Children, fear is the main obstacle standing in the way of our success in life. Fear robs us of our ability to harness our strengths and talents. But there is a special power that can help us overcome fear: love. Love gives us the strength to push aside every obstacle and move forward.
There was once a widow in a village. She made her living selling milk inside the king’s fortress. One day, she climbed up as usual to the mountain fortress to sell milk. By the time she finished selling the milk, the fortress gates had closed.
She tearfully pleaded with the guards, “My child is all alone in the hut. It’s getting dark. If I don’t reach home soon, my child will start crying in fear. If something happens to my child, I won’t be able to survive. Please have mercy on me and allow me to leave the fortress.”
But the guards were not willing to open the fortress gates. With utmost anguish, the milkmaid started searching for some other way out of the fortress.
When the fortress gates opened the next morning, the milkmaid was standing outside, waiting to enter. The guards were stunned. They could not understand how she had left the fortress. They took the woman to the king.
The king asked her how she had left the fortress. The woman explained in detail what had happened. The king went with her to see the place from which she had exited.
It was a small opening in the fortress wall. Even in the clear light of day, the climb down the sheer cliff face seemed impossible. The king asked the milkmaid, “While climbing down the mountain in the dark, didn’t you feel even a little fear?”
The milkmaid said, “Yesterday, I had only one thought in mind: to go to my child somehow. I knew that my child would be frightened not seeing me. I forgot myself. There was no place for fear in my heart.”
Neither danger nor obstacles deterred the milkmaid. Her love for her child gave her the strength to overcome all problems. When love fills our heart, even the fear of death will not daunt us. Love gives us the strength to face any danger.
Human life is meant to begin in love, be lived in love, and eventually end in love. Love connects every being in creation. Whether humans or animals, it is the power of love that binds a child to its mother and a mother to her child. Unfortunately, today, even though most of us spend our entire lives in search of love, we typically die without ever finding it.
When the full moon rises, the Earth is freed from the darkness of night. Similarly, may the light of love and selflessness dispel the darkness of selfishness, hatred, and conflict covering the world. May a beautiful new dawn of goodness bloom. May the light of truth and dharma fill the hearts of humanity.