Act with Kindness
​An "act of kindness" refers to a selfless action performed to benefit someone else without expecting anything in return.
Kind Soul
One day Buddha was walking through a village teaching Dhamma. A very angry and rude young man belong to another group of believers came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”
Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man, “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”
The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered,
“It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”
The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.” …. …”If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy.”
The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Buddha.
“You are right, o Enlightened One, “he said. “Please teach me the path of love. I wish to become your follower.” The Buddha answered kindly, “Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to learn. Come with me.”
So he began to walk the path of Buddhism.
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MORAL OF THE STORY
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Anger leads to distruction and create negativity in ones life.
The Grieving Mother and the Buddha
One day, a young woman named Kisa Gotami came to Gautama Buddha, carrying the lifeless body of her baby in her arms. Her face was pale, her eyes swollen from endless crying, and her steps unsteady as she approached the Enlightened One.
“Lord,” she wept, “my baby is dead. Please, you must bring him back to life. You are the compassionate one, the miraculous one. I’ve heard of your powers—please, bring him back to me.”
The Buddha looked at her with great compassion. He could see the unbearable grief in her heart, the agony that clouded her mind. He gently said, “Kisa Gotami, I can help you, but first, you must bring me something I need for the process. Go into the village and bring me a handful of salt from a house that has never known death.”
Kisa Gotami was filled with hope. “A handful of salt?” she thought. “That’s easy enough.” Without delay, she set off for the village.
The Search for the Impossible
Kisa Gotami knocked on the first door she came to. A kind woman opened it, and Kisa Gotami explained her request. “I need a handful of salt,” she said, “but it must come from a house that has never experienced death. Has anyone ever died in your family?”
The woman’s face fell. “Oh, Kisa Gotami, we have lost loved ones. My father passed away last year, and my brother many years ago.”
Hearing this, Kisa Gotami thanked the woman and moved to the next house. Again, she explained her request. But the answer was the same. The family had experienced death—whether it was a parent, a child, or another loved one.
House after house, door after door, Kisa Gotami continued her search. Each time, she met people who had endured the pain of losing someone they loved. Some had lost a child like her. Others had lost parents, siblings, or spouses. Everyone, it seemed, had a story of grief.
As the day wore on, Kisa Gotami began to understand something profound. She realized that death was not unique to her. The pain of loss was not hers alone. It was a universal experience shared by all of humanity.
The Lesson of Acceptance
At dusk, Kisa Gotami returned to the Buddha, exhausted but transformed. She fell at his feet and said, “I understand now, Lord. I am not the only one who has lost a loved one. Death is a part of life, and no one can escape it.”
The Buddha nodded gently and said, “Kisa Gotami, the nature of life is impermanence. Just as the seasons change, so too do all things in this world. Life and death are part of the same cycle. By accepting this truth, you can find peace.”
With these words, Kisa Gotami’s grief began to ease. She understood that clinging to her child’s lifeless body would only prolong her suffering. She buried her child and returned to the Buddha to seek his teachings. Eventually, she became one of his devoted followers, finding solace in the path of wisdom and compassion.
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MORAL OF THE STORY
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Grief is Universal: Everyone experiences loss and suffering at some point in their lives. No one is exempt from the cycle of life and death.
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Acceptance Brings Peace: By accepting the impermanence of life, we can free ourselves from prolonged suffering and find inner peace.
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Empathy Connects Us: Recognizing that others share our pain can help us feel less isolated and more connected to humanity.
Buddha's wisdom
Once Gautam Buddha’s aunt came to him with her dead baby and asked him to revive the child. Buddha told her he would do so but that she needed to get him a vital ingredient for the resurrection: salt from a house which had never seen a death.
The woman ran door-to-door the whole day but didn’t find such a house. At dusk she fell at the Buddha’s feet and said she understands. She isn’t the only one to have suffered the loss of a loved one.
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MORAL OF THE STORY
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Stop feeling victimised. Everyone goes through pain.