Parable 1: The Two Arrows

Here is one way to tell the story:

You're walking in a forest: you feel the sunshine and the cool breeze, the birds are singing. Then, out of nowhere: ZING! An arrow plunges into your flesh! It hurts! It really hurts. 

And then again: ZING! A second arrow hits you. It hurts even worse.

Where did that first arrow come from? You don't know.

But that second arrow... you shot the second arrow. 

That's you reacting to the first arrow: your fear, your suffering, your anguish.

The pain of the first arrow is life. You can't avoid that pain.

But you don't have to shoot that second arrow.

Here is another way to tell the story:

The Buddha asks his student: "If you are hit by an arrow, does it hurt?"
The student answers, "Yes, of course it hurts."

"And if a second arrow strikes you, does that arrow hurt?"
"Yes, two arrows hurt more than just one arrow."
Then the Buddha smiles. "The first arrow hurts, and the pain you feel is only natural: you are suffering. But the second arrow is your reaction to the first arrow: it is your confusion, your fear, your anger. You do not have to shoot that second arrow. Isn't one arrow enough?"

The student smiled. "Now I understand."

~ ~ ~

This is one of my favorite Buddhist parables. When I think about liberation, I think about liberation from the second arrow. If you Google, you will find thousands of retellings of this parable online, and that's just in English. For example, you can find this parable and commentary in No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh.

The parable is part of the Pali canon of Buddhism; you can read a translation of that sutra here: Sallatha Sutta: The Arrow translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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