This Too Shall Pass

Once upon a time, there lived a king who tended to feel blue. Whenever he felt content, he would be afraid that it wouldn't last forever. And whenever he felt discontent, he would be afraid that it would last forever.

One night, he had a dream in which he saw a special ring, which he felt would remove his blues, solving his problem once and for all. When he awoke, he asked his advisors to find him the ring. But none of them could find it. The wisest advisor then decided to get a jeweller, to create a ring which fitted the king's description. However, it was actually an ordinary ring. The difference were the few words inscribed onto it - "This too shall pass."

When it was announced that the ring was found, the king received it with great anticipation. As he sees and reflects on the words it, his sorrows suddenly gave way to joy, as his joys gave way to sorrow, before they both gave way to equanimity... which is the balanced state of mind that has neither attachment to joy nor aversion to sorrow. Thereafter, when he felt discontent, he would look at the ring to remind him of its words of truth. The king had finally found peace.

How did the king find peace? It was through his realisation that both worldly joys and sorrows are fleeting in nature, even if some experiences last for relatively longer times. The source of his real sorrow was not that joys always eventually give way to sorrow. The root of the problem lies in his attachment to joys and his aversion to sorrows, and his refusal to accept the truth that both are transient in nature, that joy and sorrow will always alternate.

It is making peace with the truth of the impermanence of our experiences that brings True Happiness, which should not be mistaken as the normal "highs" of life. No one can sustain "delirious happiness" for extended periods, just as no one can sustain "manic depression" indefinitely. Things change - whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not.

Deep down, we know True Happiness is the "real joy" beyond ordinary joy - which is why we find the Buddha's calm and composed smile so pleasingly soothing. The Buddha had already realised True Happiness. Will you too?

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thedailyenlightenment-realisation/message/266

Mom forwarded this to me in an email. The first thing i thought after i read it was, "Dang, should have inked these four words instead." But then it wouldn't really make sense because then it'll be as if the tattoo would 'pass' as well. Lol.

I agree with this quite a lot. Been a little stressed recently due to school, but to all the people that i've been complaining to, i also mentioned that i know things will eventually get better :) And yup, that's the way life is :D