Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Magical Mustard Seed

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died.In her grief, she went to the holy man and asked,"What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?"

Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow.We will use it to drive sorrow out of your life." The woman went off at once in search of that magical musturd seed.

She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, "I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me". They told her,"You have certainly come to the wrong place ," and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them. The woman said to herself, "Who is better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortune of my own?" She stayed to comfort them, then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hotels, and in other places, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune.

The woman became so involved in helping others cope with their sorrows that she eventually let go of her own. She would later come to understand that it was the quest to find the magical mustard seed.

Don't spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes. Don't be one who never gets over things.

No one has everything and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with the gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.

2 comments:

siawase_tenshi said...

It is inevitable in life that each and every being have to go through the pain and anguish of illness and death. Since we cannot escape death, we can only learn to accept it by understanding it. As to how, I do not know but I do believe that as we walk this path of life, we may somehow find the light that guides us through that seemingly endless tunnel.

neo said...

Thanks for your valuable comments.