The Value of a Rock

One day, a young novice monk constantly contemplated about what the value of life is. He often asked his master questions about life, "My dear master, may I know what the maximum value of my life is?" His master replied, "You just carry the rock from our back-yard and try to sell it at the market. If someone asks you about the price of the rock, don't answer them, but show them by stretching out two fingers. If they want to bargain with you, you also don't answer them, just carry the rock back home and I'll tell you the maximum value of your life."

So the novice carried a big rock to the market and sat beside it. A housewife walked up to the novice and asked, "How much is this rock?" Without answering, the lnovice stretched out two fingers. The housewife asked, "Two dollars ?" The little monk shook his head, so the housewife went on asking, "Then how about 20 dollars, give it to me, so I can use it to preserve my Chinese cabbage." The novice was surprised to hear it, he thought to himself: "Oh, my God, it is just such a normal rock of which there are millions in the mountain at the back of our temple and she wants to spend $20 to buy it."

So he brought that rock back to his master and joyfully said, "Master, do you know that there was a housewife who wanted to spend $20 to buy this rock. Now you can tell me, my honoured master, how much is the maximum value of my life?"

His master answered, "Calm down, calm down; tomorrow, remember to bring the rock to the museum and try to sell it there. If there is someone asking you about the price, still stretch two fingers out but don't answer. If the person wants to bargain with you, bring your rock back again, and we can talk about it later."

So the second day, the novice took the rock to the museum, and people there were amazed to see a novice selling a rock in the museum. Some of the visitors whispered to each other: "Why would an ordinary rock be sold in the museum? A man uttered, "This rock must be very special that it can be sold in the museum; it must be that we don't know its value." Just at that time, a man jumped from the crowd and shouted to the novice, "Little monk, how much for your rock?" The novice didn't reply but stretched out two of his fingers. The man asked surprisingly, "$200?" The little monk shook his head. The man then said, "$2,000? Okay, I accept $2,000, as I can carve it into a statue." Upon hearing this, the little monk couldn't believe his ears.

He still followed his master's instruction and ran back to his temple with the rock. Happily, he told his master, "My honoured master, today someone wanted to spend $2000 for this rock, please tell me the maximum value of my life now." The master laughed and said, "Tomorrow, remember to bring the rock to the antique store and sell it there ! If there is someone who wants to bargain, then please bring it back again. After that, I'll tell you the maximum value of your life."

So in the morning of the third day, the novice monk brought his rock to the antique store, and immediately he was surrounded by a group of people. Some of them were asking each other, "What kind of rock is this one? Do you know its geological origin, and from which dynasty it is, and what was the use of it before?"

Then one asked: "Little monk, how much for your rock?" The novice monk stretched out two of his fingers without replying. "$20,000?" The man asked. "What?" the little monk uttered, he could hardly believe his ears.

The man thought that the price he offered was too low and that the novice monk was offended by it, so he added, "No, no, I mean I'd like to pay you $20,0000."

"What, $20,0000?" Grabbing his rock, the little monk rushed back to the mountain to his master, and panting he said, "Master, master, do you know that we are rich now, as one person offered $20,0000 for our rock. Now you can tell me, as you promised, what is the maximum value of my life?"

Patting the head of the little monk, the master said gently, "My son, do you know that your value is just like the value of the rock. If you were placed on the market, you would only be worth $20; however, if you were placed in a museum, then you would be worth $2,000, and if you were placed in an antique store, then your price would go up again to around $20,0000. So a person's value is very different in different settings."

Furthermore, his master further said, "See, what is the standard to evaluate the value of our life? Everyone should set that standard for themselves. We should never ask others what the value of our life is. No one can determine that for us. Take that rock for example, the lowest offer is two dollars, and the highest offer is 20,000 dollars. So we are the ones who decide the value of our own life. We should bring value to our life and not let others decide that for us, just like how everyone offered a different price for that rock."