Bricks in the Mud

Finding happiness is mostly a matter of perspective.

I remember one afternoon as I was sitting on the steps of our monastery in Nepal. The monsoon storms had turned the courtyard into an expanse of muddy water, and we had set out a path of bricks to serve as stepping-stones. A friend of mine came to the edge of the water, surveyed the scene with a look of disgust, and complained about every single brick as she made her way across. When she got to me, she rolled her eyes and said, “Yuck! What if I’d fallen into that filthy muck? Everything’s so dirty in this country!” Since I knew her well, I prudently nodded, hoping to offer her some comfort through my mute sympathy.

A few minutes later, Raphaele, another friend of mine, came to the path through the swamp. “Hup, hup, hup!” she sang as she hopped, reaching dry land with the cry, “What fun!” Her eyes sparkling with joy, she added: “The great thing about the monsoon is that there’s no dust.” Two people, two ways of looking at things; six billion human beings, six billion worlds.

- Matthieu Ricard from "A Way of Being."

Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 29th of December 2009

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Matthieu Ricard presents such gentle, warm and humorous wisdom. More often than not I would seek to offer a different way of viewing the world to the first friend, rather than mute sympathy - with predictable results! Another opportunity to bring awareness to the impulse before the action take place.