Koan
True prosperity
A rich man asked Sengai for a blessing on his family. Sengai wrote: "Grandfather dies, father dies, son dies." The man was furious. "If your son died before you, or you before your father, that would be grief," said Sengai. "Life in this order is true prosperity."
Traditional story of Sengai
How to sit with it
Some things we dread are simply the natural order. What would it mean to accept that?
Read it once more, slowly. Then sit for two minutes and let it stay in the background. There is nothing to solve. New to this? Read what a koan is.
