Why are there problems in our lives?

These few nights Robert and I didn’t have time to talk because we were tired since we worked hard in the garden during the day. 

The situation in the human’s society seemed to not be getting any better, and I needed to prepare in case it turned out to be worse.

After collecting enough food to put in the storage, Robert and I could have a relaxing night outside my house.

“All parts of my body ache,” Robert said.

“Me too,” I said.

“Well, I am thinking about life. All of us who live in this world seem to have problems. No one can escape even if it is human or animal. I wonder why there are problems.”

“If you ask me, I can share my own opinion that the problem is coming from us - ourselves.” I made a pause to take a sip of warm tea, then I carried on, “There is another name of the problem, it is conflict. There are two major conflicts, internal conflict and external conflict. Internal conflict is about an argument between yourself. For example, you want to do something but you are scared to do it, so you fight inside your own self to do or not to do. The external conflict is an argument between you and things outside, sometimes it can be between you and another person, you and the things such as the weather, the natural disasters, etc. No matter if it is the internal or external conflict, it happens because you don’t agree with it, more than that you try to change it to become what you want it to be. When it doesn’t become like what you want, your mind is not pleased, you try to find another way. If it becomes like what you want it to be, your mind is happy, but might think it is not enough, you want to make it better, so you try to find a way to make it happen like what your new mind wants it to be. Back and forth, every day, every time, non-stop. And everyone in the world does the same, and it becomes their forever activities and from generation to generation until now.”

Robert wagged his head, “I can feel what you said.”

Why are they fighting?

For the whole day, the farms next to my house were very quiet. This was not normal because at least in a day they liked to create a noise for a few seconds. However, all my media-friends came to tell me without needing me to go to ask. They told me that their masters were worried about the recent happenings in the world, so they told their sons and daughters that had families to not go out or visit them in order to not make them spend much. 

I could understand their worries. The recent events didn’t bring happiness not only to humans but also animals.

Robert heard about this matter. He seemed to be sad as well. At night he asked me, “Why are humans fighting?”

Like previous nights, I told him a story.

“I heard from my ex-master’s eldest daughter when she started to work in the magazine. According to the rule of the country, the new magazine needed to send their reporters and people who worked relevant such as translator and editor to get training for one week about how to write a report that was quality and gave peace to the society. One of the trainers told a story which was a creative story but it was based on what happened in the world while it was in chaos. It said during that time, there was a family running to live in a cave. That family had three members - a father, mother and a son who was about six years old. When they were having a meal, the son asked why they needed to leave their home to live in such a dark cave. The father said because a tiger and an elephant were fighting. The son asked why the tiger and elephant were fighting. The father said because the tiger was not a good animal. Immediately, the mother said the tiger was not bad, it was the elephant who was not good. Then two of them argued with each other. At that moment, the son wagged his head and said, “Oh I understand why they are fighting.”

Robert shrank his eyes, “Really? He did understand?”

“What about you? Can you find out?”

“No.” Robert shook his head.

“Then let’s hear the end of the story.” I took a sip of warm tea before I said, “When their parents heard, they stopped arguing and turned to ask their son “Why?” and the son said, “The tiger and the elephant fight each other because they don’t agree with each other - like the two of you.”

“Ah…” Robert wagged his head. “All the conflict, no matter if it is an argument or a fight, happens because those who are involved don't agree with each other. In conclusion, they have different ideas.”

I smiled, “You are progressing.”

History teachers

Tonight, Robert was laying on the ground next to my lounge, quietly. 

Seeing he was not active, I asked, “Don’t you want to know anything more?”

“I am thinking,” Robert said and continued to be quiet. A few minutes later, he said, “I can’t think of anything. Perhaps you choose by yourself to tell me.”

“Well,” I poured tea into my cup and took a sip before I started, “when I was living in my ex-master’s house, one day I heard his younger son ask his mother why the students needed to study history. His mother said she didn’t know. Then he said one day he went to study in the class of a teacher at his school. That teacher said that the reason all students needed to learn about history was to know which country invaded their own country and they had to take revenge. The next day, he went to enroll in another class, it was the same subject but with a different teacher. That teacher said to his students that the reason everyone needed to learn about history was to find what had happened and what the mistakes people in ancient times had done in order to get understanding and to not repeat it again even if it was the war. After telling, his mother asked who he thought was right; he said he didn’t think who was right or wrong, he just agreed with the second teacher because he had the same idea as him.”

“I think that young guy was right.”

