Fragrance of Compassion!

One of the most beautiful stories in Zen is about a Zen master who asked, one winter night, to be allowed to stay in a temple. He was shivering because the night was very cold and there was a heavy snow fall outside. Of course, the temple priest sympathized and allowed him to stay in the temple for one night.

In the middle of the night the priest suddenly heard a noise, so he came running. But he could not believe his eyes. The monk was sitting around a fire which was lit by burning one of the wooden statues of Buddha in that temple. There were many such wooden Buddha statues in the temple.

The shocked priest asked, 'What are you doing? How can you burn the Buddha statue?'

The Master replied, 'I was shivering due to cold, hence I had to burn it.'

The priest said, 'You seem to be mad! You have burnt Buddha!”

The Master looked in the fire, which was slowly disappearing. Then he poked the fire with a stick and started searching in the ashes.

The priest asked, 'What are you searching now?'

The Master said, 'I am looking for the Buddha’s bones!”

Now the priest was very angry and shouted, 'You are certainly mad. It was a wooden Buddha. How can you find bones in it?'

The monk said calmly, 'The night is very long and it is getting even colder, why not bring two more Buddhas?'

Of course, he had to be thrown out of the temple immediately. This man was dangerous.

When he was being thrown out he said, 'What are you doing throwing a live Buddha out ....?”

....In the morning, when the priest went out, he was surprised to see the Master sitting with a few flowers in his hand, worshipping a milestone. The priest approached him and asked, 'Now, what are you doing? Worshipping a milestone?'

The Master smiled and replied, 'Whenever there is a prayer time, I create my Buddhas, because Buddhas are all around. And this milestone is as good as your wooden Buddhas inside!' He further said, “For a wooden Buddha, a live Buddha has been suffering so much that, I had to show some compassion. Even if Buddha would have been alive today, I am sure, he would have done the same thing. He would have himself given all those wooden statues to me to save me from that severe cold ....!'

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, it is a question of attitude. When one looks around with Divinity, everything becomes Divine.

Understanding is different from just following blindly. When one understands, one is not bound by rules, one’s consciousness responds to every moment, hence whatsoever one does becomes right. A man of understanding has compassion not only for others, but also for himself. Such a being simply understands that there is no separation and everything including oneself is Divine.

To live out of deep understanding is compassion. When the flower of awareness blossoms, compassion goes on spreading. Friends, Meditation is the flower and compassion is its fragrance....!

Have a Meaningful & Blissful Day Friends!