A Story of Forgiveness
The Buddha was the most awakened man of his time. Nobody like him understood human suffering and developed benevolence and compassion.
One of his cousins, Devadatta, was always jealous of the teacher, and interested in discrediting him, even ready to kill him.
One day as the Buddha was quietly strolling, Devadatta saw him and threw a heavy rock from the top of a hill with the intention of killing him. The rock landed by the Buddha’s side and Devadatta did not attain his objective. The Buddha noticed what happened and remained unmoved, keeping a smile on his lips.
A few days later the Buddha found his cousin on the road and greeted him affectionately. Greatly surprised Devadatta asked:
˜ Aren’t you angry, sir?
˜ Of course not.
Greatly astonished, he asked:
˜ Why?
And the Buddha said:
˜ Because you are no longer the one who threw the rock, nor am I the one who was there when it was thrown.
The Teacher says: For the one who knows how to see, everything is transitory; for the one who knows how to love, everything is forgivable.
