A samurai who was known for his nobility and honesty went to visit a Zen monk to ask him for his advice. He saw that the monk was meditating. He watched him and waited until he was finished. He then walked up to the monk and said, “Why do I feel inferior? I have faced death so many times, and have defended those who are weak. Nevertheless, upon seeing you meditating, I felt that my life had absolutely no importance whatsoever.”
The monk said, “I have to attend to all those who have come to see me today. Wait for me here, and when I am done, I shall answer you.”
The samurai spent the whole day sitting in the temple gardens, watching the people go in and out in search of advice. He saw how the monk received them all with the same patience and illuminating smile on his face.
At nightfall, when everyone had gone, he asked: “Now can you teach me?”
The monk walked over to him in the garden and told him to look up at the sky. As they both looked up, they saw a full moon shining in the darkness. The atmosphere was one of profound tranquility.
“Do you see the moon; how beautiful it is? It will cross the entire sky tonight, and tomorrow the sun will shine once again. The sunlight is much brighter and can show the details of the landscape around us: the trees, the mountains, the clouds. I have contemplated this for two years and I have never heard the moon say: why do I not shine like the sun? Is it because I am inferior?”
“Of course not.”- Answered the samurai. “The moon and the sun are different things; each has its own beauty. You cannot compare the two.”
“So, you know the answer,” the monk said. We are two different people, each trying to make the world a better place in our own way.