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“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” Thich Nhat Hanh (Thank you Wildtimes)

Have you ever had a moment in your life, you wanted the truth about something so much, that you didn’t care what the truth was, so long as it was the truth?

Are those moments the exception in your life, or are they the rule?

In the following story, are you the father, the son, or Buddha telling the story?

"A young widower, who loved his five-year-old son very much, was away on business, and bandits came and burned down his whole village and took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. He took the charred corpse of an infant to be his own child, and he began to pull his hair and beat his chest, crying uncontrollably. He organized a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a very beautiful velvet bag. Working, sleeping, eating, he always carried the bag of ashes with him.
One day his real son escaped from the robbers and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. You can imagine at that time the young father was still carrying the bag of ashes and crying. He asked, "Who is there?"
And the child answered, "It's me, Papa. Open the door, it's your son."
In his agitated state of mind the father thought that some mischievous boy was making fun of him, and he shouted at the child to go away, and he continued to cry.
The boy knocked again and again, but the father refused to let him in. Some time passed, and finally the child left. From that time on, father and son never saw one another."

“Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it.” Buddha

What are you clinging to?

reply to post by Klassified

What are you clinging to?

It is a dance between hope and fear for me, as well as expectations. But I do know the value of letting go and cultivating the moments, not quite at the level of Thich Nhat Hanh however.
Thanks for some morning enlightenment.

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace,
spec

reply to post by Klassified


Beautiful message, but the story...what a downer.

So early in the morning too lol.

Im a dad so it hits close to home.

Regardless, thanks for your post.

Hi, Klass!!
Awesome, spread the word!! Nice to see others value the words of those Buddhist monks.

In the story, I guess I'd be the Buddha, but I'm a mother; so if I put myself in the place of the bereft father, I can imagine my sorrow at losing my beloved son (I was always "in love" with him...still am, in that Mommy kind of doting way)....
if I were to discover he were still alive, I'd have opened the door, no question!!

And then I would have begun worrying what poor bereft parent was prevented from having their OWN child's ashes. If the parents were both dead, and the child had died with no family at all, I suppose I'd have continued to carry around the ashes I'd taken as precious. Because they are, no matter who they belonged to....

sad story.

THANKS FOR THE O/P!!! s/f

~wild

I guess I'm guilty of clinging on to what's familiar. Not that I'm not open to new possibilities, but it's hard to fling my faith into the infinite pool of 'what could be' as oppose to 'what is', with the exception of a few things. Unfortunately, it's more comfortable that way, so I guess that would make me like the father, except if I had a child and went through that ordeal, I'd like to think I'd have enough hope left to at least open the door.

reply to post by namine

I see where you're coming from. I think I'd react like the father too.

Could say the same thing if this child were an opportunity and I had previous ideas about it. I can easily see myself lying on hte bed and telling the opportunity to just go away.

Hold onto the past. Self-absorbed. Strong opinions. I'd never open the door.

Originally posted by Klassified
“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” Thich Nhat Hanh (Thank you Wildtimes)

I love this guys books and have a collection of them. I think they should be required reading at the grade school level, because, It's all elementary, my man.

I think these books are a great reflection of another one like him, so if you are interested read something from this guy:

en.wikipedia.org...

Try to wrap your head around it, and guaranteed once you crack a book, you will get headaches from the get go, but the pain is oh so worth it.

reply to post by Sissel

Thanks for the recommend.