Parable 2: Kisagotami and the Mustard Seed

Kisagotami's child had died, but she refused to believe he was dead.

"What medicine can wake my child from his sleep?" she asked the Buddha.

"You need mustard seed," replied the Buddha, "but it must come from a house in which nobody ever died, a home where nobody ever lost a loved one."

Kisagotami went from door to door, the answer always the same. Every house was a house of grief.

She buried her child and returned to the Buddha to thank him for his teaching.

"That is the medicine," he said. "Mustard seed is everywhere, and so is suffering."

~ ~ ~

You can find the story told in beautiful detail here: Kisa Gotami and the Mustard Seed. This is an ancient Buddhist story, and a very famous one; it even has its own Wikipedia article: Kisa Gotami.

You might know the story from Nick Cave's song "Hollywood" which ends with these lyrics:

Kisa had a baby, but the baby died

Goes to the villages, says my baby's sick

Villagers shake their heads and say to her

Better bury your baby in the forest quick

It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind

It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind

Kisa went to the mountain and ask the Buddha

My baby's sick, Buddha said don't cry

Go to each house and collect a mustard seed

But only from a house where no one's died

Kisa went to each house in the village

My baby's getting sicker, poor Kisa cried

But Kisa never collected one mustard seed

Because every house, someone had died

Kisa sat down in the old village square

She hugged her baby and cried and cried

She said everybody is always losing somebody

Then walked into the forest and buried her child

Everybody's losing someone

Everybody's losing someone

It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind

It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind

And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come

And I'm just waiting now, for peace to come, for peace to come

(Kisa's story begins around 9:53)