A young single father had a son that he loved more than anything in
the world. One day while the father was away, some plunderers burned
down most of his village and kidnapped the little boy.
When the father came back, he mistook one of the burnt corpses as his
son. Completely devastated, he had the body cremated, and put the ashes
in a bag that he always carried around.
Days later, his son escaped from the plunderers, ran back home, and
knocked on the door of the house that his father rebuilt. His father
asked who it was. When the boy answered, “It’s me, your son—please let
me in,” the father, who was still holding the bag of ashes, assumed it
was some other boy playing a cruel joke. “Go away,” he shouted back.
The boy continued to knock and plead to the father, but the father
continued to tell him to leave. Finally, the boy left and never came
back again.
And just like that example, if a person is intently holding to an
idea as the absolute and unmodifiable truth, he won’t be able to open
the door and accept the actual truth when it comes firsthand knocking on
his door.
(From: Buddhist Folktales and Parables)
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