01/04/2015
Love this little story .. Enjoy
There once was a young prince named Siddhartha, who later in life became the Buddha. One day he decided to go off into the mountains and seek truth, inner transformation and spiritual vitality. This search for enlightenment meant leaving all that he was and all that he owned: his kingdom, his parents, his wife, and his child. Although he was full of doubts about his journey, he made up his mind and snuck out in the middle of the night without telling anyone.
After twelve years, he became an enlightened man. In his new radiance he returned to his palace to apologize to those he loved for leaving. The first person he encountered was his father, who was very angry. For an hour, his father shouted at him and attempted to shame him for abandoning his crown, his family, and his responsibility. The father was ranting and raving when suddenly he stopped and noticed that his son, the Buddha, was just standing there in perfect composure and peace, completely unaffected.
The Buddha said, "This is what I wanted for you, Father. I wanted you to get all that off your chest. Please dry your tears and really look at me, because I am not the same boy who left the palace twelve years ago. Your son died a long time ago. I look like your son, but my whole being has changed. I am a new man."
" I can see you have changed, " the father replied. "You were at one time so hot headed and reactive, yet now you show no response to my anger toward you."
Then the Buddha's wife approached him and said, "I can see that you have been transformed, but these last twelve years have been really sad for me. You have obviously changed; you radiate a different light. Your presence is totally new and fresh; your eyes are pure and clear.
"However," she went on to say, " I have one question for you. This transformation, this new enlightened way of being that you have attained - could you not have attained it right here at home in your palace? Did your home and family somehow prevent you from finding truth and transformation?"
"I could have done it right here at home," the Buddha responded. "But in my ignorance, I did not know that there was no need to go to the mountains, no need for me to go anywhere. I had to go inside myself, and that could have happened anywhere”.