Mahatma Buddha
The POWER of UNDERSTANDING
Once, the Buddha asked one of his disciples, Aniruddha, whether he had given some food to the beggar who used to sit under a banyan tree.
“He abuses me the moment I approach him with food. So, I avoid him and don’t go there,” Aniruddha replied.
The Buddha didn’t say anything. The next day, he himself went to give some food to that beggar.
The beggar abused the Buddha too.
Unfazed and eternally tranquil, the Buddha said, “Son, I’ve brought some food for you.”
That man again abused him. The Buddha didn’t say anything; he just sat there silently.
After some time, he asked the beggar, “Son, why do you get exasperated when someone tries to give you food?”
The man started crying. He said, once a man gave him food laced with poison. He somehow survived but became suspicious of all and especially of those who tried to feed him.
The ever-smiling Buddha took a bite of the food that he carried for the beggar. “Son, it is not poisoned. See, I’ve tasted it.”
The beggar stopped cursing and accepted food from him.
Such is the power of understanding, the first step to acceptance. And only with acceptance can there be recovery.
