Banish Sorrow
Once upon a time, a disciple asked his Guru, “Master, please tell me how to get rid of sorrow.”
This was a big question, asked in a few words. How to live in a world of sorrows but get rid of it!
The Guru responded, “I will answer you, but first, bring me the shoes worn by a happy person.”
The disciple went away to look for shoes.
He approached the first ‘happy-looking’ man he saw and explained why he needed to borrow a pair of shoes worn by a happy man, just for the day. The man looked at him surprised and told him all about his financial troubles that were keeping him anxious all day. “I am not happy, go find someone else’s shoes.
He kept walking and on the next street, he saw a lady sweeping while whistling. He again made his request to borrow her shoes for the day. After listening to him, she told him all about her cruel husband and her disobedient son and told him those two could never allow her to find happiness. It was not her shoes he was looking for.
On and on he kept going and everyone whose shoes he thought he could borrow for the day ended up telling him why they were not the happy person he was looking for. Eventually, tired, empty-handed, and with a pair of worn-out shoes of his own, the disciple returned to his Guru.
“I went from place to place but neither was I able to find a happy man, nor did I get any shoes worn by a happy man,” said the disciple.
The Guru asked, “When you talked to people, what did you find? Why are people not happy? What are they sad about?
The disciple listed all the reasons he had been given by those he had met on his search.
The Guru said, “In summary, every person is suffering because of another person. In that case, then, the way to get rid of sorrow is not to look towards others but to look within yourself. Consider your ability, and if you want to compete, do it with yourself. Do not change your ways because of others. Change to be a better you today than you were yesterday.”
In this social media age, we can sink into deep despair after a short binge on social media. The images, the stories, the reels. . . it all looks so glamorous and starkly different from our mundane existence. We forget that it is a curated reality, it is not the real thing. The Guru is right, if you live by external stimulation, you will forever be sad because someone out there will always look like they’re having a better time, more money, and more satisfaction than you. The way to go is to take the path of introspection. Am I a better me today than I was yesterday? Have I beaten the record I set last week yet? If not, what am I doing to improve on my personal best time?
Today, look within and banish the sorrow that comes from looking without.
“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.” ~ Rumi
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