Friday, July 28, 2006 @ 5:58 pm
found an inspirational article from an indonesian buddhist website. it's translated, so pardon me for any errors in translation.
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One day, a wise man was visited by a young lad, who confided in the wise man his problems. The wise man listened to the lad, then took a fistful of bitter powder, asking the lad to bring to him a cup of water. The wise man poured the bitter powder into the glass of water, and stirred it slowly.
"Drink it and tell me how it tastes like," says the wise man to the lad.
"It's very bitter!" answered the lad as he spat out the water. The wise man smiled, and took his guest to the lake behind his home. The wise man once again poured a fistful of bitter powder into the lake, and used a wooden stick to stir the water.
"Take the water from the lake and drink it." The lad followed his instructions. ""How is it?" the wise man asked.
"It's refreshing!" the lad exclaimed.
"Don't you taste any bitterness in the water?" asked the wise man.
"No, not at all." answered the lad.
The wise man laughed heartily, and said, "Young man, listen to this carefully. The bitterness of life is like the fistful of bitter powder, no more, no less. The amount and its bitterness is the same and will always remain the same. However, the bitterness we taste depends very much where we place our bitterness. Therefore, when you feel bitterness and failure in your life, there is only one thing you can do, and that is open up your heart and receive all of it. Open up your heart and contain all of the bitterness there is."
"Don't let your heart be like the cup, but let it be the lake which is able to contain all of the bitterness, and transform it into a source of refreshment to the soul and peace to the mind."
We all have a choice on how to lead our lives. Are we able to live our lives well till the day we die?
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i was wondering, can i ever have such a big heart to accept all of the pain and bitterness life brings? i guess not. i still feel the bitterness stronger than a fistful of bitter powder. i still feel the pain which feels more than arrows shot through my heart. maybe this is a goal that we should all work towards, a goal to have a big heart, a heart as big as the open sea.