The Middle Path
The Buddha’s students came from many different backgrounds. Ananda and Devadatta, his cousins, left behind wealth and social position; Shariputra, Maudhalyayana, and Kashyapa were ascetics won over to the Buddha’s path. Opal had been a barber in Kapilavastu. And Sona, also from a wealthy family, had entertained hopes of being a musician, for he loved to play the vina.
When Sona took to the spiritual life, he did so with such zeal that he decided everything else must be thrown overboard. Despite wild animals and poisonous snakes, he went off into the forest alone to practice meditation - and to undo the softness of his pampered past, he insisted on going barefoot.
After some time of this the Buddha decided to go after him. The path was not hard to find, for it was stained with blood from Sona’s feet. In addition to his begging bowl, the Blessed One brought something unusual: a vina, whose strings he had loosened until they were as limp as spaghetti.
He found Sona meditating under a banyan tree. The boy limped over to greet him, but the Buddha did not seem to notice. All he said was, ‘Sona, can you show me how to make music with this?’
Sona took the instrument respectfully and fingered a few notes. Then he began to laugh. ‘Blessed one,’ he said, ‘you can’t produce music when the strings are so loose!’
‘Oh, I see. Let me try again.’ And he proceeded to wind the strings so tightly that Sona winced. When the Buddha tested them, all that came out was high-pitched squeaks.
‘Blessed One, that won’t work either. You’ll break the springs. Here, let me tune it for you.’ He took the instrument, loosened the strings gently, and played a little of a haunting song.
Then he stopped, for the music brought memories he was afraid to awaken. ‘It has to be tuned just right to make music,’ he said abruptly, handing the vina back to the Buddha. ‘Neither too tight nor too loose. Just right.’
‘Sona,’ the Buddha replied, ‘it is the same for those who seek nirvana. Don’t let yourself be slack, but don’t stretch yourself to breaking either. The middle course, lying in between too much and too little, is the way of my Eightfold Path.’
- Retold by Eknath Easwaran in the introduction to his translation of ‘The Dhammapada.’
When Sona took to the spiritual life, he did so with such zeal that he decided everything else must be thrown overboard. Despite wild animals and poisonous snakes, he went off into the forest alone to practice meditation - and to undo the softness of his pampered past, he insisted on going barefoot.
After some time of this the Buddha decided to go after him. The path was not hard to find, for it was stained with blood from Sona’s feet. In addition to his begging bowl, the Blessed One brought something unusual: a vina, whose strings he had loosened until they were as limp as spaghetti.
He found Sona meditating under a banyan tree. The boy limped over to greet him, but the Buddha did not seem to notice. All he said was, ‘Sona, can you show me how to make music with this?’
Sona took the instrument respectfully and fingered a few notes. Then he began to laugh. ‘Blessed one,’ he said, ‘you can’t produce music when the strings are so loose!’
‘Oh, I see. Let me try again.’ And he proceeded to wind the strings so tightly that Sona winced. When the Buddha tested them, all that came out was high-pitched squeaks.
‘Blessed One, that won’t work either. You’ll break the springs. Here, let me tune it for you.’ He took the instrument, loosened the strings gently, and played a little of a haunting song.
Then he stopped, for the music brought memories he was afraid to awaken. ‘It has to be tuned just right to make music,’ he said abruptly, handing the vina back to the Buddha. ‘Neither too tight nor too loose. Just right.’
‘Sona,’ the Buddha replied, ‘it is the same for those who seek nirvana. Don’t let yourself be slack, but don’t stretch yourself to breaking either. The middle course, lying in between too much and too little, is the way of my Eightfold Path.’
- Retold by Eknath Easwaran in the introduction to his translation of ‘The Dhammapada.’
