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A Story for
Thought
"A tale
is told about the Gautam. This short story illustrates that every one of us has
the choice whether or not to take personal offense from another person's
behavior.
It is said
that on an occasion when the Buddha was teaching a group of people, he found
himself on the receiving end of a fierce outburst of abuse from a bystander,
who was for some reason very angry.
The Buddha
listened patiently while the stranger vented his rage, and then the Buddha said
to the group & to the stranger, "If someone gives a gift to another
person, who then chooses to decline it, tell me, who would then own the gift?
The giver, or the person who refuses to accept the gift?"
"The
giver," said the group after a little thought. "Any fool can see
that," added the angry stranger.
"Then
it follows, does it not," said the Buddha, "Whenever a person tries
to abuse us, or to unload their anger on us, we can each choose to decline or
to accept the abuse; whether to make it ours or not. By our personal response to
the abuse from another, we can choose who owns & keeps the bad
feelings." "
