like a person!' he whispered, watching the mouse with fascination. 'We also like to gather more things than we can possibly use; then we fight wars over them. So beware the trouble you bring upon yourself!' he cautioned the mouse.
"Soon the mouse scuttled back across the table and down the table leg. 'It appears as if that mouse has listened to reason,' the monk muttered to himself. But soon after, the mouse returned with another small accomplice. Working together, they managed to separate the large gem from the rice, push it over the edge of the table, and disappear with it.
"Just then, watching the remarkable feat of the two little mice, the old monk's scowl broke. It began as a slight, yet irresistible, upwards pull at the corners of his mouth; it spread to a noticeable twinkle in his eyes; and at last his frown released into a full-blown grin — the first in many, many years. It seemed that even mice follow their heart's desire whether it makes sense or not! He whispered a small prayer, 'May all creatures, large and small, near and far, have whatever they truly want!' The monk seemed to grasp something delightful about life that he had never understood before. And he silently thanked the two mice for what they had revealed."
