A Parable “The Story of the Mustard Seed”

[Sparkie]

Please don’t read if you don’t like to hear about suffering or death .. I was originally disturbed by this story because it’s heart breaking but it’s something that came back to me as I was thinking about the post regarding being considerate to people who are facing or have faced adversity in their lives.

Parables are a great way to help us sit back, think and always hold a good lesson that stays with us.

Many of us might want to not even think of things like this or just shelve these experiences in to the closet of our minds, in fear of being exposed to the same situation in our lives, but when we think about life with detachment we realize that these lessons are meant to help strengthen us in the face of adversity. They open our mind up to let go of fear of the unknown, imperfect or darkness. Because there is always light 🌺💕🤗 in what we experience in life. There is always a lesson and it strengthens us when it is given with the right intention.. love.

“The Story of the Mustard Seed,”
which illustrates Buddha’s teachings on impermanence and the nature of suffering.

Once, there was a young woman named Kisa, who lived in a village. She was happily married and had a beloved son. But one day, her son fell ill and died suddenly. Overwhelmed by grief, Kisa could not accept his death. She carried her son’s lifeless body through the village, asking anyone she met if they could help bring her son back to life.

Finally, a wise man advised her to go and seek help from the Buddha, who was nearby teaching. Desperate, Kisa went to the Buddha and begged him to bring her son back to life.

The Buddha, with great compassion, told her that he could help her, but she first needed to bring him a mustard seed from a house where no one had ever died.

Filled with hope, Kisa immediately set off on her mission. She went from house to house, asking for a mustard seed. Every family was willing to give her one, but when she asked if anyone had died in their household, the answer was always the same—someone had died, whether it was a parent, a sibling, a grandparent, or a friend.

As she continued her search, Kisa slowly realized that death is a part of life, and no one is exempt from it. Every family had experienced loss, just as she had. Her personal grief was part of a larger truth about the impermanence of life.

With this understanding, Kisa returned to the Buddha, no longer asking for her son to be revived but instead seeking guidance on how to cope with her suffering.

The Buddha explained to her that death and loss are inevitable, and the way to end suffering is through acceptance of impermanence, and through following the path of wisdom and compassion.

This story is often used to illustrate the Buddhist teaching of impermanence (anicca) and the universality of suffering. It shows how the Buddha’s teachings can help individuals find peace even in the face of the greatest personal tragedies.

[Michael_Admin]

I like these parables. And even though this one deals with loss, it is very uplifting.

[Sparkie]

Thank you Michael, impermanence or the ever changing nature of everything is a perspective that helps us to cope with suffering/change and to uplift ourselves by helping others and ourselves.

So I always find this story and others very nice to think about and like you other users have reached out to say that they love these stories.

This story is a good reminder to let go of attachments that cause suffering, to increase our wisdom by learning and developing intelligence, and to use discretion which tells us what to pay attention and what not to.

These help me a lot and I hope they help others too 🥰🤗😘

[Real ABF’er]

Thank you for sharing this, very insightful.

[Sparkie]

Hi Real ABF’er,

Thank you so much for your kind words, insight is a great word to use for this story because it really brings “inward” sight on the concept of impermanence and possibly allowing us to bring a new thought or idea into our consciousness in an easy way via a story.

Hope you have a great night. 🤗💕

[Tittsburgh Feelers]

Thank you for sharing this. What stayed with me is that the Buddha didn’t lecture her about accepting loss. He helped her discover that she wasn’t alone in it. Knowing others have suffered doesn’t make our own grief smaller, but it can make us feel less alone. It’s a beautiful reminder to be gentle with people, because we rarely know everything they’re carrying.

[Sparkie]

Oh vibe I have to say this is a wonderful insight .. yes I noticed that too that he decided to teach her in a compassionate way.

That’s a great reminder for us in the texting world because we only have a snapshot of a person and a view point that is based on an our own subjective ness or life experience.

So a wonderful reminder to be gentle with people as much as possible because we don’t know what they are going through. Wow I loved that! thank you so much for bringing this to the fore front 🤗🌺

[Jen (North Carolina)]

Thank you for posting this @sind, what a kind way of understanding loss.

@showerthoughts what a lovely take away.

[Rumina]

Beautiful story. Its true: to be able to cope with the loss of a loved one you’ll have to accept it happened.
That can be terri ly difficult, especially when it happened suddenly or way to soon or both. There might be some ‘ unfinished business’ too.

So uou are left wiyh a whole bunch of mixed emotions. Not only love, but also anger and disappointment. Its very tough.
What helped me more than realising I wasnt the only one: go back in time and think of the good memories. The last part is often not yhe best part ( if someone was ill). So go back in ti.e, think of the good tomes. Look for old photo’s and realise what has been there. Yes, it hurts, but it replaces anger with gratitide. It softens the heart.

[Author]

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