Saturday, May 3, 2014

A lesson a day...

It's sunny again at Schochwitz, and a good start to the weekend: we have the most guests we've had with this year's volunteers. It's also been a day full of new lessons. One of the lessons we learnt today - in the form of one of Lord Jimmy's little stories - was the following. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

A monk who wished to see a vision of Buddha hid himself away in a cave to meditate. 20 years later, he returned unsuccessful. Thinking that he had not tried hard enough, he went back to the cave and meditated 20 years more. The second time he emerged, he was still unsuccessful: he had failed once again to see Buddha, and enlightenment eluded him. Believing he had not sacrificed enough, he returned a third time to the cave. This time, after only 5 years, he emerged once again. He had spent most of his life meditating in a cave, and was no closer to reaching enlightenment. It seemed he would never fulfill his wish.
Walking down from the cave, he came across an injured dog, lying on the ground with his cuts full of dirt and maggots. Overcome by compassion he knelt down in the dirt next to the dog and began clearing it's wounds. When the job was done, and he had picked the last maggot from the cut, he looked up to see a vision of the Buddha standing before him, and finally he achieved enlightenment: you can try all your life and fail to achieve what you want, but if you dedicate yourself to doing something from the heart, then you will get what you need.

We hope you have a good weekend!

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