The Father who did not Grieve over his Son's Death

The Father who did not Grieve over his Son's Death During the time of the Buddha, there was a wandering yogi in India who knew only a little about Buddhism. One day, he heard that Shakyamuni Buddha was staying nearby at Spirit Vulture Peak, so he decided to visit and pay his respects. He also had many questions to ask, and hoped the Buddha could enlighten him. As the yogi walked along toward Spirit Vulture Peak, he passed a farm where he ha saw an older and a younger man working on opposite sides of a field. As India is a tropical country, many poisonous snakes live in the fields, so while the yogi was passing the farm he saw the younger man had immediately died after being bitten by one of those snakes. When he saw the young farmer collapse, he noticed that the other farmer, working the other side of the field, paid no attention and did not even come over to see what the poor boy's trouble was. Amazed at the older farmer's lack of concern, he thought to himself, "This young man was killed by a poisonous snake while working here, yet his co-worker, the old man working at the other end, has not come to take a look at him or shown any concern at all! Why is that? I am going to go and ask him!" And so he walked up to the old man and said, "Hey! You are both working here, so is that young man related to you?" "Sure, he's my son!" the old man calmly replied. The yogi was even more astonished, and exclaimed, "He's your son? Why, can't you see he has just died from a poisonous snake bite?" The old man nonchalantly replied, "Yes, that's the way it goes, I guess. Can't do much about it...can't raise folks from the dead." The yogi thought the old man was incredible! " How can a father be so devoid of paternal love," he wondered; "how can anyone be so unconcerned about the death of his own son?" The yogi was so angry he just walked away, and didn't want to speak any more to that heartless old man. But the old man called after him, and shouted, "Hey, where are you going?" "I am heading for Spirit Vulture Peak," he replied, "to pay my respects to the Buddha." "Oh! Since you are going to Spirit Vulture Peak, you will pass my house on your way," said the old farmer. "Could you stop there and tell my wife to bring just my lunch today, since our son is now dead ?" The yogi was even more amazed by the old man's words, and decided to visit the house and see how the young man's mother would react to his death. When he arrived at the farmhouse, he met the farmer's wife, and told her, "As your husband and son were working in the fields, your son was bitten by a poisonous snake and died instantly, so your husband asked me to tell you to only prepare lunch for one today." The woman simply answered, "Oh, okay." The yogi thought this was truly strange. "That is your son we are talking about," he shouted. "He has just been killed by a poisonous snake!" The woman remained unperturbed, and said only, "There is nothing I can do about that. If it was time for him to go, I could not have held him back even if I had wanted to. Nor could I have told him not to stay, if that had been his wish." The stunned yogi could only think, "This old lady is just as devoid of human feeling as her husband!" Just then, a young lady came out of her bedroom. The yogi, wondering if she was the young man's wife, asked her if the deceased young man was her husband. "Yes," she answered. And the yogi tried once again, saying, "He was just killed by a poisonous snake!" But the young lady seemed just as unperturbed as her parents-in-law. "Well, that's the way it goes," was all she could say. The yogi then thought, "This farm is close to where the Buddha teaches, so why does this entire family show no sign of human sentiment? I must go to Spirit Vulture Peak and ask the Buddha himself for an explanation! The Buddha has the supernatural power to know the past and future, as well as the ability to read others' minds, so he knew that although the yogi was engaged in cultivation, he had not yet untangled himself from the ties of secular sentiment. The Buddha could not speak directly about the Law of Dependent Origination to such a person, because the unenlightened often find the truth repugnant, and become angry. So, the Buddha first accommodated the yogi's feelings, and said, "How can those people be so cold-hearted when they are related either by blood or by marriage! Words are wasted on people like them!" Upon hearing these words, the yogi thought to himself, "The Buddha's words are absolutely correct! He is a man with human sympathies after all! So, why were those farmers so cold and unfeeling?" The yogi decided to probe further, and asked the Buddha why the farmer's family was so unfeeling. The Buddha replied: "It is because they know that the existence of all things is dependent upon conditions. When the conditions arise, things are born, and when the conditions change, things die. Such is the nature of all conditioned existence, so that one cannot force either the beginning or the end of any existing thing." Then the Buddha began to preach the Law of Dependent Origination to the yogi, who immediately understood it, and said, "Aha! So that's the way it is!" After explaining the Law of Dependent Origination, the Buddha continued his teaching. "Do you know" he said, "that humans are like a flock of birds in the forest: in the face of danger, they all fly off in different directions. When one's life span has come to its end and the time to die has come, one can do nothing to hold on to one's life. Everyone has his or her individual karmic conditions and karmic consequences. That is the essence of the Law of Dependent Origination, and it cannot be altered by anyone's worldly ways!" After listening to the Buddha's words, the yogi instantly understood. By practicing expediency, the Buddha could speak about the same Dharma concept in different ways. The Buddha first preached a conventional Dharma, adapting it to the secular sentiments of the yogi to console him and put him at ease. Only then did he speak of the Law of Dependent Origination in a straightforward manner, so the yogi's eyes could finally be opened to the cold reality of how the conditions of this world arise and cease without concern for human sentiment. After receiving the Five Precepts from the Buddha and paying him homage, the yogi left with newfound wisdom.