Story beginning with the line - 'I
tried my best but........'
Answers
Explanation:
Sanghas function best when the members
take care of one another. This holds true
even when the definition of Sangha is
extended to include all kinds of groups;
e.g. one’s household, circle of friends,
neighborhood, nation, or global
community. Of course we need good
leaders, yet there are different types of
leaders. A good leader empowers others,
sharing both responsibility and the
satisfaction of a job well done. It may
even be possible to have a Sangha where
all the members function in their own
way as leaders and there is a genuine
feeling of joint ownership.
I’d like to share two stories that
illustrate how the Dharma teachings can
influence how a Sangha functions. One
story is set in rural Japan where a village
is looking for a new leader. The villagers
think of an ingenious test. They fill a
large, shallow stone basin, measuring
about twenty feet in diameter, with very
hot water. They ask their two candidates
to demonstrate their abilities in some
fashion. The first candidate is a
powerfully built man who has undergone
rigorous martial arts training. He strips
down to his fundoshi (Japanese-style
underpants) and with a determined
attitude, slowly steps into the water.
Beads of sweat appear on his face as he
lowers himself deeper and deeper in the
hot water. Whispers are heard among the
villagers, “What courage!” “What
discipline!” The man then steps out of
the water, refuses an offered towel, and
calmly sits down on a nearby rock.
The second candidate is a middle-
aged woman known for her marital
ability of fostering a harmonious
household. As she stood before the
basin of steaming hot water, her two
children cry out, “Mom, don’t go in!”
She hesitates and after a moment of
thought, smiles and signals her husband
and his two brothers to bring tubs of cold
water from the nearby stream. She asks
for the tubs of cold water to be poured
into the stone basin. She then takes her
two children and steps into the water.
As her children are splashing and
laughing, she calls out for all the
villagers to join them.
At a later village meeting, the
villagers admired the strength of the first
candidate but thought, “What about after
he is gone? Is it wise to depend upon
an individual leader when considering
the long-term welfare of the village?”
They decided in favor of a leader with a
sharing attitude who fostered co-
operation.
Upon finishing the above paragraph,
I leaned back, only to hear Dharma Dan
(my favorite animal puppet) singing
from his perch above my desk, “Splish,
splash, I was taking a
bath…” I laughed out
loud (LOL) and he
shouted in Japanese,
“Harakambo, bocha,
bocha.” I didn’t know he could speak
Japanese! I almost wished I had a hose
that I could douse him with. He has such
a mouth! I had better move on to my
second story.
This story is adapted from a sermon
I heard given by a Unitarian minister that
was about how the idea of the coming
of the Messiah influenced a monastery.
I have put the story into a Buddhist
context by using the idea of Maitreya,
the future Buddha. The story is about a
dysfunctional monastery where the
monks, being human beings, fell into
complaining and criticizing each other
for every little thing. The nearby village
started reducing their support of the
monastery and over time, the very
continuance of the monastery was in
danger. The monks held another
meeting. Grievances were aired,
suggestions made, but as usual, no
resolutions were forthcoming. This time
they had invited a leader from the
village, an old woman known for her
wisdom.