Dhamma Talks - The Crow And The Swan :: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

The most fundamental of doctrines within Buddhism is on “Contentment” which points out that in order to find happiness and be at peace within one self, one must be satisfied with what one has.

Easy though it may sound, putting it into practice is somewhat rather more difficult. In the ever increasing competitive world that we live in where the natural law of “survival of the fittest” is no longer limited to the jungles, we are encouraged and motivated by a faults belief that one must fight to strive for more of everything in order to obtain happiness. As the notion of “more” has no end, where then can we ever find contentment? Without being able find contentment, can we ever reach happiness?

Most of the time, we are fueled by desire. It is a defilement which is innate within our very being. Instinctively, we feed ourselves to fill our hunger so when it comes to desire, many of us think that it needs feeding too; as if such a thing can ever be fully satisfied!

Desire arises and falls within our own mind. Therefore, it is not something that can be satisfied by anything that is external to it. External factors (e.g. materialism) only act as a stimulant; it is a mere pick-me-up, but never a cure.

A story illustrating the idea of contentment:
A beautiful swan was sitting by a lake, fanning itself elegantly in the sunshine. Watching in the distance was a crow perched on a tree. “What a contrast”, the crow thought in envy, comparing the Swan’s perfect white feathers to its own jet black ones. He hated being the color that he was and wanted nothing more than to be as white as the Swan.

Foolishly it thought that the reason the Swan got to be so beautifully white was because it spent all day in the water, so if he was to become the same as the swan, he would have start spending all his days in the water also.

So for many days and nights, he spent all his time soaking in the waters of the lake. Even when it got cold, he refused to get out, determined to stay in until his feathers turned white.

One moonlit night, an owl flew by and saw the crow shivering in the lake. “What are you doing?” the owl asked. “I want to be as white as a swan and so I have to sit here until my colour changes”. As soon as the owl heard, it burst into hysterical laughter, “You silly fool! You can sit there till you die you’ll never be as white as a swan! You are a crow and crows are black. You have got to accept what you are”

The crow contemplated for a while on the wise words of the owl. Looking down at his body, he could see that what the owl said was absolutely true. He had been sitting in the water for many days and yet his colour is just the same as it always was. Feeling very foolish, the crow realised that if the owl didn’t fly by tonight, he might still be sitting in the water and die from either starvation or hypothermia.

The moral of story: be content with what you are and that which you have.

It is important to remind ourselves from time to time to be contented with what we have. Contentment does not mean that one should cease to strive to better one self. It is not an excuse for sloth.

It has been said that “One may change their habits, but never ones nature”. In my opinion, change is possible, if the right means and efforts are applied.

The crow in the story finally understood that he can never change his colour, so in the end, he had to accept himself for what he is. The same logic must apply to us. We too must accept our nature and its cycle of birth, old age, sickness and death. Some people find this hard to do, they want to hold on to their youth and search for ways to prolong their lives and think that they can cheat death. The end result for such people is only sorrow, grief and suffering.

Learn to understand our nature in its purist form so that we may learn to live with them in peace. Be content with what we have and with who we are.

What do you think?