“Well,” I said after I took another sip, “what I want to tell you is each person has their own point of view. However you have to be careful when you listen to someone who you or a group of people consider as a person who is in a position to give a speech or as your guide because some of them might confuse their own opinion with the opinion of what they are talking about and lead the listeners to wrong understanding. So, when you hear something from someone, please listen but don’t believe it, you must search for more information and opinion from other people until you have enough data to make a conclusion.”

 

Still he is human because he is a human

“Hello, I have a question to ask you tonight,” Robert said when I opened the door.

“Okay,” I said with a smile before I put the tea pot on the table and laid my body into the lounge.

“I think your ex-master is a knowledgeable person. Even though you are a pig, you could become a scholar when you were near him. Why did you leave?”

“Because though he is a great guy, full of knowledge, he is still a human. It means what a human is, he is as well.”

“Like what?”

“Well, last night, I told you about the watermelon that exploded. You thought he was a good father, right? (Robert wagged his head) Me too, I thought he was a very good father and he should be the one who educated his children. But one day, I saw an event that made me change the direction of my thoughts. My ex-master has six children. His eldest child is a girl and her first child is a daughter. At that time, that kid was studying at grade one. One day she visited his house. My ex-master brought a word-book and called her to read. After reading, he closed the book and asked her to spell the words. Then she spelled one wrong word; he said to her, “Why are you so stupid? This is an easy word, why can’t you spell it? You are wasting the money that is paid to the school.” That kid burst into tears and ran to her mother immediately. Still he didn’t stop murmuring. He said that because she was a girl, there was nothing she could do besides crying, and he would prefer to have a grand-son.”

“Oh.” Robert opened his eyes.

“At first I thought he might be unhappy, he didn’t have the intention to say that to his granddaughter, but then I heard his daughters talking with each other then I knew that he did like this to his children too. When his children were young, he taught them at home. He wanted them to be good at everything, so when his children could not be good like he demanded, he would scold them. If it was a son, he would say he was useless or an idiot, if it was a daughter, he would say like he said to his grand-daughter and he said that he would prefer to have a son. Because of such behavior, his wife didn’t allow him to teach the children, and he and his wife usually had quarrels with each other.”

“That’s why his wife always protects the children.” Robert shook his head. “I can’t believe he can say that to his children and especially to his grand-daughter, she is just a kid.”

“There are more than that,” I said while I was pouring tea into the cup. “That’s why I said though he is a knowledgeable person, he is still a human.”

Robert wagged his head, “I seem to have a light in my brain.”

Exploded watermelon

The first night of class arrived. Robert ran quickly to me when he saw me open the door.

“Hello Robert,” I said.

“Hello,” Robert said with a smile.

I put my tea pot on the table then laid my body into the lounge before I started.

“My ex-master’s family liked eating watermelon. One day my ex-master’s wife bought a big watermelon from the market and put it on a table in the kitchen then she went to take a shower. When she came out of the bathroom, her son told that the watermelon exploded. Hearing that, she went to the kitchen and saw the watermelon had a broken trace. When my ex-master came back from the office, his wife told him. Then he told his wife to call his son as he wanted to hear the detailed story from him. His wife was angry and said that he was not a good father since he thought his son lied. My ex-master said he didn’t think his son lied. His wife said if he didn’t, why did he need to call him to ask for the detailed story? My ex-master didn’t talk with his wife, he called his son and asked what he saw before he claimed the watermelon exploded. His son told he came into the kitchen and saw the watermelon had a broken trace. My ex-master said, “Because of that you called it exploded?” His son said yes. My ex-master asked, “Do you know the meaning of the word explode?” His son was silent. He asked more, “If we can call a thing that explodes, do you know what it should be?” His son remained silent. Then my ex-master explained that, “If you want to say a thing explodes, you have to see that thing blow up violently with a very loud sound and its part flies.” His son said, “No one tells me that. Since I was young when I saw something broken, I always said it exploded. Now, I know; I will change my words.” 

After telling, I asked Robert, “What do you think about this story?”

“I can understand your story. Because the son didn’t mean to say the watermelon exploded, but because he didn’t know the word, that’s why he said it wrongly,” Robert said.

I nodded my head.

“However, I wonder how your ex-master could see the problem.”

“Because my ex-master is a graduated student.”

“Wow! What’s about his wife?”

“The same.”

“If so, how could she not see? Moreover, she was angry with her husband and said that her husband thought the son lied.”

