A young girl sulked in a corner. “Nobody values me,” she stated when a Zen monk inquired about her grief. “I’m nearly worthless.”
The Zen monk quickly reflected upon something. “Go to my private garden and bring the stone with the carved image of the Buddha,” he said.
A short while later, the young girl returned with the stone. “Now, take it to the farmer’s market. If anyone asks for its cost, show them two fingers but don’t say anything,” the Zen monk instructed.
Gently stroking the little girl’s head, he added, “Shake your head in denial if they bargain. When you’ve identified its price, return the stone to me without selling it.”
The young girl followed the Zen monk’s instructions, and soon, a middle-aged woman approached her and inquired about the price of the carved stone. The little girl raised two fingers and remained silent.
“Two dollars?” The woman asked, and the young girl shook her head.
“Hmm… Twenty dollars? That’s expensive for a centerpiece, but I’ll still take it,” the woman remarked.
The young girl refused to sell the stone. Happy that someone offered to buy that simple artifact for $20, she returned to the Zen monk.
Without saying much, the Zen monk instructed the girl to repeat the assignment. This time, though, she was to take it to a museum. She complied and received the museum owner’s final offer of $2,000. After discovering the stone’s value, the girl proudly returned to the Zen monk.
However, the Zen monk sent her on the same mission to an antique store. When the young girl showed the stone to the antique dealer, he stared at it for a while and declared, “I will buy it for $100,000.”
The price stunned the girl, but she simply showed two fingers. “No,” the antique dealer bargained, “I’ll pay $150,000.”
She shook her head in denial, and the antique dealer said, “$200,000. Final price.”
The ecstatic girl dashed back to the Zen monk, astonished by the stone carving’s asking price.
Seeing that she had become open to wisdom, the Zen monk said:
This stone carving is a century-old monastic inheritance worth more than $200,000. The woman in the market saw it as a centerpiece, and the museum owner priced it for its looks. Only the antique dealer knew its actual worth.
You were willing to sell a carved stone worth $200,000 for $20! That’s what happens when you don’t know the value of something. You either risk selling it short or losing it for good.
Similarly, if you fail to recognize your value and rely on others to evaluate you, you will lose your self-esteem.
Love yourself, appreciate what you have, and surround yourself with those who value you. You will never feel worthless again.
Love,
Sri Devi Om
