Responding to questions of a
critical young man, a teacher asked two spoons of salt from his student. The
first spoon of salt was poured into a small cup which is full of water. The
second spoon of salt was mixed into water in a big pond. As a result, while in
the little cup the water tasted very salty, in the big pond there is no sign
that the water is salty.
The spiritual message behind
this story is simple, most suffering happened because the mind and the heart
are very small and narrow. But once the mind and the heart can be broadened
into as wide as space, then one can attain more peace and less suffering.
The following question then,
what should we do to broaden both the mind and the heart? Look deeply into the
baby's eyes. It looks such bright and peaceful because they are free from any
judgment. In the eyes of a baby, life is perfect as it is.
But once the baby grows older,
the aura of peace and innocence begin to disappear. It is replaced by the aura
of judgment and punishment. To be frank, that is the origin of the small mind
and the narrow heart.
The social environment which
is poor of example, education system which is full of punishment, parents who
have very limited maturity, religions which are used as vehicle of violence,
are only some parts of the factors behind the narrow mind and the small heart.
The good news then, there is
always way out to every problem. Patience and tolerance as indicators of open
mind and broad heart are similar to rubber band. As long as you are diligent to
pull the rubber band slowly, one day it is loosening.
The harming enemies, the
troubling children, the suspicious neighbor, over demanding boss, grumpy spouse
are some of symbolical Gurus in nature which are ready to make the rubber bands
of patience and tolerance loosening from day to day.
As long as one is diligent and
patience the last rubber band will getting loose. Understanding is the first
lesson to remember. Especially learn to understand that we are all do not want
to suffer, we are all want to be happy. If you want to go deep, learn to
understand the complicated networks behind the harming enemies.
Behind those problematic
people, there is complicated network of the past which is full of suffering
such as deeply wounded childhood, parents who fail to be the role model, the
unorganized education system. When this complicated network is unveiled, by
then the flower of understanding blossoms, the rubber band of patience
loosened. As a result, not only patience arises, flowers of compassion also
bloom.
Frankly speaking, those people
who keep disturbing and harming, they were not born to disturb your spiritual
journey, and they were born to open your mind and to broaden your heart. That's
why on the path of compassion is often mentioned, the troubling enemies are
spiritual diamonds who are here to lighten your spiritual journey. Moreover,
only under the guide of troubling enemies one can see life as an ocean of
compassion.
Author: Gede Prama
Photo Courtesy: Twitter @Nyomandian
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