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There is much unrest in society nowadays, and all societal problems stem from people’s minds. It is easy to treat physical illnesses, but difficult to treat illnesses of the mind. The ancient saints and sages tried very hard to find the ultimate cure for every illness suffered by living beings. However, there are different schools of thought with various different opinions on this subject.
How then can we prescribe the right remedy for an illness? If we mindfully study and examine the things around us, we will discover that there are wondrous medicines everywhere which can cure the various illnesses of living beings.
In the Buddhist sutras, there is a story about Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Sudhana (a youth who was seeking enlightenment). In one of his travels, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva met Sudhana. He noticed that Sudhana was a very wise and adorable boy who was very eager to learn the Dharma and was very sincere and pious, too. So he kept the youth by his side and taught him many things, including teaching him the knowledge of medicine.
One day, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to Sudhana: “Go up to the mountain with a bag and bring back any herbs that you see."
Sudhana set off early in the morning and walked across a large forest in the mountain, yet he came back with an empty bag. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva asked him, "Why did you still return with an empty bag after being out the whole day?"
Sudhana replied, "From the moment I stepped out of the house, all that I saw along the way, be it flowers, grass, trees, stones or soil, have unique qualities and medicinal properties. How can I bring back so many things?"
The next day, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to Sudhana again: “You go out again today, and bring back those that are not medicine.”
Again, Sudhana went out with a bag and came home with his bag empty when the sunset. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva asked him what the problem was, and Sudhana replied, “Although many things in nature have healing properties, if we are unable to use the right medicine to treat an illness, then all the things in the mountain cannot be considered medicine. So, how am I to bring back so many things?”
From this story, we can understand that if we are mindful, we will find that everything we encounter in our life, be it external forms or sounds, is teaching us the ways of life.
If we are not mindful, no matter how many great principles we have listened to or how many things we have seen, we will not be able to comprehend true principles, let alone act according to the principles.
Source: Tzu Chi Taiwan website
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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