A Chef from Las Vegas

A 30-year old man who worked as a professional chef came in for treatment. He was in a very bad mood.  I asked him, “Are you on vacation?” He replied, “Not really.”  I asked again, “What can I do for you today?”  He began to use foul language to express his frustration.  I said, “Take it easy!”  He paused for awhile and then continued, “The daughter of the chairman of a Japanese company placed a bet in the casino.  The chips she played were equivalent to the total salary I will earn in a lifetime!”

I explained to him that everyone has a different fate, and different fates have different causes.  “Maybe the pressures in her day to day life are much more than yours,” I said.  “Maybe you can enjoy more freedom than she can.  Maybe when she goes to the restroom, she needs to be escorted by several guards.”


The chef began to relax and stopped using foul language.  Perhaps it was because he worked so hard that he slowly fell asleep during the treatment.  After waking up, I asked him, "Do you feel better?"  He responded, "Sometimes my mind gets stuck."  I sais, "Yes, sometimes fog and clouds can cover the sun."  After the treatment I read him a poem fro the sixth Zen Patriarch: In a troubled, dark house, always create your own wisdom sun. 
 

I believed he was relieved of his burden.  At least he had become self-aware that his mind ‘gets stuck.’  Sometimes – or even often – we get ourselves into trouble because we compare our situation with others and get disappointed by expecting too much.