Once Upon a Business – Episode 87
The Master and the Student
Lisa Bloom: Once a student of Zen came to visit her master. He was old and frail. She knew he did not have long to live. She sat before him in silence for a long time. A pan of hot coals close by, warming them both.
Hi, I’m Lisa Bloom, the story coach, and you’re listening to Once Upon A Business. In each episode, we explore a story, a fairy tale, folk tale, or traditional story, so that we can discover the amazing lessons relevant for business and for entrepreneurs.
The master reached beneath his robes and took out a beautifully bound book. I give this to you, he said. In it is all the wisdom I have learned in my long years of meditation and study. Treasure it with your life. The student reverently received the book and bowed before her teacher. Then, without opening it, she quickly threw it onto the pan of hot coals, where the flames consumed it. She became the new master.
This is a tale from the Storyteller’s Way by Ashley Ramsden. When I first found this story, I was annoyed by it and felt really uncomfortable. You see, I would have thought that when you’re asked to step into the shoes of a master, you would be humble enough to learn as much as you can from the master, that you would read and learn and take advantage of any wisdom that had been gleaned by the previous master before you would be worthy of the role. So the idea that the student would be handed a book with so much wisdom and then throw it into the fire seems totally abhorrent to me and even arrogant. Like, why would she not choose to learn from the master, choose to receive the greatest gift he could give, the gift of his wisdom?
In every job I’ve ever had and with every project I’ve taken on in my business, I’ve actively looked for guidance and mentorship. I’ve hired coaches and worked with mentors so that I could learn from their journey to avoid the mistakes they made and to learn as much as I could as I navigated my path. And I’ve gained so much from this. I’m a much better storyteller because of the master storytellers I’ve trained with. I’m a much better coach because of the coaches and mentors I’ve worked with. I can’t imagine throwing away a book of such wisdom. So I read the story again and again. In fact, I kept reading it to try to see the deeper message.
I realized that the student only became the master by burning the book. I wondered, was it a moment of vanity or ego when the master passed the book to the student and that she needed to transcend that moment in order to become the master. Maybe she needed to burn the book because she had already done her learning and needed to independently step into the role that she would craft for herself as she became the master. Or perhaps she knew that the book contained the lessons that he had needed to learn. She would have to find her own path and learn the lessons that she needed to learn herself.
It reminds me of my role as a parent. We sometimes wish we could save our kids from the lessons that we had to learn to spare them the hard experiences and the heartbreak that we went through by warning them or preparing them. In reality, we can’t do that even if we want to, and I don’t think we should. They have their own path and they need to make their own mistakes.
The fire plays an important role at the start of the story. It’s the fire that keeps them warm. I imagine the coziness of the master and the student, one at the end of their life, the other near the start, yet bound together in this precious warm moment of connection. Later in the story, the fire destroys the book in an instant. In Buddhism, fire symbolizes transformation, purification and the burning away of impurities. It’s often used in celebrations and ceremonies, so this is fitting. The student has to go through this purification and transformation in order to become the master. It makes sense.
In business, we can think of the fire as the challenges we face that help us transform ourselves into business owners and entrepreneurs. I remember facing the fire when I realized that I was paying my business manager more than I was earning myself. I had to throw it all into the fire and start over so that I could get some revenue in and manage my cash flow. The systems shed put in place were helpful, but without acquiring enough clients, I was drowning. The fire of this experience helped me learn a lot about how to run a business and I felt quite burnt by it. In retrospect, I can see how these kinds of lessons are crucial and I anticipate many, many more as I continue my journey.
In business. They always say that we learn most from our mistakes and failure is so important. It’s the biggest lesson. And by the way, the people that say that often forget to mention how awful it feels to fail. What a nightmare it can be. But it’s true. When things go wrong, no matter how hard it is, we usually come out much stronger and much more wise. Perhaps that’s what this story is about. We can’t save others from learning the lessons they need to learn. We can’t gain wisdom from reading a book. We need to throw it all into the fire to start afresh and to go on our own journey.
I’m Lisa Bloom, and you’ve been listening to Once Upon A Business. You can find out more about me at story-coach.com. That’s story-coach.com. Once upon a business is part of the Mirasee FM podcast Network, which also includes such shows as To Lead Is Human and Course Lab. To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Once upon a business, please like and follow us on Mirasee FM’s YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Thank you. We’ll see you next time.