How You Respond

M N KUNDU





The untimely death of her dear son distressed the young mother Kisa Gotami. How could she live with such unbearable bereavement and exceptional calamity? She pleaded with Shakyamuni, “Lord, kindly be compassionate and make my son alive again.“ Any spiritual instruction would fall flat on the greatly saddened mother.So, the Buddha pronounced, “There is a way , for which you have to bring some mustard seeds from a house where no death has taken place.“The bereaved mother moved from door to door in search of the house that had seen no death. But she found in every house a more pitiful tale of death.She had lost her son while others had lost several young members all at once. Her own misery paled before their plight.She felt strong compassion for a grief-stricken world and wished for more insight into the mystery of life and death. Is there a way out of this suffering?
The Buddha said, “Suffering is inbuilt in the life you live.You can't arrest change of fortune, ageing, disease and death, as impermanence is the law of nature.“ He explained, “Suffering lies not in these external situations but in your response to them. Instead of being driven by attachments and emotional non-acceptance of reality, become a non-reactive observer of life-drama. Stop measuring the gaps between reality and your expectations. Accept the present moment as wonderful. Accept happenings as flows of phenomena. Transcend every attachment to self-interest and self, and acquire the spirit of enlightenment.“