83 Problems

Laughing Problem

My 83 Problems is an ongoing work-in-progress based on this Buddhist Parable:

A farmer at wits’ end travels across Asia desperate for help. “Oh Buddha!” the farmer cries, “the drought stretches seven years, locusts swarm the fields, my wife—horribly stout, huge!—yet her cooking would stymie a starving man, and my six children lie, steal, and gamble. Rats pilfer my duck eggs, termites devour my house, thieves and mendicants swarm my village….” Finally the farmer winds down. He waits for the words that will put things right. The Buddha says, “I cannot help you.” The farmer’s eyes pop—all this way he came! The Buddha says, “Everyone has 83 problems. If you work out one, another will surely take its place. And some problems, like death, have no solution.” As the farmer splutters outrage, the Buddha leans forward and spreads his hands. “It may be I can assist with the 84th problem.” The farmer stops. “Your desire to not have problems.”