The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

Please visit our website at adioderma.org.

Good evening. Welcome, welcome.

So tonight I'd like to start with a story.

It's a Taoist story, but I heard it as, it was attributed to a Zen, as part of a Zen story.

And I've also heard the same story in a very secular setting. And here I am

telling this story in a mindfulness setting. And there's something about this that I kind of love

that it just points to kind of human capacities or capabilities. Like it doesn't matter what tradition

it's from. It's just pointing to something that's human and that maybe it touches all

of us in some kind of way. So there once upon a time, I will, you know, just emphasize this is a story, once upon a time,

there was a farmer, maybe some of you have heard this story, I know I've heard it a number of times,

and this farmer he used, he had a horse, which he used to work the fields.

Every day, this was part of how he farmed.

And then one day the horse ran away.

And there he is.

He's left without a horse.

And all the villagers came by and said, oh, this is terrible.

This is such bad luck that your horse ran away. And the farmer responds, bad luck, good luck. Who knows?

And the villagers were kind of scratching their head a little bit confused, like,

okay, whatever.

This guy's a little bit odd, maybe they were thinking.

So the farmer, he finds his way, he makes stew with out-having a horse as best he can.

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