Short story: The perils of gambling

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The old Zen master, Rustov Jerploski, liked to indulge himself in gambling. He would flutter around with the horses, as well as he would buy his weekly lotto tickets too. One day, a visiting monk, another Zen master, told him that he should not associate himself with gambling of any kind. "Gambling contributes nothing of any real value to society," he said to him. "In fact, gambling prevents society from going forwards as quickly as it might, if there was no gambling of any kind, to distract people in useless pursuits." "Gambling creates a want in you, a want to win, and not to lose. Gambling can pretty quickly become another addiction for you." Rustov stopped him there before he could say anything else. He told him that: "Anything that anyone does they do it best by creating a vessel of themselves for God to fill with truth, energy, and rightness." "My vessel of gambling can also be filled with God's blessings too," he went on. "If we maintain trust and faith in God, if we need money, God will sometimes provide it through gambling doors to us too." The other Zen master laughed loudly, but succinctly, without any sarcasm in his laughter. "Gambling is entertainment value, for some, and their ruin for others. It has no use, and I must ask you not to place this black mark on your monastery, and where from the gossip has spread far and wide about your gambling habits." "Gambling is a desire to get something for nothing. This fosters selfishness in someone, addicted to their gambling." "Zen Buddhism tells us that all gambling is a waste of time, energy, money, and effort. Gambling attaches you to greed, and sometimes it encourages deceitfulness too. It is time that you could be spending on studying Zen." Rustov, was unaware that he was the subject matter of such gossip in his village. He never liked that either, and so from that day, onwards, he never gambled again. Sometimes, we do need to listen to advice from others, and take their advice on board, in our lives too. Gambling sticks you to itself at your own cost, and it is better not to take that gambling path, but to stick with more spiritual goals of being fair, and honest, in all avenues of your life. Stick to God, not to yourself. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com