FRAGILITY

A disciple once asked his Zen master about why the Japanese made their teacups so delicate that they broke easily. The master replied, ‘the teacups are not too delicate; but you need to be better at handling them. You must adjust yourself to the environment and not vice versa.’

So often, when we are clumsy and end up breaking something, we affix onus on its fragility. But it is pertinent to note that things don’t break due to their fragility alone, rather they break due to our own inability to match up to the delicate realities of the situation. The prime reason is the careless approach that arises out of an insensitive outlook based on a changing perception of the situation.

Consider the example of parents who may show great patience with a toddler, yet they may not display the same endurance with a grown up child. This is due to the perception that the older person has outgrown susceptibility to fragility. Human beings are known to retain their tenderness beyond childhood, right up to old age and surely they merit the same sensitive approach.

Hence, whether it is persons, situations or things, we need to be better in our attitudes and approaches in first recognising the aspects of fragility and then responding with tender and sturdy sensitivity. After all, most things that are delicate cannot be put together if broken. In more ways than one, the future of fragile things, situations and relationships lies only in our hands!

To BE BETTER at handling fragility...
Remember it starts and ends with me!

- Pravin K. Sabnis