THE MEDICINE FROM THE MUSTARD SEEDS
“God does not create a lock without its key;
And, God does not give problems without solutions…Trust Him.”
- Anonymous
One of my favourite
stories comes from the teachings of Gautama Buddha. The story is popularly
known as ‘Kisa Gotami and the Parable of the Mustard Seeds’.
Kisa’s young son had died. She was
heart-broken… Carrying the dead son in her arms, she went from one door to
another, pleading people to bring her little boy to life. But, her efforts
seemed futile. Finally, someone suggested her to seek Gautama’s help. Thus, she
presented herself before the Buddha. “O Master, I am unable to bear this loss,”
she cried, “Have mercy on me and bring my son back to life.”
The Buddha agreed. He advised the distressed
woman to go back to her village and gather a fistful of mustard seeds from any
household which was not touched by death. “From those mustard seeds, I shall
prepare a medicine to bring back your son to life,” assured the Master. The woman
was relived… She went back to her village… hopped from one house to another…
All were ready to give her the mustard seeds. But, none of the households had been spared by death!
By the time the darkness had fallen,
Kisa’s sorrow was dissolved. With a peaceful heart, she put her son to rest!
When the truth dawns
upon our hearts, that, problems in life - including sickness, sorrow and death –
are faced by every soul on this earth, we become peaceful. The more we are
stuck with our own problems and sorrows, the more miserable and helpless we
feel. Often, all that we need to do is this: look around us and see how pale
our problems look compared to those faced by so many others. Yes, it is enough
to make us peaceful…
A few weeks ago, I received a call from
an unknown person. He was a parent and spoke with extremely-low energy. I
strained to follow him, except for the fact that he wanted to enroll his
daughter for my upcoming 12th (ISC) class. The conversation barely
took a few minutes. The very next day, his wife came over to my office accompanied
by her young daughter. As I was revising the 11th standard chapters,
I encouraged the young one to attend them, so that she could get a firm hold on
her basics. Barely two days into my classes, I got the message, that she had
lost her dad... I was shocked! Suddenly, I could realize as to why the voice
had sounded so slow and devoid of energy. I learnt, that he had been suffering
from bone-marrow cancer... Apparently, it was in its advanced stage!
I mustered enough courage to communicate
with my student’s mother, who had just become a widow. She sounded dignified
and peaceful as I offered my condolences. Within a week, I received the call
from my student’s mother… She wanted her daughter to resume. She also asked if
she could learn the fundamentals of Accountancy from me… I was surprised. Her
husband had built a software business in partnership with a family friend. She
was now expected to join the business. She had a Computer Engineering background
and she was clueless about the books of accounts and financial statements. She
wanted to do a crash course in computerized accounting. Before that, she wanted
to learn the basic accounting concepts from me. From the next day, the mother
and the daughter began to attend my classes. I devised a customized study-programme for the
mother.
It’s about two weeks now. The lady has
come a long way as far as her learning objective was concerned. She knew why
she wanted to learn those concepts; so, she has got them so effortlessly… The commitment
has been incredible… The self-pity and sorrow are nowhere around. During the course
of teaching, I had the opportunity to know the history of her husband’s health…
She told me, that he had an athlete’s physique… But, by the time he was diagnosed
with bone-marrow cancer, it had spread beyond control… They had tried every
possible treatment, the best and the most expensive ones… She told me, that
they had to administer twenty-seven special injections (for immunity), each costing
rupees two lakhs… The cost of administering each injection was another
twenty-thousand. The business and house-front were badly hit… Fortunately, her
husband’s US-based brothers were kind enough to help them financially, though
not fully. Finally, the inevitable had come about… In a way, when it had come, the
family was ready for it…
So, even though I was a bit surprised
when the woman had decided to come out of the house and move on within a week
from her husband’s death, I felt inspired by her grace, dignity and poise…. There
has been no trace of ‘Why me?’ or ‘Poor me’… The Life has to go on… and, go on
it will!
Let me say this again: When the truth
dawns upon our hearts, that, problems in life - including sickness, sorrow and
death – are faced by every soul on this earth, we become peaceful. The more we
are stuck with our own problems and sorrows, the more miserable and helpless we
feel. Often, all that we need to do is this: look around us and see how pale
our problems look compared to those faced by so many others. Yes, it is enough
to make us peaceful.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Anil Bedi
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