My mind is quiet. The earth is calm. The essence of my spirit is embalmed without a qualm. I begin to drift through frames of clarity when I hear a screech emanate, startling and scaring me. A man who has skin worn like tanned leather is furious at the world to which he is tethered. As the clear skies of my mental visions are smacked with hail from this villagers oblivion, I long to remain in the frames of my brain but I know if I stay, Buddha would distain. “What would the Buddha do?” I ask myself, and immediately upon questioning, I realize I must help.
The tribulations which radiate from this mans vocal chords strike my ear drums as hoards of garrulous whores. The Jezebeled dialect of the ill-advised intellect echoes the reflection of a man living without self-protection. I know I must act with the highest discretion to avoid sending this fellow into further digression.
I ask him to relay his trials and tribulations and he launches them onto me without the slightest hesitation.
He tells me of his crops, whose yearly yields have flopped. The corn has borne no fledgling seedlings and he nothing to provide his family with feeding. He fears his children will starve from poor nutrients and his wife will carve herself up to save their young accoutrements.
In addition to his lack of produce, he has no funds to afford a new suit and due to this missing piece, he cannot find the job he seeks.
“No food, no money, no love from my honey... What have I done to call hell on?” I begin to speak, but he is not yet finished as his trials span more than what had already been diminished.
He tells me of his honest demeanor and how he thought this would protect him from evil schemers, but apparently his karma had not panned out, for his neighbor had stolen a milking sow. Not only that, but several chickens too! They flew the coop with his cow, Milanka-Sue.
Of the thief, he knows the truth, but of the crime, he has no proof, so, the winner in this unfairly biased lawsuit, is his neighbor... so long, Milanka-Sue.
All of this grief has come upon him at once and now his head pounds like a deafening drum. Because of the beating he feels he has suffered, his psyche is battering into spoiled butter. He feels the mold eat at his brain and thinks if one more thing happens, he will go insane.
After he finishes his chest is heaving and I visualize waves of ocean tides in his breathing. Tipping and turning back and forth in my head, I realize my silence sends this man into dread, so I take a deep breath and steady myself to make sure to use the words that will help.
He believes his dish to be empty but his burden to be full to I decide to cure him of pains insatiable. I tell him of the greatest numbers which have fallen on my plate. I tell him of the numbers four and eight.
The number 4 forms the foundation of a happy life in its essential equation. Four Noble Truths are what you must follow in order to be relieved of any trouble you have swallowed. First you must know, and this is a fact, that all life involves suffering, understand this and relax. This dissatisfaction begins, as all things do, with a craving we feel for something fresh, something new. When want for this excess, we create our own distress, so do not fret, simply accept. All of this pain is readily eased when you find the source of the craving and make it cease. Sever ties you have to anything holding you back, then, when you find your personal freedom, guide yourself with intuition, with wisdom.
The easiest way to realize this state is to understand the other number for an excellent fate. The other perfect digit, is the number eight.
With right understanding, right thought and right speech, all of your goals may be soon be reached. Follow with right action, livelihood and effort and you will write your existence into an elegant report. The last two right ways for perfect creation are right mindfulness and right meditation. You can create new life with these simple truths, just know all is free from misfortune and misuse.
Follow the Noble Eightfold in tandem with the Noble Four and your life will be free from all things making you sore.
After I finished these speeches, I began to see smiles in the creases of this sweet and aged mans facial features. “No more dukka, no more dukka!” he ran away shouting, and I couldn't help thinking that the Buddha would be quite proud of me. I retreated back into the pillows of myself and I felt this day had been a blessing for two souls health.
We all need an occasional reminder of the big picture in life and what we should really pine for.
-Toni Lane Casserly, TLC
