Reading Diary B: The Life of Buddha

Of the second half of my unit, one of my favorite stories was Siddhartha and King Vimbasara.  The story goes on to talk about desires and the hero goes on to say that desires mean nothing to him and that he knows peace.  There is a quote that I liked a lot and related to quite a bit.  

"I know the vanity of all desire. Desires are like poison; wise men despise them. I have thrown them away as one would throw away a wisp of dry straw. Desires are as perishable as the fruit on a tree, they are as wayward as the clouds in the sky, they are as treacherous as the rain, they are as changeable as the wind! Suffering is born of desire, for no man has ever gratified all his desires. But they that seek wisdom, they that ponder the true faith, they are the ones that find peace. Who drinks salt water increases his thirst; who flees from desire finds his thirst appeased. I no longer know desire. I seek the true law."

Buddha and the Five Source: commons.wikimedia.org

My favorite part of the quote is, "But they that seek wisdom, they that ponder the true faith, they are the ones that find peace."  I think this is very true and that like the story says, desires are like poison and that if you are wise, you know better than to engage in them and you instead despise them.  I also believe that suffering is born of desire, for no man has ever gratified all his desires.  Unlike some of the other stories, I took something away from this one.  I hope that in my other units there are aspects of the stories that I can take away and apply to my own life.  If not, I hope they at least get me thinking.