Gautam Buddha is entering a village. On the boundary there is a river, and in the sand a few children are playing, making
castles of sand, and they were very serious. There were many children – if somebody disturbed somebody’s castle... It is very easy to disturb a sandcastle, just throw a stone at it and it is gone. They were shouting and being angry at each other, and Buddha stood there, watching. Then it was time for the sun to set
and their mothers called them from nearby houses, ‘Come back home, it is time for your supper.’ And they all jumped on their own
castles, the ones they had made and for which they were fighting
that nobody should disturb them. They jumped on their own castles
and never looked back, simply went home. Buddha said to his disciples who were with him, ”Life is not much more than this.” All your seriousness is about sandcastles. And you yourself will leave them one day, trampling them down, and you will not look back.
The people who take it seriously miss the beauty of playfulness.
