Wonhyo’s Awakening
This is the well-known story of the spiritual awakening of Wonhyo, the revered Korean Buddhist monk.
While traveling to China in search of spiritual enlightenment, Wonhyo found himself overtaken by nightfall. He took shelter in a cave and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, he awoke with an intense thirst. Finding what he believed to be a bowl of water beside him, he drank deeply. The water tasted wonderfully sweet and refreshing, quenching his thirst.
But when morning came, he discovered that the vessel from which he had drunk was actually a human skull, and the water had collected inside it.
The very water that had seemed like life-giving nectar the night before now filled him with revulsion.
In that moment, Wonhyo experienced a profound awakening. He abandoned his journey to China and turned back.
The water itself had not changed. Only his perception of it had.
He realized that it was the mind that had made the water taste sweet, and the same mind that now found it repulsive.
So it is with happiness and unhappiness in our own lives.
The same circumstances can take on entirely different meanings depending on the eyes through which we see them.
When a business fails, one person may believe that everything is over. Another may choose to reflect on the wisdom gained through failure and see the possibility of a new beginning.
The circumstances may be identical, yet the course of a life can change profoundly depending on how we choose to perceive them.
Do you feel that your life, as it stands today, is filled with unhappiness?
Take a moment to ask yourself: Is this truly a misfortune that has befallen me, or is it my own mind that has come to see it that way?
Reflection of the Day
★ Rather than struggling against circumstances I cannot change, let me first look within—and discover the power to change the one thing I can: my own mind. ★
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