By: Br. Christopher Xing-Wen Johnson, OEB
[This lesson was given to me by Shen-Xi Sensei and he ask that I re-describe it from a Buddhist point of view. Here is the lesson and my response.]
Lesson:
Once upon a time, the devil appeared to three monks, and said: if I gave you power to change something from the past, what would you change?
The first monk had great apostolic fervor, and he answered, “I would prevent you to make Adam and Eve fall into sin, so that one could not part ways from God.”
The second monk was a man full of mercy, and said to him, “I would hinder you from God and condemn yourself forever.”
The third monk was the simplest, and instead of answering his request, he fell on his knees, made the sign of the cross, and prayed, saying, “Lord, deliver me from the devil of what could happen, and was not.”
The devil, giving a loud scream and trembling in pain, flew away. The other two monks astonished, said to him: “Brother, why did you react like this?. And he answered them saying, “First of all, because we must never dialogue with the enemy. Secondly, because there is no power in this world that can change the past. Thirdly, because Satan‘s interest was not that we test our virtue, getting stuck in the past and neglecting the present, but because it is the only time in which God gives us his grace, and we can cooperate with it to fulfill His will. Of all the demons, the one that traps men the most, and prevents us from being happy is the one that can be, and wasn’t. The past is left to God‘s mercy and the future to his providence. Only the present is in our hands.”
My Response:
Sensei, I might reframe this lesson in this way:
Once upon a time, Mara appeared to 3 monks and said: If I gave you power to change something from the past, what would you change?
The first of them had great fervor and he answered, “I would prevent you from causing delusion that turned sentient beings from The Way.”
The second of them was a man full of mercy and said to him, “I would teach you the Dharma so that you would no longer desire the fall of sentient beings.”
The third of them was the simplest answered thus:
“I would change nothing. All things are just as they are, and the karma of what has come before is already in motion. Who is it, after all, that would desire change? From where should I derive such authority, especially when I am empty of self nature?”
Mara, giving a loud scream and trembling in pain, flew away.
The other two, astonished, said to him, “Brother, why did you react like that?” “.
He answered them thus:
“Because, the past is past, and we cannot change it. We cannot live in it, we cannot stay in it long enough to be dissatisfied with what has already happened, that way lies suffering. The Dharma does not live there. Who am I to say what has happened in the past is “bad”? Or “good”? Things are as they are, and here, now, in this very moment is the entirety of existence. What if, could I change the past, I made things worse? Believing I had the answers, I changed something and the ripples of my decision echoed far outside of what I could envision? No my brothers, I will not be tempted to dissatisfaction with the past, nor anxiety for the future. Instead, I will do my very best to live each moment well, in mindfulness, compassion, wisdom, and wonder. With each step we make The Path, and with each step we leave the Raft of our past farther behind.”
🙏🏼
Order of Engaged Buddhists 