“If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current — how can he help others across?” – The Buddha
(From the Sutta Nipata)
“If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current — how can he help others across?” – The Buddha Click To Tweet
I’m Vietnamese. What is the meaning of the quote?
I am replying only thru my experiences and struggles in life. If you have been abused, suffered, lost loved ones, struggled yet survived your journey, you must remain strong in the face of others looking to you for guidance for they will lose hope and faith that there will be a better life filled with success and happiness. But how does one convince another to hang on no matter how hard the struggle may get simply by example or thru hope and faith?
A broken Man needs absolute faith when faith is all he has left. Therefore in order to lead another Man thru times of trouble, you must believe in yourself and trust that you will never invoke any doubt in the soul of a Man who you choose to lead or they will lose the strength to hang on because their amount of strength is equal to the amount of hope and faith they have placed upon your shoulders. In summary…a Man standing on the shore who cannot swim will not trust a Man to carry him across a river when he cannot even cross the waters alone without being caught up in the current. For if he trusts him to carry him across the river they both will most surely drown.