There was a great and noble King that ruled over what used to be 8 separate kingdoms. His armies defeated lesser Kings, and, upon finding themselves part of his kingdom, his new subjects rejoiced in his ability to govern with fairness and efficiency. One day an enlightened monk who wondered through the kingdom wearing only rags and carrying only his rice bowl arrived at the entrance of the castle and asked for an audience with the King. There was a festival that day, and everyone was celebrating in a field a short distance away. The King said to the monk, "leave your bowl here, let us walk to the festival, and after we talk, I will fill your bowl with rice and give you a place to sleep for the night." As they walked, the monk began to recite his tried and true message: "You are successful and happy, and you bring success and happiness to others, but you still do not know your true self, and, therefore, have not achieved true happiness, nor been able to bestow this on your people. So long as you cling to your worldly possessions and concepts, you trap yourself in karmic sorrow, and you trap your people in karmic sorrow. I ask that you put yourself under my tutelage, so that I can help you find your way to the way." Just then, someone cried out, "the castle is on fire!" The King turned and saw his castle engulfed in flames, but then he looked around and saw that everyone was already a safe distance away at the festival, so he said, "everything I care about is already out of harm's way." The monk turned and saw the same scene and shouted, "my rice bowl!", and began to run towards the castle. As he watched the monk run straight towards his burning castle, the King said, "farewell, master".
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This is an adaption from a much shorter Zen teaching whose origin and author are, as yet, unknown to me, but, to be sure, it is probably 1000s of years old written by someone who is more modern than I will ever be.
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