“It’s because she loves children very much. She cares and always protects them. No one can blame or say something bad about her children. Like the proverb said - love is blind. It’s the reason she couldn’t see her children’s mistake even if they did wrong before her.”

“I see.”

I took a sip of warm tea before I continued, “So before you want to say something to someone, you should think about the words you will use. You should know the meaning of each word and how it is used. Because if you use the wrong word, your conversational partner will misunderstand what you want to tell them; sometimes, it might cause the two of you to argue with each other. Like when you said to the crow, you might use not correct words, that’s why she didn’t agree with you and turned against you.”

Robert wagged her his head.

“One more thing, you have to be careful when people you are close to, such as family members, friends, or colleagues, tell you something. I don’t tell you to not believe them, I want to tell you to consider when you hear anything from them. Some people don’t lie, but they might misinterpret what they hear or see; then when they tell you a story, that story is converted to a different story from the original one.”

“Okay, I got it.” Robert nodded.

Dog wants to study

Tonight was a cool and peaceful night for me, but Robert didn’t find it so. Look at him, he was laying on the ground next to my lounge - not only an unhappy face but also an upset face.

“What's the problem, Robert?” I asked.

Robert blew a loud breath before he answered me, “In the afternoon, I got scolded by crow.”

“She scolded you?”

“Yes.” Robert nodded head. “I talked about the Buddha’s precepts and I said that she was bad because she stole food from humans. She asked me about the precepts. After I told her, she said she stole the meat from the humans, but the meat was dead, and that meat was animal’s, the human killed a living animal then took the flesh. She asked me - what about humans who killed that living animal?”

“So which part did she scold you?”

Hearing my question, Robert raised up his head and looked at me. I looked at him, quietly waiting for his answer. Still he could not reply to my question though several seconds passed.

“Well Robert,” I spoke, “I know you are a straight-mouth guy, but a straight mouth doesn’t mean good.”

“Why?”

“Because you just said what you want to say and the things that you want to say are not always right.”

“Do you mean I am wrong?”

“I said you are not always right, but I didn’t say you are wrong.”

“I don’t understand. Complicated!”

“Yes, it is complicated. You are not right, it does not mean you are wrong. You are right, it does not mean you are correct. You say something correct, it does mean what you say is real. And the real thing you are saying does not mean it is true.”

“Oh my,” Robert said, covering his head, “I’ve got a headache.”

I chuckled when I saw his action.

“I really don’t understand what you said,” Robert removed his hands from head, “but I want to understand it. How can I understand it?”

“There is only one way, study.”

“Study! But I am a dog.”

“No matter if you are a dog or even a worm, you are free to study. Like me, I am a pig, but I study.”

“How do you study?”

“At first, my ex-master taught me, then I learned by myself from everyone and everything around me.”

“You are great, I want to. Please teach me.”

“Well, I don’t study associated with teaching methods, I don’t know how to teach you; but if you are willing and committed to study, let’s find out a way. Tell me what you like to hear about.”

“I’m not sure, but I like to hear everything. When I stayed with my ex-master, he usually told me stories and I liked it.”

“I see.” I wagged my head. “I think we can use this method - at night, we will have a meeting here. I will tell you a story. Also if you have any questions or want to know something, you ask me. But I have to tell you in advance that I will answer only the things I know clearly.”

Robert smiled and wagged his head in a row, “Okay.”

Crow protests that she is not the bad bird

Caw, caw…

“Hello crow,” Robert said. “Pig and I just talked about you recently.”

“Oh,” the crow was surprised, “what was that?”

“He said he likes you because you are a hard working bird.”

The crow stayed silent.

“But I still have a question.”

“Well.”

“I believe you work hard to find food by yourself, but you steal the food. Stealing is not good. According to the precepts in Buddhism, you are wrong.”

“What are the precepts?”

“They are not killing, not stealing, not sexually misconducting, not lying and not drinking alcohol.”

“The three precepts are not with me because I am a bird. But I want to ask you about the first and the second. Can you explain it to me?”

“The first one is about not killing any living things and the second is about not taking things from the owner without their permission, and you are wrong because you take the food from the human without their consent. You are bad.”

“Well, well, well, I confess I steal food from humans.” The crow wagged her head. “I steal from them not only the fruits but also the meat. However, talking about the meat. It’s the animal’s flesh. The animal is alive. The human kills it then takes the flesh from it to eat. When I see it, I fly to take it. However it is a dead thing. If I am bad because I steal it, what about the human? They kill it!”

Mouth of Robert was blocked after hearing it. And before I got out, the crow had already left.