A neighbor we came to know recently has
been having a series of freak accidents. Over a period of 20 months these
episodes have left her completely immobile. All of them have systematically
affected her lower limbs and have led to her being confined to her bed at home.
She does try to keep her spirits up, egged on by her 20-year-old son, her
caring husband and her compassionate mother-in-law, but the fact that she can’t
be her “usual self” – enthusiastic and bubbly – does seem to be gnawing at her
sometimes. It is but natural the way she may be feeling!
Why does this often happen in Life? That
the most irrational things happen to people? I wish anyone had an answer to
these questions. Because, such is Life! The Buddha has talked about the “suchness” of Life.
In Buddhism there’s this concept of ‘tathata’
– the suchness of Life. Or simply, like that famous section in Reader’s Digest, “Life’s Like That
(Only)”!
Almost everything that happens to us in
Life is just an event. A situation. We analyze it. We interpret it. And we
label it. But our labelling does not change anything. If at all it does cause
anything – it only makes us miserable. Life has no agenda. There’s no
conspiracy to fix you, just as there is no grand scheme of favoritism to reward
you. Even so, whatever happens to you – or to me – happens with a reason, which
at first is never apparent. But when you look back, as Steve Jobs famously
said, you can only – and always – connect the dots backward!
An beautiful Zen story is worth sharing
here.
There was once a famous Zen Master in
Japan. Her name was Otagaki Rengetsu (1791~1875). She was on a pilgrimage, and
she came to a village at sunset and begged for lodging for the night, but the
villagers slammed their doors. They were against Zen. Those must have been
traditional Buddhists and so they didn’t allow this woman to stay in the town;
they threw her out. It was a cold night, and the old woman with no lodging… and
hungry… had to make a cherry tree in the fields her shelter. It was really cold
and she could not sleep well. And it was dangerous too — with wild animals roaming
the fields.
At midnight Rengetsu woke up with a
start — because it had gotten colder — and saw, as it were, in the spring night
sky, the fully opened “cherry blossoms laughing to the misty moon”. Overcome with the
beauty of the moment, she got up and bowed in the direction of the village! She
said to herself: “Through their ‘kindness’ in refusing me lodging I found myself
beneath the blossoms on the night of this misty moon. I would have missed
something of such rare beauty had I not witnessed this sight tonight. This
became possible only because of the ‘kindness’ of the villagers!”
This is what celebrating the ‘suchness of
Life’ means.
Rengetsu teaches us how such a celebration is possible even in the most
difficult times. She felt truly grateful. With great gratitude she thanked
those people who refused her lodging, otherwise she would be sleeping under an
ordinary roof, and she would have missed the blessing — those cherry blossoms,
and their whispering to the misty moon, and the silence of the night, the unbelievable
beauty of the silent night. She was not angry with the people. She accepted their
decision with equanimity. Not only that she accepted it, she welcomed it, she
embraced her situation — she felt grateful.
So whether you are rendered immobile by
Life or cashless or companionless or jobless – whatever it may be that Life has
dealt you at this time, know that there’s a reason. You can and will discover
that reason only over time. You can and will celebrate the “suchness” of your
Life surely when you look back to reflect. But for now, accept the “suchness”
unquestioningly, with gratitude. You will find yourself anchored and drenched in
peace despite your circumstances.
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