“There is no death, only a change of worlds.” ~ Chief Seattle
[Life]…”It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” ~ Crowfoot
“What is born will die, what has been gathered will be dispersed, what has been accumulated will be exhausted, what has been built up will collapse and what has been high will be brought low.” ~ Sogyal Rinpoche
Kisa Gotami and the Mustard Seeds (not to be confused with the Christian parable of the Mustard Seed ).
In this story our protangonist, Kisa Gotami, is a waif of a girl from a poor family who marries the son of a rich man because they see that she is enlightened (even if she doesn’t yet know it).
Kisa Gotami has a single son. And there are various versions of the circumstances but the bottom line is that her beloved son dies at an early age.
She is frought with grief and goes into a state of denial so complete that she carries her small boy from house to house begging anyone who will listen for a medicine to cure her baby boy.
The townsfolk feel pity for her but believe that she’s gone mad. One doctor that she goes to sees her pain and tells her that she should speak with the Buddha. The doctor tells her that the Buddha can ‘cure’ her son.
The Buddha tells Kisa Gotami that she must find some mustard seed from a home that death has not visited. She rushes off to find this miracle cure. Of course she is unable to find a home that had not been touched by death. In her search she realizes that she is not alone in her sorrow and she accepts that her son is, in fact, dead.
She returns to the Buddha and cremates her son. Then she joins the Buddha as a follower and becomes a nun.
The moral is that all things die and we can’t change that. We must love our children (and parents, siblings, friends) but not have such attachment that when the inevitable comes we are disabled with grief and sorrow. We must continue living in the presence of death and continue functioning through the grief.
The point is NOT that we should not grieve or feel loss but that we should not let those things overrrun us.
At least that’s my interpetation.
Below you’ll find several other translationinterpretations:
- From The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin
- From BartholomewKlick on HubPages I think this one is especially well written…
- From the Internet Sacred Texts Archive
- From the Noble Path
- From The Mindfullness Method
- From Access to Insight Also tells about Patacara whose story is similar but far more distressing…
- And everyone’s favorite… Wikipedia
Dedicated to anyone who’s lost someone (which is everyone). I’ve reached that age where my friends parents are starting to ‘shuffle off this mortal coil’. I find it more disturbing with each loss – somehow it always seems so unexpected and wholly unbelievable. I still have both of my parents and I am eternally greatful. For my friends and loved ones who’ve lost your Mom, Dad or both – I am truly sorry and I love you all.