PureInsight | January 27, 2008
[PureInsight.org] There was a
clay idol who was very envious of the people who passed by him. He
pleaded to the Buddha: "Could you please let me become a human being?"
"You can become a human being. First, however, you have to follow me to
take a walk in the journey of a human being's life. If you are not able
to endure the pain, I can get you back to being an idol." As soon as
the Buddha finished his words, he waved his arm and the idol became a
young man.
The young man followed the Buddha to the edge of a cliff. There were
two cliffs facing each other at a long distance. The cliff on this side
was "life" and on the other side was "death," connected with a long
chain cable bridge. The bridge was made of many iron hoops in different
sizes.
"Now, off you go, from this cliff to that cliff!"
The young man stepped on the iron hoops and advanced in a very
trembling manner. However, just an instant of carelessness, he fell
into a hoop and lost support of his legs. His chest was clutched so
tightly that he could hardly breathe. He started to cry: "Help! Help!"
"You have to help yourself. In this journey, the only person who can
save you is yourself." The Buddha said with a smile in front of him.
The young man twisted his body and tried very hard to get himself out.
He asked: "What kind of iron hoop are you? Your clutch was so painful."
"I am the hoop of fame and money." The hoop answered.
The young man continued to go forward. Suddenly, he faintly saw a
beautiful woman give him a pleasant smile. He felt absent-minded and
slipped, leading to another fall. He cried out in a panic again: "Help!"
The Buddha reappeared in front of him and said: "In this journey, the only person who can save you is you yourself."
The young man managed after very great effort to get out of the
hoop, but by then he was so exhausted that he sat between two
hoops to have a rest and thought: "What was the painful hoop just now?"
"I am the hoop of the femme-fatale." The hoop answered.
In the following journey, the young man fell into the hoops of
greediness, jealousy and hatred. When he struggled out from those hoops
of pain, he did not have courage to go ahead.
Then the Buddha told him: "Though there is a lot of pain in one's life,
there are also relief and happiness. Are you sure that you would like
to give up a human being's life?"
"There is too much pain being a human being, while happy and pleasant
moments are too short. I decide to give up and go back to my life as a
clay idol." The young man did not hesitate.
The Buddha waved his sleeve and the young man returned to being an
idol. Not long after that, a heavy rain flushed away the idol and it
became just a pile of mud.
Translated from:
http://www.xinsheng.net/xs/articles/gb/2008/1/14/42277.htm
