a buddhist note...

the parable of the arrow-
"it is as if...a man had been wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his relatives and kinsfolk, were to procure from his a physician...and the sick man were to say 'i will not have this arrow taken out until i have learnt whether the man who wounded me belonged to the warrior caste, or to the Brahmin caste, or to the agricultural caste or to the menial caste.'

or again he were to say, 'i will not have this arrow taken out until i have learnt the name of the man who wounded me, and to what clan he belongs.'

or again he were to say, 'i will not have this arrow taken out until i have learnt whether the man who wounded me was tall, or short, or of the middle height.'

or again he were to say, 'i will not have this arrow taken out until i have learnt whether the man who wounded me was black, or dusky or of a yellow skin.'

or again he were to say, 'i will not have this arrow taken out until i have learnt whether the man who wounded me was from this or that village, or town, or city.'"

just a note to think about...