At a recent Insight Meditation Community of Washington talk given by the extraordinary teacher Tara Brach, she shared a charming story. I hope that she doesn't mind me recounting it here (*).
The story is of a woman who is returning from a meditation retreat. She has arrived at the airport and made it through the bustle of security. She's a bit frazzled, and so she gets a newspaper and a bag of cookies. She juggles her purse and carry-on and purchases to a nearby table, and sits down, joining a man who is already reading a newspaper.
She settles in and opens up her own newspaper, then the bag of cookies on the table. She reads a bit, then takes a cookie. She is startled to see that her tablemate also takes a cookie!
She shrugs it off and continues to read. But each time she takes a cookie, so does this man! She is outraged and in a huff. She wants to say something, but she holds her tongue.
The man reaches into the bag and takes out the last cookie. He looks at it, looks at the woman, then splits it in half and, with a smile, hands her half. She is speechless at this final insult and then her plane's boarding is called. So she gathers up her bags and heads to the gate.
At the gate, as she looks in her bag for her boarding pass, there is her bag of cookies! It turns out she had been eating this very kind stranger's cookies, who even split the last one with her.
***
When I heard this story, I thought to myself ... I really want to be like that man.
* note that if anybody every finds any of my postings objectionable, please contact me and I will do my utmost to address your concerns.
0 comments:
Post a Comment