Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Interview With The Buddha

Interview With The Buddha
I dreamt I had an interview with the Buddha.
"Come in," He said. "So, you would like to interview me?"
"If you have the time," I said.
The Buddha smiled and said: "For me, there is no time; it doesn't exist. What questions do you have in mind to ask me?"
"What surprises you most about mankind?" I asked.
The Buddha answered: "That they get bored at being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.That by thinking anxiously about the future , they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future.That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived..."
The Buddha's hands took mine and we were silent for a while and then I asked..."As a Bodhisattva, what are some of life's lessons you want humans to learn?
The Buddha replied with a smile: "To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved;To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives;To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. All suffer and receive rewards individually on their own merits, not as a group on a comparison basis! To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least; To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them; To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness; To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings; To learn that money can buy everything but happiness; To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally different; To learn that a true friend is someone who knows everything about them...and likes them anyway. To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they have to forgive themselves."
I sat there for a while enjoying the moment. I thanked the great Bodhisattva for his time (which was nonexistent) and for all the wisdom that he left here for me, for my family and for my friends.
He replied, "Anytime. I'm available, if you'll pardon the expression, 24 hours a day. All you have to do is look for me inside yourself. That's where I live. I'll answer every time.People will forget what you say. People will forget what you do. But people will never forget how you made them feel."
(Source: Unknown - does anyone know?)

2 comments:

Sophia said...

Thanks for sharing this! I will post this in one of the newsgroups I hang out in. I just LOVED it. :)

Anonymous said...

You are most welcome to share the sublime Dhamma with anyone who is keen to learn the true nature of things ...