Is there such a thing as luck?

Posted in Buddhism by amituofo on March 25, 2008

Once upon a time a farmer had a horse. This horse ran away, so the farmer’s neighbors came to console him for his bad luck. He answered: “Maybe.”

The day after the horse came back, leading six wild horses with it. The neighbors came to congratulate him on such good luck. The farmer said: “Maybe.”

The day after, his son tried to saddle and ride on one of the wild horses, but he fell down and
broke his leg. Once again the neighbors came to share that misfortune. The farmer said: “Maybe.”

The day after, soldiers came to conscript the youth of the village, but the farmer’s son was not chosen because of his broken leg. When the neighbors came to congratulate, the farmer said again: “Maybe.”

So is there such a thing as luck? good luck or bad luck for that matter? Maybe…

We often associate good luck with happiness and bad luck with sufferings. The truth of it is that both is interdependent of each other just like a turning wheel that will never stop.

After happiness comes suffering. After suffering arises happiness.
For beings happiness and suffering revolve like a wheel.

The farmer was not being pessimistic but only indifferent to the events that happened around him. He did not associate good event with good luck or vice versa but the neighbors did.

If we could be more like the farmer who let go of his perception (’non-attachment’ as in Buddhism) of events, we might find true happiness in times of unhappiness.

Just my thought. What’s your opinion on this?

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