I love this story of the Bhudda. I heard it from another storyteller, as is the way with these things. He is Jack Kornfield, and he tells his tales, invoking compassion and loving-kindness, on the Dharma-Seed website. If, like me, you're still seeking stories to tell that make sense of this small life, there's some true wisdom here.
So. The Story:
A farmer seeks out the Bhudda and there unravels a tale of unrelenting woe. Monsoon rains, droughts, thefts, disease, pests, poor harvests, unsatisfactory wife, disobedient children, the full works.
"What shall I do?" The farmer asks the Buddah and waits for a grand solution.
"Everyone," says the Bhuddah, "Has eighty-three problems. I'm afraid I can't help with any of them."
"Well," says the farmer, not much impressed, "You're not all you're cracked up to be, are you?"
The Buddah smiles. " I can, however, save you from the eighty-fourth and most destructive problem,"
(We wait, agog. Do we not?)
...
"Stop tormenting yourself with, 'Why me?' "
BOOM!
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Not the same, but a related idea: have you ever read Susan Niebur's "It's Not Fair" (http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/its-not-fair/). She has since died, so the words are even more poignant. I return to read that whenever I get into a "why me" mindset. Because we're promised a life, not a particular kind of life, just a life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this.
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