At the beginning of the Meiji era (1868 - 1912), there lived a famous wrestler named Oh Nami - Huge Waves. Unusually strong, he mastered the art of wrestling well. In training fights he defeated even his teacher, but in public he was so indecisive that even his own students fought him. O Nami realized that he needed to turn to a Zen master for help.
Nearby, in a small temple, Hakayu, a wandering teacher, then stopped, and O Nami went to see him and tell him about his misfortune.
“Your name is Huge Waves,” said the teacher, “so stay in this temple for the night and imagine that you are these huge waves.” You are no longer a timid fighter. You are these huge masses of water, sweeping away everything in front of you, swallowing everything on your way. Do this and you will become the greatest wrestler in the country.
The teacher left. O Nami sat down to meditate, trying to imagine himself as waves. He thought about many different things. Then gradually he began to feel the waves more and more. The night went on and the waves got bigger and bigger. They devoured the flowers in the vases. They even drowned the Buddha in the altar. By dawn there was no longer any temple left - nothing but the ebb and flow of the vast ocean.
In the morning, the teacher found Oh Nami in meditation, with a soft smile on her face. He touched the wrestler's shoulder.
“Now nothing can upset you,” he said. - You are these waves. You will sweep away everything in front of you.
On this day, Oh Nami competed in wrestling competitions and won.
After that, no one in Japan could defeat him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru