| Once, Lord Buddha
knocked at the door of a lady for alms (alms are food that people
provide to Holy men, as respect to God.) While offering the food,
the lady asked Him, "Why do people remember God by chanting (repeating)
His Name and attending satsangs?
Are they important?" Lord Buddha smiled
and promised that He would tell her the answer the next day. He
also requested her to prepare plenty of porridge to be able to answer
the question she had asked. The lady did not understand why Lord
Buddha needed the porridge. As she was very curious she decided
to prepare the porridge for Him.
The next day, Lord Buddha came and requested
for alms in His bowl. The lady brought the big vessel of porridge
and stepped forward to pour the porridge in the bowl. She was surprised
to find that the bowl was full of mud. There was no space to pour
the porridge. She did not know what to do.
Lord Buddha instructed her to pour the porridge
on top of the mud. She followed the instructions and began pouring
the porridge into the bowl. At first the porridge spilled on the
ground but gradually, due to the force with which the porridge flowed
into the bowl, the mud began to spill out as well. Finally, all
the mud spilled out and the bowl was filled to the top with porridge.
She was puzzled about why Lord Buddha had asked her to pour and
waste so much of the porridge.
Lord Buddha then explained, "I have just
showed you the importance of chanting* and satsang on the impure
mind. When we chant and attend satsang, we constantly pour the positive
thought of God's Name into our mind. Even if our mind is at first
filled with bad qualities like anger, jealousy, greed, etc., these
slowly wash away and it is then filled with God's Name that is full
of purity and joy like God is."
The lady understood instantly and started chanting
God's Name with faith everyday. |
