Is that so?

My favorite passage in Eckhart Tolle’s ‘A New Earth’ is a chapter called “Is It So?”

I found this writing very powerful. Leave it to a Zen master to give us powerful insights on how to master the ego.

That’s how the story goes…..

Zen Master Hakuin lived in a village in Japan. He was a highly respected Zen master and many people came to see him for spiritual teaching. Then it happened that the teenage daughter of his next door neighbor got pregnant. When his angry parents questioned her about the identity of his father, she finally told them that he was Hakuin, the Zen Master.

The angry parents ran to Hakuin and told him with much shouting and accusation that their daughter had confessed that he was the father. All he replied was, “Is that so?”

News of the scandal spread throughout the town. The Master lost his reputation. This did not worry him. No one came to see him anymore. He remained impassive. When the child was born, the parents took him to Hakuin. “You are the father, so you take care of him.” The Master lovingly cared for the child. A year later, her mother remorsefully confessed to her parents that the real father of the child was the young man who worked in the butcher shop.

Very distressed they went to see Hakuin to apologize and ask for forgiveness. “We are very sorry. We have come to retrieve the baby. Our daughter confessed that you are not the father.” “Is that so?” is all she would say as she handed the baby over to them.

The Master responded to the bad and good news in exactly the same way: “Is that so?” He allows the shape of the moment, good or bad, to be as it is and thus does not become a participant in the human drama. Events are not personalized. He is no one’s victim. Only if you resist what happens are you at the mercy of what happens, and the world will determine your happiness and unhappiness.

Briefly imagine how the ego would have reacted during the various unfolding stages of these events. How did you react to this story? What emotions did you experience? Now imagine yourself reacting as Zen Master Hakiun reacted to this situation.

Is there a situation in your life right now that is consumed by the ego? Could you say “Is that so?”

Practice this new reality. He lives in the moment and practices the art of non-resistance. When you become friendly with the moment, life becomes friendly with you: people become helpful, circumstances cooperative.

Ultimately, as Eckhart Tolle says, the decision to make the present moment your friend is the end of the ego. The ego can never be aligned with the present moment. Time is what the ego lives on.

There are many valuable lessons in Ekhart Tolle’s A New Earth.