Pain: A Stumbling Block or a Stepping Stone to Spiritual Growth?

“Kisa’s only child, a very young son, had died. Unwilling to accept his death, she carried him from neighbour to neighbour and begged for someone to give her medicine to bring him back to life. One of her neighbours told her to go to Buddha, located nearby, and ask him if he had a way to bring her son back to life.

Bringing the body of her son with her, Kisa found the Buddha and pleaded with him to help bring her son back to life. He instructed her to go back to her village and gather mustard seeds from the households of those who have never been touched by death. From those mustard seeds, he promised he would create a medicine to bring her son back to life. Relieved, she went back to her village and began asking her neighbours for mustard seeds.