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PREFACE: LV
son. The old lady went to Lord Buddha and requested him to make her son well. Buddha knew that if he plainly told her that her son had died, she wouldn't believe Him. So, He told her to fetch a handful of mustard seeds from any household from the village that hadn't had a death in it. "I shall make your son alright as soon as you bring the mustard seeds", He said.
The old lady rushed to the first house in the village and asked for the mustard grains. The lady of the house brought the grains readily and offered them to her. However, she couldn't accept the grains as she was told that the household had had deaths in the past. She faithfully went round each and every house in the village but couldn't find a single one that hadn't had deaths. Someone would say, "my father died here, my mother died here." Someone else would say, "only recently my son died in this very house."
Dejected, the old lady went back to where Lord Buddha was and said that she couldn't find the mustard seeds as there was no household in the village that hadn't had deaths in the past.
At this stage, Lord Buddha explained the reality about the births and deaths to her. He said, "all those that take birth certainly die, this is the way of the nature." Your son was born and lived the entitled life. He had to die now. There is no escape from death", He said.
This changed the old lady's perspective on death. The grief of losing a son that seemed unbearable a little while ago did not seem so unbearable after this change of perspective.
