Me, My Guru – Hiss, but don’t bite

 

Me, My Guru – Hiss, but don’t bite

Today, we arrived a bit earlier than usual. We used that time to share our woes. Some just listened. Some gave advice. Some shared their experiences similar to ours.

“How can we raise our kids without shouting at them or beating them? Guru asks us to not get angry. But, when we don’t get angry, children take us for a ride. They are not afraid of us. They don’t listen to us. They don’t respect us. How can being soft work with our kids?” lamented Vidya. We all agreed with her. She did have a point. We all shared our sob stories.

Our Guru entered, sat in her seat and went into meditation. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and said “In a certain village Buddha gave his discourse for a fortnight. He emphasized the importance of developing qualities of non-violence, forgiveness, patience, forbearance and other such qualities. He also explained how hurting and harming others – knowingly or unknowingly affected our karma – negatively. One cobra, a snake was also listening to this discourse daily. On the final day as Buddha was leaving the village, this cobra came to meet Buddha. It bowed to Buddha and said, “Master, I’ve been listening to your discourse every single day. I am impressed. I wish to walk the path towards Enlightenment. Please accept me as your shishya”.

Buddha looking at the very huge, fat cobra willing to walk this path smiled and said “So be it!”

Now our cobra – let’s call him Nagaraj had been living on the paths leading to and from the village. He would be waiting for its victims to come on its path. It would raise its hood as high as a man’s shoulders and bite its victims.  

Many people died due to its poison. It was dreaded in that village and in the neighbouring villages too.

Contd....

# me my Guru series, Buddha and the snake, hiss but not bite, be firm but gentle, anger, calm, disturbed mind, balanced person, 

also read suggested on this topic https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/search?q=angulimaan