The mustard seed






Kisa Gotami had a young son who was the sunshine of her day. It came to pass that hardly had he grown big enough to run and play, when he died. So great was the sorrow of Kisa Gotami that she would not accept the boy's death.
Instead, she took to the streets, carrying her dead son. She went forth from house to house, knocking at each door and demanding: "Somebody give me medicine for my son!"
People saw that she was going mad. They made fun of her and told her: "There is no medicine for the dead." But she acted as if she didn't understand, and only went on asking.

A certain old man saw Kisa Gotami and understood that it was her sorrow for her dead son that had driven her out of her mind. He did not mock her, but instead told her: "Woman, there is one who might know of medicine that can help you, the Processor of Ten Forces, he who is foremost among men and gods. Go to the monastery. Ask him about the medicine you need." Seeing that the old man spoke the truth, she went with her son to the monastery in which the Buddha resided. Eagerly, she approached the seat of the Buddhas where the Teacher sat. "I wish to have medicine for my son, Exalted One," she said.
The Buddha answered: "It is well that you have come here. This is what you must do. You must go to each house in the city, one by one, and from each you must seek to fetch tiny grains of mustard seed. But not just any house will do. You must only take mustard seeds from those houses in which no one has ever died."

Gotami agreed at once, and delightedly set out to re-enter the city. At the first house she knocked and asked, saying: "It is I, Gotami, sent by the Processor of the Ten Forces. You are to give me tiny grains of mustard seed. This is the medicine I must have for my son."
And when they brought her the mustard seed, she added: "Before I take the seed, tell me, is this a house in which no one has died?"
"Oh no, Gotami," they answered. "The dead from this house are beyond counting."
"Then I must go elsewhere," said Gotami. "The Exalted One was very clear on this point. I am to seek out mustard seeds only from those houses which death has not visited."
On she went from one house to the next. But always the same answer. In the entire city there was no house which death had not touched. Finally, she understood why she had been sent on this hopeless mission. She left the city, overcome with her feelings and carried her dead son to the burning-ground. There she gave him up.

Returning to the monastery, she was greeted by the Buddha who asked her: "Good Gotami, did you fetch the tiny grains of mustard seed from the house without death, as I told you to?"
And Gotami answered: "Most honored sir, there are no houses where death is not known. All mankind is touched by it. My own dear son is dead. But I see now that whoever is born must die. Everything passes away. There is no medicine for this but acceptance of it. This acceptance is my refuge."