Once there was a very wealthy king who had recourse to everything anyone could possibly want in life. He was surrounded by courtiers to amuse him, by sages to advise him and servants to attend to his every whim. One of his great amusements was to set seemingly impossible tasks for his underlings and enjoy the wonderful ways in which they fulfilled those tasks. One day he said to the 20 great sages who attended his court, ‘I want you to make me a ring which when I look at it will make me happy when I’m sad, and sad when I’m happy.’ The sages spent many hours consulting with one another as to how such a ring could be produced. Finally they came up with an answer and presented a small gold ring to the king on which was engraved , ‘This too will pass!’
The king realized that when he looked at the ring while he was sad he would happily remember that his suffering would soon pass and when he looked at the ring when he was happy he would sadly remember the temporary nature of this world.
According to Buddha the lack of acceptance that things are
temporary and always changing is one of the main sources of
suffering for humanity.
