Featured Exquisite Mind webpage -- Suffering

There is a story from the time of the Buddha that speaks to suffering. A young woman lost her infant child to an illness. Distraught, she brought the body of her baby to see the Buddha. The Buddha was reputed to have healing powers. The Buddha responded to her plaintiff request by saying he would heal the child if she could bring him a mustard seed from a home that had never known death. She bowed and thanked and set off on her journey to find this mustard seed. She traveled for many months going home to home in each village she came to her. She heard story after story of loss and grief. By the time she returned to the Buddha, she had attained insight into the nature of impermanence and how attachment causes suffering. Read more ...