When chatting with some people I met today, I realized I had the experience of a 'Satsangh'...good people, good talk, positive thoughts all resulting in positive energy is what a 'Satsangh' is about. Isn't it? Thanks to the person who talked to me on all those subjects.
I present one of the topics discussed...
What is Character?
Here is a small story - Buddha on one occasion was travelling from town to town. He found a disciple in the first town, and gave him a handful of seeds. He told the disciple to keep them very very carefully, so that he can get them back on his way.
So, the first disciple kept those seeds locked away in a treasure vault along with his jewels, money and everything else that was so precious.
Buddha reached the second town and found another disciple. When it was again time to leave that town, Buddha gave the disciple another handful of seeds to keep safely.So the second disciple kept those seeds at his place of prayer along with all the deities and things of worship. He worshipped the seeds too as a part of his daily prayer ritual.
Buddha reached the third town and found his third disciple who was a simple farmer. The farmer was hesitant to meet a great person like Buddha - but his longing to hear Buddha speak and his urge to gain something from the great soul drove him to conquer his bashfulness.
On the last day, Buddha gave him a handful of seeds too and asked him to keep them safe.
Once Buddha had completed his mission of travelling to places he had planned to, he decided to re-visit his disciples.
In the first town, when asked by Buddha about the seeds the disciple proudly showed the silk cloth he had wrapped the seeds in! But, opening the same yielded a powder as they had dis-integrated over time. Buddha was sad at the result.
In the second town, the same story repeated. The disciple had failed to get his master's message.
In the third town when asked for the seeds, the farmer hung his head in shame. He said "Forgive me master, I have no seeds to give you back. I have however, sown the seeds, which in turn will give us some fresh seeds. I could not see the seeds being wasted"
Buddha was thrilled! He had finally found a disciple who understood his message.
That was the story!
But the moral from the above story is that it is not enough to know about traditions, about the right from the wrong etc. etc. if we do not put them to use. We need to sow those seeds into our everyday life and practise them.
Character is not what we think about or how great our thoughts are. It is practise that becomes a habit, and it is habit that becomes character!
The debate of good character Vs Bad character is a whole new discussion in itself...another place..another time...
Till then, take care of your self - the real inner self.
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4 comments:
What is also interesting about the story is the attitude towards authority. The first two people thought they would please the Buddha and gain favor by doing exactly what he asked them to! The farmer saw the seeds for what they were! A lot of people do a lot of things just because someone in authority tells them to...
It is an interesting observation I didn't think of as I wrote.
It is valid. People are usually afraid to question authority - this is true at any age.
Thank you!
I completely agree to the observations which means to walk-the-talk and talk-the-walk.
At the same time, I think it makes sense to question authority (Pseudopseudointellectual's comments) however I think it makes sense to question authority / beliefs as longs as they are logical.
Hmm If we go a bit meta on parables, they reveal some assumptions. For example, it seems obvious that "seeds should not be wasted". Why? Why is planting them such that they make a tree which makes more seeds (and on and on), obviously better than seeds turning into dust? (I have a rather long train of thought that starts with that question and then runs for a while, so I'll hold back on this.)
The authority issue is there yes, although I wonder what kind of authority a figure like the Buddha might have? I would think he would have very little clout in the everyday life of the people he met for a few minutes. However, there is the issue of his being known as the wise one, which does in turn incline people to listen to him.
Lastly, I think the metaphor here, if one were to think of this from the Buddha's p.o.v. is regarding the teachings. Perhaps the Buddha is saying that he does not offer you nuggets of wisdom, but instead seeds of knowledge which when appropriately nurtured, make you wiser.
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