When the Truth Knocks, Will You Open the Door?
A grieving father refuses to open his door to the son he believes is dead. What happens when certainty prevents us from seeing the truth?
A young widower loved his five-year-old son dearly.
One day, while the father was away on business, bandits attacked their village. They burned down the houses and abducted his son.
When the father returned, he was devastated by the destruction.
Among the ruins, he found the charred body of a child. Believing it to be his son, he wept uncontrollably.
He performed the child's last rites, collected the ashes, and placed them in a beautiful little bag that he kept with him wherever he went.
A Knock at Midnight
Some time later, his son escaped from the bandits and found his way home.
It was midnight when the boy reached his father's new cottage and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" asked the grieving father.
"It's me, Papa! Open the door!" the boy replied.
But the father was convinced that his son was dead. He believed that some mischievous child was playing a cruel joke on him.
He told the boy to go away and continued weeping.
The child knocked and waited, but his father would not open the door.
Eventually, the heartbroken boy left.
Father and son never saw each other again.
Gautam Buddha's Teaching
After narrating this story, Gautam Buddha explained:
"Sometimes you believe something to be true. But if you cling to that belief too firmly, then even when the real truth comes knocking at your door, you will not open it."
Takeaway
We are convinced that happiness lies in the material world. Yet the happiness we seek is not found there.
Even when God, the very embodiment of eternal Happiness, descends into this world, our firm belief in worldly happiness can prevent us from turning toward Him.
Like the father who refused to open the door to his own son, we may continue suffering because we cling to what we mistakenly believe to be true.
Go Deeper
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