Turtle

"Imagine that the whole earth was covered with water, and a man was to throw a yoke with a hole in it into the water. Blown by the wind, that yoke would drift north, south, east and west. Now, suppose that once in hundred years a blind turtle would rise to the surface. What do you think? Would that turtle put his head through the hole in the yoke as he rose to the surface once in a hundred years?"

"It is unlikely Lord."

"Well, it is just as unlikely that one will be born as a human being; it is just unlikely that a Tathagata, a Noble One, a fully enlightened Buddha should arise in the world; and it is just as unlikely that the Dhamma and discipline of the Tathagata should be taught. But now you have been born as a human being, a Tathagata has arisen and the Dhamma has been taught. Therefore, strive to realize the Four Noble Truths."

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Hyderabad - a great learning experience

Besides work training, I managed to visit Birla Mandir, an Indian temple made of white marble. This is where my colleague Gaurav introduced me to the characters in Mahabharata and Ramayana. Honestly I don't remember any of those characters by now. What I do remember is his excellent elevator pitch on the Mahabharata epic, that if it were made into a movie, it would be as great as Lord of the Rings, if not greater.

Thereafter, on my way back to Malaysia at the Hyderabad international airport, KS wanted to utilize her remaining Indian rupees, so we went to this book shop after she decided not to buy more kerachi biscuits. She bought a magazine, and I bought an illustrated Mahabharata book by Devdutt Pattanaik. The summary at the back of the book cover caught my attention, and it did its job as another great elevator pitch for Mahabharata.

True enough, the epic was interesting and suits me well. It's a mix of folklore, history and religion. While I know that Buddhism originated from India (and was earlier intrigued by another Indian colleague who tried to tell me about the history of Buddhism from an Indian perspective), I did not realise that Buddhism and India / Hinduism have so much in common. I also did not know that this is where the famous bhagavad gita originated from.

Then I went to read up on Mahabharata ans bhagavad gita on wiki, and found that there are writings suggesting that Buddha is an incarnation of Vishnu, same like Krishna. So this is where my colleague was coming from when he tried to explain that Siddhartha was believed to be incarnation of god Vishnu,which I objected at that time. Clearly this incident is trying to teach me to be more open. I do not know what I do not know. What I perceived as the truth may not be the case because I just do not know what I do not know.

I am very happy with whatever has taken place as I felt that I've learned so much on my religion. Seeing its roots in India, gave me a new perspective of looking at how Buddhism has evolved in India and in China. I'm also thankful to my new friends, however short our encounters were in India, I am grateful to have known you all and grateful that you were part of my spiritual journey. Sadhu!

~ttg @ Realized Tranquility of the Heart~

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