Be Like a Broken Gong
If, like a broken gong, you make no sound when struck, you have reached stillness; there is no quarrel in you.
When someone strikes me, must I always ring back?
📝Reflection
A sound gong rings when struck — that is its nature. We are the same. Insulted, we strike back at once; touched, we ring immediately, and take it for granted. But this verse paints a curious state: a mind that, like a broken gong, makes no sound when struck. This is not dullness or defeat. It is the hardest restraint of all — the choice not to ring back when you could. The strength to keep the other's provocation from entering you and turning into sound. A quarrel always grows only when both sides ring together. When one side is silent like a broken gong, the quarrel fades without an echo. Silence is sometimes the strongest reply.
🌱Apply It Today
When someone strikes sharply today, in the moment you want to ring back, try just once to stay silent like a broken gong. The quarrel stops without echo.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
