Question

“Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind’. If you had to use the message of the given quote from the Buddha’s sermon (The Sermon at Benares) to help the boy cope with the loss of his ball and what it signifies (The Ball Poem), what would you include in your advice?

Also, evaluate why it might be difficult for him to understand the notion.

Answer 1

The learning from the referenced quote of Buddha-

• the loss of irreplaceable things brings grief and sorrows. 
• learning to stay calm and understanding the perishable/mortal nature of things helps in living life normally and forgetting loss

To help the boy cope with the loss - that loss is an important part of life –important to learn from experience –adapt and move on.

Difficult for the boy to understand the notion - 

The boy is too young to understand the depth of these words-- is alone in his loss ---has no one to explain and must learn from his experience painstakingly--requires time to cope ---easy to feel disheartened at that age.