A woman came to Buddha crying,
weeping, carrying the dead body of her
only son. People had told her that if she
goes to the Buddha, he is such a
compassionate man, he may do some
miracle. Buddha asked the woman, "You
do one thing: you go into town -- bring
some mustard seeds. One condition has
to be fulfilled: they should be brought
from a house where nobody has ever
died."
The woman was very happy; this was
not a problem because their whole
village was growing mustard seeds. So
every house was full of mustard seeds.
She rushed from one house to another,
but in her excitement that her son is
going to be revived again she forgot
completely that the condition is
impossible, it cannot be fulfilled.
By the evening she had knocked on all
the doors, and everybody said, "We can
give you as many mustard seeds as you
want, but they will not help because we
cannot fulfill the condition: somebody
has died in our family -- not only one
but many persons really. My father died,
my father's father died... and thousands
of others before." Somebody's wife has
died, somebody's mother, somebody's
brother, sister, somebody's son.... She
could not find a single family where
nobody had ever died.
By the evening when she came she was a
totally different woman -- she came
laughing. In the morning she had come
crying and weeping; she was almost
mad because the only son had died.
Buddha asked her, "Why are you
smiling?"
She said, "Now I know -- you tricked me,
you befooled me, but I could not see the
point at that time. Everybody has to die,
so it is not a question now that my son
has died. He had to die one day or other.
And it is good, in a way, that he has died
before me: if I had died before him, he
would have suffered. It is better for me
to suffer than for him to suffer. So it is
good, perfectly good.
"Now I have come for initiation. Initiate
me into sannyas, because I would like to
know: is there anything beyond death or
not? Is death all or does something
survive? I am no longer interested in the
son."
Buddha said, "That was the purpose of
sending you, so that you can be
awakened."
OSHO
The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha,
Vol-3, Chapter-3
weeping, carrying the dead body of her
only son. People had told her that if she
goes to the Buddha, he is such a
compassionate man, he may do some
miracle. Buddha asked the woman, "You
do one thing: you go into town -- bring
some mustard seeds. One condition has
to be fulfilled: they should be brought
from a house where nobody has ever
died."
The woman was very happy; this was
not a problem because their whole
village was growing mustard seeds. So
every house was full of mustard seeds.
She rushed from one house to another,
but in her excitement that her son is
going to be revived again she forgot
completely that the condition is
impossible, it cannot be fulfilled.
By the evening she had knocked on all
the doors, and everybody said, "We can
give you as many mustard seeds as you
want, but they will not help because we
cannot fulfill the condition: somebody
has died in our family -- not only one
but many persons really. My father died,
my father's father died... and thousands
of others before." Somebody's wife has
died, somebody's mother, somebody's
brother, sister, somebody's son.... She
could not find a single family where
nobody had ever died.
By the evening when she came she was a
totally different woman -- she came
laughing. In the morning she had come
crying and weeping; she was almost
mad because the only son had died.
Buddha asked her, "Why are you
smiling?"
She said, "Now I know -- you tricked me,
you befooled me, but I could not see the
point at that time. Everybody has to die,
so it is not a question now that my son
has died. He had to die one day or other.
And it is good, in a way, that he has died
before me: if I had died before him, he
would have suffered. It is better for me
to suffer than for him to suffer. So it is
good, perfectly good.
"Now I have come for initiation. Initiate
me into sannyas, because I would like to
know: is there anything beyond death or
not? Is death all or does something
survive? I am no longer interested in the
son."
Buddha said, "That was the purpose of
sending you, so that you can be
awakened."
OSHO
The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha,
Vol-3, Chapter-3
No comments:
Post a Comment