Gautam Buddha and Prince Shrona
Buddhahood is the peak of human consciousness which every human is capable of achieving. A Buddha is always conscious of his actions. His actions carry lot of grace, silence and meditative energy.
Gautam Buddha was so graceful in his actions and words that many princes left
their royal families to join buddha to realize their ultimate potential
that is buddhahood.
Shrona was one such Prince who belonged to a royal family and who left
every thing to join Buddha. Up till now, Shrona had lived the life of woman, wine,
luxury and
comforts. One day the grace of Buddha entered in his life and he left
everything to become 'Shrona the Monk'.
But Shrona was not like other Monks. He was a special monk. Although
He had taken the robe of a monk. But up till now, No transformation has
happened into him. His mind was still the same. He was
doing all sort of austerities on his Body. In hot blazing sun, Other monks used to take rest under the shadow of
a tree. But Shrona used
to stay under Blazing Sun. He used to walk barefoot, used to eat very meagerly
and so on. All this austerities took a toll on Shrona body and Soon
Shrona was a mere skeleton.
At last seeing Shrona condition Buddha went to Shrona and asked him.
"I want to ask you one question. You were a very good Veena Player. If the chords of Veena are too loose
or too tight, Then can we play the good music out of that Veena"
Shrona Said "No, its not possible. To play good music out of Veena
Instrument, The chords should not be too tight or too loose. They should
be in the middle".
Buddha said "In life also we need to
follow the path of Middle. Earlier you were into too much comfort and
luxury. Now
you are into too much austerities and denial. Both paths are wrong".
Shrona understood
Buddha message and his life was transformed.
Mind clings to extremes.
It moves from one extreme to another.
Mind is either in past or in the present.
But if we stay in this present moment then mind is no longer there.
In the present moment mind just disappears.
Path of
middle is advocated by Gautam Buddha.
Body has Needs and Mind has
desires.
Body needs are Food, Sleep. Mind desires are Greed, Lust, fame.
Body
needs can be fulfilled and should be fulfilled.
Mind Needs can never be
Fulfilled and one should not even try to fulfill them.
The effort and energy which we put in fulfilling mind desires always
leads to misery and wastage of energy. Instead of following mind desires
one should understand the desires by passively witnessing them. One
should witness the desires and understand them. The very understanding
of desire frees us from them.
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