One day Lord Buddha was sitting under a tree with his followers. He was giving the sermon to them. It was the time when Buddha was greatly admired by the people for his wisdom & simplicity. People worshipped & respected him as the living god.
While he was busy with his followers, a village woman came to him crying & bowed her head at the feet of Buddha. She was in such a kind of distress that she couldn’t speak for a while but cry. Lord Buddha got pity on her & said, “Calm down child. Why are you crying? What happened to you?”
With tearful eyes, the lady said, “My lord, I had lost my husband long ago, there is none but my son whom I have lost today. He has been suffering from fever for the last four days & this morning the village doctor declared him dead. Sir, I don’t want to lose him, I know you are the person with divine power who can give my child a new life. Please, sir, don’t disappoint me. A poor mother asking for your blessings for her child. I will be obliged whole life to you, sir. O kind lord, please help, please help.” She bowed again & again to Buddha. Buddha kept silent for a few seconds. The mother looked expectantly at his kind eyes.
Then lord Buddha politely said to the mother. “My child, I can give your son a new life, but I have a condition for that.”
“What is the condition, sir? I am ready to fulfill any kind of condition for my son’s life. Please tell me what do you want from me?” –Eagerly asked the woman.
“Please fetch me a handful of a rice grain from a house of the village, but you must be confirmed first that none of that house had died before.” – Buddha replied.
The woman stood up instantly & said, “Okay sir, I am going to fetch a handful of rice grain & I am sure that I shall return very soon.”
Saying this that lady went to her village & approached every household in that village but alas! She failed to find out any house where none had died before. A long time of the day passed in searching for the right household. She became tired & exhausted. When the day was almost going to end she returned to Lord Buddha empty hand.
Lord Buddha sat in meditation in his as before, she stood before him helplessly & said, “Pardon me, sir; I have failed to fulfill your condition. What shall I do now? I am broken.”
Buddha opened his eyes slowly & comforted her saying, “My child, I knew that you will be unsuccessful in your task. Now you have seen yourself that every household on this earth has missed its dear ones once or several times, so why are you crying about your loss? One who is born has to accept death one day. It is the principle of nature & it applies to all even to me also. So, dear child accept the reality & forget it as past, time will heal you.”
After hearing such valuable words from Lord Buddha the mother could realize the truth; she touched his feet for blessings & left the place silently.
Friends you have surely understood the moral of this story. We in every moment in our lives face reality, sometimes it makes us happy & sometimes it makes us unhappy. We easily accept reality as happiness but become furious when reality appears as cruelty. Our views on life are the deciding element here. We sometimes are unaware that life is not without pain & nothing is eternal in this world. If there is no darkness, then we will forget the importance of light; if there is no failure then we couldn’t relish success; if there is no loss then the value of the gain will be diminished. So if we want to live life happily then firstly we have to accept the present or the reality, if we don’t do so, then our lives will be as unbearable as a heavy load.
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