The Tao of DJ’s Smile
Think your children aren’t reading some heavy stuff in the books they check out from the elementary school library? I’m re-reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School, a favorite from my childhood, and I came across this gem:
You need a reason to be sad. You don’t need a reason to be happy.
This statement is spoken by DJ who has spent half the day smiling so brilliantly that he’s making others smile without saying a word in reply. Everyone has spent the whole day trying to guess why he’s smiling before he lays this rather profound statement on Louis, the PE teacher.
The whole chapter has echoes of the Buddha’s flower sermon wherein he walked to the front of a crowd he was to speak to and just head up a flower and smiled. The dharma was there in the Buddha’s smile, and it was likewise there in DJ’s. The only thing missing from the story is Mahakashyapa’s understanding smile in return.
Technorati Tags: Zen, Buddhism, Louis Sachar, Sideways Stories from Wayside School