Everything Changes, Everything Passes

Some stories heard during childhood remain with us forever. Around 2001-02, I was in Mekelle, a town in Ethiopia. Someone gifted me this book named "When the world began" by Elizabeth Laird, a collection of short stories.(Currently available on amazon as well: https://www.amazon.com/When-World-Began-Collected)

Though there were several good stories in the book, one particular story "Everything Changes, Everything Passes" impressed me the most & has stayed with me since.

And amidst this Corona (COVID-19) crisis, which the world is facing and so many terrifying news around us - I fallback to this story for my positivity and motivation. Here it goes...

Once upon a time, there was a merchant. 

He used to travel wide and far and one day, as he was strolling past a specific area of land he saw many individuals gathered around, looking at an exhibition. He was interested to recognize what was happening so he went to see, and what he saw was a stunning sight. A man had an Ox and another man furrowing his fields. Both the ox and the man were under the burden, and the man was mercilessly whipping both the man and the Ox. The merchant was so miserable at the sight, that he went and he started crying. 

The man under the burden (yoke) gazed toward him and stated, "What's happening with you? You shouldn't cry for me. Go, go on your way, you shouldn't stop here." Be that as it may, the man cried and stated, "This is cruel, how might they make another man pull a burden like a bull?" 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, everything passes, this misery of mine, this too will pass,” the man said.So the merchant cried a bit and he went on his way.

As he was a merchant, he voyaged wide and far and the following year at around a similar time, he was going close to that spot, and he recalled the peculiar sight of a man and an Ox pulling a burden. 

So he went to individuals and he stated, "I recollect a year ago when I was here, I saw a man furrowing with a bull. What befell that man. Did he bite the dust?" 

"God help us, very despite what might be expected. God looked down and saw his anguish and saw his tears and God has made him a king. Also, presently he is never again enduring, in reality, he is getting a charge out of life, he is the king of this piece of the nation." 

The merchant was energized. He was unable to accept that someone's karma could change so definitely and that he could be the king of that district. "I should see him for myself. I should see him with my own eyes," the merchant stated, and he went to the king's castle. 

He went in, and when he saw that the man had truly become a king, he started cheering. And the king saw him and he said, “Hey you over there, what are you up to? Why are you rejoicing?”

Also, the merchant stated, "Well, a year ago as I was passing by this spot, I saw a man pulling a burden with a bull, and I felt incredible, tragic. What's more, when I came this year, they disclosed to me that this man had become a king, and I have come to witness firsthand whether you are a king." 

Furthermore, the king stated, "Goodness, that is excellent. Come in and eat and drink." And he gave him some wealth also. Then he said, “God bless you, my son, for remembering the poor man under the yoke. But you remember what I told you last time, things change, so my life has changed and now I am a king.”

"Well this is unimaginable, it's unbelievable, it's awesome," the dealer said. 

“Yes, but don’t get too excited, because everything passes, everything changes, and this too will change. I cannot remain a king forever.”

So the merchant bade him goodbye and he went away. 

After some opportunity, the merchant came around, and it was in truth the next year, and as he was going through that nation, he concluded he ought to proceed to visit his companion the king. So he went around, however, there was another king in power. So he halted someone, and stated, "I'm grieved, yet I had a companion, the king, and do you know where he is?" 

What's more, the man stated, "Well yes, he died, and the king is dead." 

So the shipper cried and cried on the grounds that he had lost his friend, and he stated, "Would you be able to show me the grave?" 

Also, they took him to the grave, and they found the grave, and on the tombstone, in big letters were written the words, “Everything passes and this too will pass.”

The merchant was very sad and he went to weep.

And in the fourth year, he was coming around and he said, “I’m sure the grave is still there. That cannot change, that cannot pass.”

What's more, he went searching for the grave, yet he was unable to find it. He went all over searching for the tombstone, however, it was no place to be seen. So he halted someone and he stated, “Excuse me, but there was a gravestone over here, which had the words ‘Everything passes, this too will pass’, and it’s no longer here. Can you tell me where it’s gone?”

And the man said, “Oh yes, I knew that gravestone. In fact, I can’t tell you where it’s gone, but I can tell you what happened to the place. According to the city’s new master plan, that was to be a certain area, so the bulldozer went over there and wrecked everything down and now a fifteen-storey skyscraper stands on exactly the place where the grave was.”

And the merchant looked up at the skyscraper and he said, “It’s true, that everything does pass.”

And the moral of this story is to show that though you might have hard times, sorrow and mourning, everything will eventually pass.

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