Many of you might have heard of this story already.

A wise old man in ancient China lost his horse which ran off into wilderness. Friends and neighbors came to comfort him. The old man just said, “How does one know it is not a lucky omen?” Indeed, a few days later the horse returned, and brought a herd of wild horses with it. People gathered to congratulate the old man. He just said, “How does one know it is not a bad omen?” One day his son fell off from the wild horse’s back while trying to tame it. He broke his thigh and became crippled. Once again, the old man said to those who came to show sympathy, “How does one know it is not a good omen?” Soon a war broke out and all the young men were drafted into the army and sent to the battlefield. Many of the young men never made it back but the wise old man’s son was spared because of his physical handicap.

The story is from an ancient book titled Huai Nan Zi attributed to a prince named Liu An of the Han Dynasty at around 139 B.C.  It has a very strong Taoist flavor, reflecting the prevalent philosophical mainstream at the time. The wise old man in the story was not named. He was referred on only as Sai Om (pronounced in today’s Chinese Mandarin). “Sai” is a military fortress or a stronghold. “Om” means elder. The wise old man lived around one of the fortresses in northern China and hence was referred to as Sai Om in the book. We may therefore call him the Chinese Sai Baba!

The moral of the story should be clear: misfortune hides in fortune and vice versa. One is therefore advised to expand one’s horizon and to step back from drowning in the current events.

It is perhaps also worth reading the story from the perspective of the sat-kārya-vāda of the sāṅkhya philosophy: the effects are already in their causes – so much so that, as Swami Veda put it, “a future purpose becomes the cause of the present”. In the grand scheme of things, in order for a certain future purpose to be fulfilled it is inevitable that something has to take place in the present.

But to speculate what that future purpose is is beyond the capability of most and will only take the mind away from the present. So in the mean time, here are two passages from Swami Veda’s book Sayings:

One may live in personal dark ages even in the Golden Age. One may live in a personal golden age even in the Dark Age.

When will the Golden Age return?
For you, whenever you want.

Editor’s Note:

Shi Hong is Senior Vice President of AHYMSIN. In addition, he is a mantra initiator and a member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti, or Spiritual Committee.