The Difference Between Happiness and Suffering

how true..how you view things..same but different reaction..

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"The Difference Between Happiness and Suffering"(Two Dining Rooms)

Long ago there lived a boy who learned about heaven and hell while working

hard at learning the Buddha's teachings. He meditated in the front of his

Buddha image, wondering "What is hell like? What is heaven like? I want to

know more about the difference!"

That night, he dreamed of a Buddha. "Hello, little boy," the Buddha said to

him. "You asked to know more about heaven and hell. First, I will show you

hell."

In his dream, the boy was taken to a blue door. As he got closer, it opened

without a sound. He carefully stepped through the door, and inside was a

dining room. He saw a beautiful table with delicious-looking dishes of meat

and fish and piles of fruit spread all over it. It was the most wonderful

feast he had ever seen.

"How could this place be hell?" the boy wondered.

Then, suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, ghosts began to gather. Restless

and impatient, they were unhappy and scary-looking. The boy had never seen

anything like them before.

When all the ghosts were finally seated, they picked up their chopsticks.

The chopsticks started to grow, becoming longer and longer and longer, until

they were all a yard (a meter) long. The ghosts tried to eat with their long

chopsticks, but they couldn't. Even when they could pick something up, they

couldn't put it into their mouths. They tried again and again, but it was no

use. Frustrated, they started getting upset and fighting with each other.

Suddenly, the back doors of the dining room opened, and a large gaping black

hole appeared. Mealtime was over. The ghosts were still very hungry, but

they disappeared into the dark hole.

The Buddha turned to the boy and said, "You look so sad. Now let me show you

the dining room in heaven."

Quietly, another door opened to a dining room that looked exactly like the

room in hell.

"What's the difference?" he wondered. Just then, happy-looking people

started to quietly gather around the table. "But how are they going to eat

with those same long chopsticks?" the boy asked.

After sitting down, the people began picking up food with their very long

chopsticks and, instead of trying to feed themselves, they began putting the

food into the mouths of the people sitting on the other side of the table.

They took turns feeding each other, giving the other person whatever they

wanted to eat. They enjoyed the meal so much!

"You see," said the Buddha gently, "the rooms are the same. It all depends

on your heart. Your kindness makes heaven."

The boy nodded and said, "Thank you so much for showing me the two worlds.

Now I understand. The difference between heaven and hell is in the hearts of

people themselves!"

The Buddha smiled and said good-bye to the boy, just as he awoke from the

dream. But he never forgot the teaching, and helped many other people to

find the difference between heaven and hell.