There were two monks in Japan. It was the rainy season, the rains had just begun, and one evening when they came back home, they saw that half of their hut was destroyed; the winds had blown away the roof. One of the monks was very angry with God.
He complained, ”The heavy, rainy season has set in, clouds have gathered and half of our hut is destroyed. What will happen to us now? How shall we live?” And it is in such moments that doubt arises if God really exists or not. ”The big palaces of sinful people are intact, and God is not thinking of blowing away their palaces, but he blows away the huts of us poor people.”
But the other monk was praying with folded hands and eyes closed, telling God, ”You are so kind. Who can trust cyclones? Our whole hut could have been blown away – it is you who have saved the half of it. Such care of us hermits! We are highly obliged and feel such a sense of gratitude towards you.”
The next night that monk wrote a song: ”Until now we had not known that joy which people with half a roof have. Last night we were sleeping under half of the roof, and the moon was so beautiful seen from the other, roofless half of the hut. Whenever our eyes opened during the night we saw the stars too and fell peacefully back to sleep. This morning when I got up I was full of a joy, unknown before. Had God given me the hint, even in a dream, I would have removed half of the roof myself much earlier. There was no need for the cyclone to be bothered about it. But I was not aware of it.”
