The following talk was given at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California.

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So, many years ago, I read a short story by a kind of a Buddhist teacher.

And I don't remember much of the story, but it was something about some young person who was really sad and maybe went around and got advice from different people

and what to do with this sadness and nothing seemed to help. The young person was quite

diligent and worked hard. And so all the instruction

that was given about things to do. And then, but nothing really helped with all the sadness.

And then at one point found a wise person and said, oh, you're sad.

Your job is to be a sad Buddha.

And that freed the person.

Just be sad.

Just allow that to be there.

And this idea of a, I don't know what the author had in mind

in the story about being a sad Buddha, but what I understood about that is don't know what the author had in mind in the story about being a sad Buddha, but what I understood about that is don't fight it, don't try to fix it,

but even a Buddha can be sad.

It's such a basic human emotion to feel sad, and maybe nothing's wrong. Maybe it doesn't have to be different.

Maybe there's no, you don't have to define it, define yourself by it that you're a bad person or a wrong person or even a wounded person.

All these other beliefs we add on top of it.

What if we just allow it to be and accept this is how it is?

What happens then?

And we live with our human condition.

And, you know, being a human,

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