top of page

Don't let your thoughts inhibit your action.


The Story of Satori (悟)

While logging in the mountains one day, a lumberjack came upon a Satori, a mind reading monster. The lumberjack thought it was such a rare creature to be seen, and thought of capturing it. Before he could finish that thought, the Satori said out loud to him, “You are thinking of catching me, aren’t you?” The Satori further astonished the lumberjack by saying, “You are amazed by my ability to read your mind, aren’t you?” The frightened lumberjack thought of striking the Satori with his axe. Again, the Satori spoke and said, “You are thinking of killing me, aren’t you?” The lumberjack realised whatever he thinks, the Satori would know immediately, so he gave up on the idea of capturing the Satori and went back to his work instead. The Satori then said out loud, “You have given up on catching me, haven’t you?” The lumberjack didn’t know what to make of the Satori anymore. He went back to his work without spending another thought on it. Very soon, he was concentrating on nothing but chopping wood. Suddenly, the head of the axe slipped off the handle, flew across the clearing and hit the Satori, killing it instantly! No matter how good the Satori was at reading the minds of others, we should always be mindful that there is no predicting what isn’t there to be read.

bottom of page