An Allowing , A Being

A rich farmer once approached Buddha for help with all the problems he was encountering in his life. He complained about how his good-for-nothing son was of no help and that his wife was siding the son. He wanted Buddha to change them miraculously to which Buddha said he could not help in this respect. The farmer went on about his fear of a poor harvest and asked that Buddha blessed him with a good harvest. Again Buddha replied he could not do that. Lastly he lamented about his debtors defaulting on their debt and in turn his creditors were hot on his heels. Perhaps Buddha could give him an amulet to void off his troubles. When Buddha again replied he could not help, the farmer turned away furious and exasperated expressing disbelief that Buddha was called the Enlightened one.

Buddha then told the farmer that he could help him with his 84th problem. Puzzled the farmer asked what his 84th problem was. Buddha then said the 84th problem was wanting to get rid of the first 83 problems ie. the thought that he should not have any problems. The answer lies in learning to accept that life presents many problems and we need to develop a quiet mind to solve those than can be solved and accept those beyond our means to do so. We must try not to let our ego worsen the problem. This reminds me of the Serenity Prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

Having said that, acceptance does not come easy. I can never forget a child's response when told at a workshop conducted for children from divorced families, that there is nothing children can do to bring their parents together again. She had called me mean to say that. The loss was probably too great for her to bear. Indeed even adults need to practice very very hard to accept difficult situations especially where there is a lot of attachment involved. Einstein called our attachment to our thoughts and feelings an "optical delusion of our consciousness", as something separate from the "Universe" which human being is a part of.

I guess this inability to feel being part of the whole termed "Universe" makes us feel void and empty and we try our best to fill the void with all kinds of attachment, material stuff, relationship and accomplishment of all types. We expect all these attachment objects to deliver the meaning and happiness we strive for and when they fail we feel the emptiness and continue the search to fill the void. I think no amount of logical reasoning can help in fathoming what Einstein is alluding to. It takes a lot of inward quiet and meditation to feel it and the commitment to do that.

Someone once said the secret of letting go is not an art, it is an "Allowing", a "Being"