The Red and Yellow Stones:
An Original Story in a Buddhist Tradition

with discussion questions

Karol Crosbie
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Ames, IA

Two boys, Ramid and Anwar, from the Indian village of Punjabi, sat playing together. They were both eight years old and best friends. On this particular hot summer afternoon, they had a new game. Before them in the dust they had drawn two large circles. And between the boys were piled two heaps of pebbles—a pile of yellow pebbles and a pile of red pebbles.

"The yellow pebbles," said Ramid, "represent the good people in our town of Punjabi. We will name them, and put them in our good circle."

"Right," said Anwar. "And the red pebbles represent the bad people in our town. We will name them and put them in our bad circle."

"We'll start with the good people," said Ramid. "This will be easy. My mother is good."

"Yes, she is good," agreed Anwar, putting a yellow pebble into the good circle. "This pebble is for your mother. And MY mother is also good. We will put this pebble into our good circle for my mother."

"And Sanji-jan, our teacher, is good," said Ramid, starting to put a third pebble into the good circle.

"Wait a minute," said Anwar. "I'm not so sure Sanji-jan is so good. He gave me the evil eye the other day and I wasn't even the one who was talking."

"But maybe it was just an honest mistake?" wondered Ramid. "I know. Let's draw a third circle—one that represents people we aren't sure about. Let's work on our bad circle for a while."

"That mean little girl who lives behind us!" yelled Anwar. "Have you seen how she treats her little kitten?"

"Definitely," agreed Ramid, and they put a red pebble into their bad circle. "And for sure her mother, also just as mean as they come. She is yelling all the time." He started to put another red pebble into the circle.

"I don't know," said his friend. "She yells all the time, but she always gives bread to beggars and to whoever is hungry."

Ramid sighed. "Here's another pebble for our undecided circle."

The longer the boys played their game, the larger their undecided circle grew. Every time they found someone they were sure was good or bad, they began to think of times in which they weren't so good, or weren't so bad.

"I have an idea," said Ramid. "Let's go ask Gautama Buddha, the great teacher. I know he will talk with us. He talks with everyone. We will ask him how many pebbles should be in our good circle, and how many should be in our bad circle."

They went to the monastery where the great Buddha lived. As they knew he would, he greeted them kindly. "My good friends, how can I serve you today?" he asked them. They told him about their game, and about their large undecided circle.

"Tell us, Gautama Buddha," they said. "Are the people of Punjabi mostly good or mostly bad?"

"Let's not speak of the people of Punjabi," he answered. "Let us speak of the people of the world and the people of all eternity. My friends, listen closely because this is important. The people of the world—that includes you, Ramid, and you, Anwar – that includes me, and your mothers, and the little girl who lives behind you – everybody in this world has some good in them and some bad. We all want to be good. So we sweep the bad under the carpet and don't look at it. If we don't look at it, we believe, it will stay hidden."

"You're right, Gautama Buddha," said Ramid. "We all do want to be good. So how do we become good?"

"We recognize what is in ourselves that keeps us from being who we want to be. We don't push it under the carpet because we wish it weren't there. We are mindful of it. Perhaps we yell too much. Or perhaps we always take the biggest piece of bread for ourselves. Or perhaps we criticize people too much and are judgmental." The two boys looked at the pebbles in their hands and turned red with embarrassment. "No need to be embarrassed," the Buddha said. "Just recognize that in yourself. Know that if you let it, your mind will be critical and judgmental. When it starts to be critical, control it with the goodness that is in you."

The boys thanked the Buddha and returned home. Very quietly they erased their good circle and their bad circle. Their undecided circle remained, and in it they put all of their pebbles. They left them piled in the yard for many years to remind them of the wisdom of the Buddha.

Discussion Questions:

• Do you agree with what Gautama Buddha told the boys? Do you think there is good and bad in everyone?
   
• Do you think everyone wants to be good?
   
• Gautama Buddha told the boys that the way to change parts of themselves they didn't like was to be mindful of them, to pay attention to them. Have you ever noticed something you didn't like in yourself? What made you notice or pay attention to that part of yourself? Did you try to change?
   
• Buddhists believe that everyone has the power inside them to be good. Others believe people need help from outside to be good. What do you think helps you be good?