Can The Artist See The Big Picture?
(Photo by photo-g-nick on Flickr)
Once upon a time, there was an artist. He loved to paint. He would spend hours painting beautiful pictures. He was happy, for he was engaged creatively.
Then, one day, he met with a motor bike accident one day. It was an accident, which was near fatal. He did survive however; but had to amputate his right arm, the arm that he used to paint with.
The artist was thrown into depression. With the loss of his arm, he could no longer produce works of art. His livelihood had disappeared! His source of happiness gone! He wept bitterly for days. The artist began to lose his will to live. Eventually, he decided that he could not take it any longer. Death was the only way out of his suffering, he thought. So the artist climbed to the tallest building in Perth, preparing to leap off from the roof.
There, on the rooftop, the artist stood. He gingerly lifted one of his feet over the edge of the building. He looked over to the street below him. He was about to make the jump; when out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something that made him stop.
The artist drew in his breath.
He found it unbelievable!
For right in the middle of the street was a man dancing. What caught the artist’s attention was that the man had no arms. And this man appeared to be dancing in great joy!
Instantly, the artist had a flash of inspiration. He felt that he had no right to be depressed, for there was now another man who was less fortunate but yet so happy. He decided to change his mind about taking his own life.
The artist ran down the stairs of the building, wild with excitement over a renewed sense of hope. He wanted to thank the dancing man on the street.
He hastily made a beeline for him.
The artist stopped before the man, huffing and puffing away, exhausted by his run.
He said to the man “Thank you so much! You have just saved my life! I was about to jump off a building when I saw you. I could not help but be inspired. You have no arms and yet, you are dancing away! Can you explain what is making you so happy?”
The man was taken aback. He paused for a moment.
Then, he told the artist, “With due respect, Sir, I was not dancing. I was only trying to scratch my bum. It was itchy.”
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Above was one of the many stories that were told to thousands of devotees by Ajahn Brahm in a talk (see photo below), which I attended last Friday evening. Ajahm Brahm, head abbot of the Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth, was here in Singapore for the weekend for a series of talks cum meditation workshops. Described as the “Seinfeld of Buddhism”, he is known for his dry British wit, self-deprecation and candid take on all things big and small; according to the news feature on him in our papers yesterday. I have been personally following his talks for some 8 years now.
As a volunteer to the editorial team of the Buddhist Fellowship (the organizer that flew him in), I went to the Bright Hill Temple to cover one of the events. The topic on Friday evening was titled “Dealing with Uncertainties in Life”. I have added some finer details to his story above, for publication here on my post.
Click on the news here if you want to read about what happened.
See The Big Picture
Karthik Rajaram obviously could not see beyond the pain of losing his job and the money. He could not envision the possibility of being able to survive the bad times, despite having his family around him. The lack of hope killed him. It was obvious that he valued financial wealth immensely. Believing that it was best that he brought his family along, Karthik took things to the extreme.
Ajahn Brahm pointed out that it is often that we fail to see the big picture when we have fallen into hard times. In Karthik’s case, he had not. What, then, is the big picture? The big picture is about two things; what our most valuable asset is and the impermanence of bad times.
The most valuable asset is our family and the community around us. Such is life; there are up times and there are down times. While we may lose all our money, what cannot be taken away is the human spirit. The togetherness. The love and support from the closest people around us.
Additionally, we all know that hard times do not last; just as good times do not as well. Karthik clearly had lost touch with reality. He demonstrated that he did not have the patience to ride out the storm.
Ajan Brahm suggested that in uncertain financial times such as now, it is a good idea to look at life less seriously. Inject a little humor! Have a little fun! Laugh!
Link Love To Finance Posts
There is a ton of advice by other bloggers on how best to deal with the financial crisis. Here are some excellent ones.
Maintaining A Prosperity Consciousness No Matter What by Lorraine Cohen.
Back to Basics: Establish a Personal Emergency Fund by Jeff Nickles
The End of Wealth by Peter Clemens
7 Paths To Excessive Wealth by Flying LamaFish. Highly Recommended!!!
On my site, i am intending to share with you stories and jokes to keep you entertained. Laughter brings up your energy vibes; and hence, it is probably the best weapon to wage any war against feeling blue.
Your thoughts please
Enjoyed the story above told by Ajahn Brahm? Against the backdrop of a financial meltdown, can we choose to walk in hope, love and inspiration rather than in despair, misery and suffering? How else can we prevent ourselves from being overly worried about the current financial crisis? Do share your thoughts below!
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