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A CURE
FOR SORROW
There
is an old Chinese tale about the woman whose only son died.
In her grief, she went to the holy man and said, "What
prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my
son back to life?"
Instead of sending her away or reasoning
with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a mustard seed from a
house that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive
the sorrow out of your life."
The
woman set off at once in search of that magical mustard
seed. She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the
door, and said, "I am looking for a home that has never
known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to
me. They told her, "You've certainly come to the wrong
place," and began to describe all the tragic things that had
recently befallen them. The woman said to herself, "Who is
better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I,
who have had a misfortune of my own?" She stayed to comfort
them, then went on in her search for a home that had never
known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hovels and in
palaces, she found one tale after another of sadness and
misfortune.
Ultimately, she became so involved in
ministering to other people's grief that she forgot about
her quest for the magical mustard seed, never realizing that
it had in fact driven the sorrow out of her life.
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