Is that so?
My favorite passage in Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Land’ is a chapter called “Is that so?”
I found this writing very powerful. Let a Zen master give us powerful insight to tame the ego.
This is how the story goes …
Zen master Hakuin lived in a town in Japan. He was a highly respected Zen master and many people came to see him for spiritual teachings. Then it happened that the teenage daughter of her next door neighbor got pregnant. When his angry parents asked him about the identity of the father, he finally told them that he was Hakuin, the Zen Master.
The angry parents ran towards Hakuin and told him with loud shouts and accusing that their daughter had confessed that he was the father. All he answered was, “Is that so?”
News of the scandal spread throughout the city. The Master lost his reputation. This did not worry him. Nobody came to see him anymore. He remained impassive. When the child was born, the parents brought him to Hakuin. “You are the father, so you look after him.” The Master lovingly cared for the child. A year later, the mother remorsefully confessed to her parents that the child’s real father was the young man who worked in the butcher shop.
In great anguish they went to see Hakuin to apologize and ask for forgiveness. “We are very sorry. We have come to retrieve the baby. Our daughter confessed that you are not the father.” “Is that so?” is all he would say when he delivered the baby to them.
The Master responded to bad news and good news in exactly the same way: “Is that so?” It allows the shape of the moment, good or bad, to be what it is and thus does not become a participant in the human drama. Events are not personalized. He is not anyone’s victim. Only if you resist what happens, you are at the mercy of what happens, and the world will determine your happiness and unhappiness.
Briefly imagine how the ego would have reacted during the various stages of development of these events. How did you react to this story? What emotions did you experience? Now imagine reacting to how Zen Master Hakiun reacted to this situation.
Is there a situation in your life right now that is consumed by the ego? Could you say “Is that so?”
Practice this new reality. Live in the moment and practice the art of non-resistance. When you become friendly with the moment, life becomes friendly with you: people become helpful, circumstances cooperative.
Ultimately, as Eckhart Tolle says, the decision to make the present moment your friend is the end of the ego. The ego can never be aligned with the present moment. Time is what the ego lives.
There are many valuable lessons in Ekhart Tolle’s A New Earth.