Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘A long time ago in Japan, a monk went to his teacher in total distress. “I have many problems,” he told him. 
The teacher said, “Okay. I can help you with all your problems.” 
The monk was so happy and relieved. ‘Thank goodness,’ he thought. ‘Here is someone who is finally going to tell me how to fix my issues!’
The teacher called everyone into the meditation hall. He climbed up onto the teaching platform, where the heads of the monastery gave talks to the entire monastic community, and said, “Everyone, this monk has a problem.” 
Then he got down from the platform and left.
Everyone’s got problems. You, me, your neighbor, that celebrity with the entourage.
There are times when we should focus on our problems. There are also times when focusing on our problems becomes an obsession and actually offers an upside-down way of feeling special and separate. 
Focusing on our own problems is a kind of social stinginess. It takes us away from ourselves, out of relationship with others, and out of the entire world.
Many of us have stingy habits. Just think about all the ways we withhold ourselves—all the ways that we are stingy about participating with the world. We withhold sharing our love. We withhold our vulnerability. We withhold expressing what’s true. We withhold our curiosity. We withhold our anger and our sadness. We withhold especially when we encounter difficulty, because we become frightened of risk. The list is long.
But what are we risking when we are stingy? What are we risking when we meet with resistance and pull away? We risk never living a life of conviction, integrity, and authenticity. We risk losing the chance to do good.
How can we work with our emotional stinginess? What supports the shift away from an excessive focus on our own problems?’ (from Slow Down. Help Out. Wake Up.)