The Greatest Gift … ( 02 / 28 / 2014 )
The Greatest Gift … ( 02 / 28 / 2014 )
Siddhartha awoke with a start at the glimmering of dawn and simply knew - - knew that he must set forth from his home ; that he must leave his wife and his son and his friends ; that he must abandon all his relationships and all the comforts of his royal life to rediscover the Great Truth that was his to one day share .
And so he gently woke his wife and made tea . And while sitting with her surrounded by the gathering light he explained his dilemma : that he knew he must go , and yet that also knew he did not want to leave his current life behind … " There can be no one without the other ", his wife calmly said ... and she gently touched his cheek with a smile , silently gathered his cloak and shoes , placed them softly at his feet , and quietly left the room … And so it was that Siddhartha departed in search of his Truth ... And he was gone for many moons .
During his travels , he met many wise ones and he practiced many paths ... He inundated himself with physical pleasures , and he denied himself every comfort ; he surrounded himself with wealth , and he lived as a pauper ; he laughed & frolicked with cohorts , and he sat silently alone in quiet solitude … All these different methods had something to teach him , and yet none of them offered him his Truth .
And then one day , while resting calmly underneath a boddhi tree , after all those months of trying to find the answers , his Awakening found him … At that moment , he opened his eyes and simply KNEW . He knew that human life in its most primal form consisted primarily of suffering ... He knew that this suffering came not from life ' s painful circumstances & difficult happenings , but rather from our yearning to be free from the same ... He knew that we are all more so much more than " only human "; that we could transcend this primitive dynamic of hollow unhappiness ; that real Peace & Joy were available to us all ... And he knew that there existed a simple , practical method for attaining this State of Bliss ; a Way of Living that shifted focus away from one ' s self and towards one ' s others .
He had rediscovered The Way of courageous Kindness – He had rediscovered The Way of pure Compassion – He had rediscovered The Way of selfless Love … And it was at that moment that his perfect Soul rose from within . He had become again the Buddha he had been at his birth ... And so he sighed deeply , stood up slowly and returned to his wife and son .
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