A Teaching That Even Einstein Heard
The other day, my grandfather's 49th-day memorial service was held. Despite an approaching typhoon, the Buddhist monk came and recited sutras for about an hour. During this time, as part of his sermon, he shared the story of 'Ubastute Yama' (the mountain where elderly people were abandoned). He mentioned that a prominent monk of the Jodo Shinshu sect had once told this same story to Albert Einstein when he asked, 'What is Buddha?'
Long ago, in the land of Shinano, there was a custom where elderly parents were abandoned in the mountains. One day, a son carried his aging mother on his back as they headed toward the mountain. Along the way, the mother kept breaking off branches and dropping them on the path. The son suspected, 'Is she marking the path so she can find her way back?' However, when they reached their destination, the mother said, 'I broke the branches so that you won’t lose your way when you return to the village.' She was concerned for her son. The son, ashamed of thinking only about abandoning his mother, wept, and carried her back home on his back.
In other words, even a son who was trying to abandon his mother was not forsaken; she still cared for him. That kind of parental love was explained as a description of the Buddha. One of my relatives, moved by this story, couldn’t help but cry. It made me think that while this was a parent-child story, such compassion can be applied to real life as well.
People have their own reasons for their actions. So, just because someone does something bad, like littering or shoplifting, it doesn’t necessarily make them a bad person. By considering behind someone's actions, we might gain a deeper understanding and perhaps feel sympathy. It was an experience that made me wish for a world where more people could extend that kind of compassion to others.
Bye!