Zen Stories 2 - The Fisherman and The Businessman

I love this story. I heard this first in the secular buddhism podcast, and have later read a few variants of it. I’m sharing one from Paulo Coelho’s blog.

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.

As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.

The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”

The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”

“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.

“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.

The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”

The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”

The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”

The fisherman asks, “And after that?”

The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

I love the story for subtly conveying the message of simplicity, and the fact that we do not need much, and we have in our possession what it takes to be happy.

While penning this, I realised there are three kinds of fisherman.

The fisherman, who is happy being a fisherman:

This one knows what he needs, what he has, what he is doing. His focus is not on the horizon, but on what is near-sight and is happy and content with it. This one will not be swayed by the words of others, does not aim to fly, keeps his feet firmly on the ground, and enjoys taking that peaceful walk on the sea shore alongside the setting sun, every single day.

The fisherman, who is meant to be much more:

This one is aware of who he is, yet has chosen to be more. This one is looking for a way to fly and has his sights set on the horizon and beyond. This one is not scared to venture beyond his comfort zone. He’ll set sail to find what he’s looking for. Because of people like him, the world advances and becomes a much better place.

The fisherman, who doesn’t know he is happy being a fisherman:

And then, there is the third one.

The one who is unaware of what he has and does not value what he possess. The one who is swayed by the words and desires of others. The one who adopts other people’s views as his own, and believes that’s what he should be. The one who thinks time will wait while he seeks what he does not need.

Years later, this one will be wondering “Wasn’t I having all this, before?"