Return to Main Page

Return to Inspire Page

Return to Story Page

Story Index

I Thought You Could Help

A farmer came to see the Buddha. He went on telling the Buddha his problems with the farming, with his wife and with his kids, laying out all his difficulties and worries.

The Buddha patiently listened to the man. Finally he wound down and waited for the Buddha to say the words that would put everything right for him. Instead, the Buddha said, "I can't help you."

"What do you mean?" said the astonished man.

"Everybody's got problems," said the Buddha. "In fact we've all got eighty-three problems and there's nothing you can do about it. If you work really hard on one of them, maybe you can fix it -- but if you do, another one will pop right into its place. For example, you're going to lose your loved ones eventually. And you are going to die some day. Now there's a problem, and there's nothing you, or I, or anyone else can do about it."

The man became furious. "I thought you were a great teacher!" he shouted. "I thought you could help me! What good is your teaching then?"

The Buddha said, "Well, maybe it will help you with the eighty-fourth problem."

The man was puzzled, "What's the eighty-fourth problem?"

Said the Buddha, "You want to not have any problems."

We think that we have to deal with our problems in a way that exterminates them, that distorts or denies their reality. But in doing so, we try to make reality into something other than what it is. We try to rearrange and manipulate the world so that dogs will never bite, accidents will never happen, and the people we care about will never die. Even on the surface, the futility of such efforts should be obvious.