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 My attempt to write about coaching based on what the Great Buddha taught is very far too ambitious. I know too little about coaching and I also know too little about Buddhist. My intention is to take this advantage to learn more about them at the same time. I believe the Buddha is one of the world’s greatest coaches. He said he is not god; he is just a person who discovers the truth of nature. He never wanted to convert anyone blindly into what he taught. The Buddha said:
 
    “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”  (http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/buddha2.html)
 
    His basis in teaching is to make people move forward not to cling into the past. The metaphor he puts on each teaching is remarkably effective. He makes the person focus on presence and then moves forward.
 
 The Story
 
    “The widow suffered one more shock when her young son died due to the snakebite. Her tormented soul was not ready to accept this fact. Weeping incessantly, her eyes dried up of all the tears. Then she remembered that Lord Buddha was camping in the gardens of the outskirts of the town. She was aware of his Holiness and compassion. She perceived a faint ray of hope in the power and kindness of that great soul. Rushing at the holy feet of Tathagata, the lady lamented, “O Lord, see! What great tragedy has befallen me! The cruel death has taken away my beloved and the only son. Now what is the purpose for my survival; where is the support? O Lord, I know you can work wonders; you have given lifeline to many, why not grace me now? Please O Merciful, be kind enough to bring my son back to life.”
 
    The relentless pleading of a grief-stricken mother touched the core of Buddha’s heart. He knew he couldn’t reverse the law of nature, but he could not be blunt and rude as well. After thinking for a while, the Lord addressed the lady thus, “O mother, do not grieve. I shall try to bring back your son to life.” The joy of the lady knew no bounds. She got up and expectantly looked at the Lord to perform the miracle.
 
    Just then the Lord said, “Mother, but there is one condition. I shall require a few seeds of mustard and a pinch of salt to effectively succeed in this endeavor. Will you please bring the seeds and salt?” “Yes, yes, my Lord. Here I go,” said the mother, and was about to run to neighborhood when the Lord said, “But remember, bring the items only from such a family which is not yet smitten by death.” The lady did not realize the deep meaning in such a demand, and saying, ‘I shall bring them in no time’ rushed to collect the same.
 
    “O woman of the house, will you be kind enough to give me a few mustard seeds and some common salt?”
 
    “Yes, why not? Take as much as you require.”
 
    “But,” said the mother, “One thing should be clear; I can accept these two things only if there has been no death in your family.”
 
    The other woman replied, “Oh, how can that be! My aged father-in-law died six months back.”

    Thus went the mother from one house to another, but she could not find any family where death had not already paid its visit. A son or a daughter, father or mother, brother or sister, wife or husband someone or the other was the victim of cruel death sometime or the other, everywhere.
 
    Now the bereaved mother realized the import of the words ‘where no death has ever occurred’. She could see the inevitability and definiteness of death as necessary part of life. She could see that suffering and sorrow were inevitable; no one could escape this fact. No one ever can be free from unhappiness and tragedies. She became calm, and wise too. Her grief for the loss of her son turned into wisdom of realization of Truth. Bending low at the holy feet of Lord Buddha, now the lady prayed, “O Wise One, please take me in your fold; allow me to join the Sangha.” (http://www.geocities.com/neovedanta/a70.html)
 
    He commitment was incredible. He had tried many ways from many great teachers to seek ways for enlightenment, but at the end, for him “trying” wasn’t good enough; he committed into what he believed, the neutral way of practice to attain enlightenment.
 
    “On a full-moon day in May, he sat under the Bodhi tree in deep meditation and said. “I will not leave this spot until I find an end to suffering.” During the night, he was visited by Mara, the evil one, who tried to tempt him away from his virtuous path. First he sent his beautiful daughters to lure Gautama into pleasure. Next he sent bolts of lightning, wind and heavy rain. Last he sent his demonic armies with weapons and flaming rocks. One by one, Gautama met the armies and defeated them with his virtue.
 
    As the struggle ended, he realized the cause of suffering and how to remove it. He had gained the most supreme wisdom and understood things as they truly are. He became the Buddha, ‘The Awakened One’. From then on, he was called Shakyamuni “Buddha.” (http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm)

 
    As a great coach, he believed that everyone has Buddha-nature or Buddha-essence in them. The nature of an ideal coach to believe that everyone has everything in them to achieve in what they want to achieve.