PureInsight | September 13, 2008
[PureInsight.org] In a land of promise at a very high level, there lived a beautiful phoenix (a heavenly bird). Every day, he quietly listened to a Tathagata Buddha teach Buddha Law. One day, kings of various heavenly lands and many Bodhisattvas came to attend a grand Fa conference. Some law guardians such as dragons also came.
At the conference, a golden dragon talked about how the beings in the Three Realms did many evil deeds because they were in a state of delusion. As such, they needed to be educated by higher beings. At the end of the Fa conference, the phoenix told the Tathagata Buddha that he would like to visit those realms below. The Tathagata Buddha gave his sincere advice to the phoenix. He said, “During the conference, I heard that a significant event that will rectify the entire universe will take place in the human world. The Supreme Buddha will visit the human world and spread the Great Fa. You can go if you really want to. However, you must understand how much hardship you will endure while there. What is more, you may never be able to come back if you cannot handle yourself well and get lost there.”
“But I can’t stand by and do nothing when so many beings are engaging in self-destructive behavior because they are in that state of delusion,” the phoenix replied. Then he came down to the lower level under the watchful eyes of the many higher beings that lined up to see him off.
Once here, the phoenix transformed into a large bird with the image of an ostrich. Naturally, the bird did not appear as pretty and holy as when he was in that heavenly kingdom.
One time, many large birds got together and talked to each other (in their own language). The ostrich showed off by telling the other birds that he was previously a magnificent phoenix in the holy Buddha paradise before coming down and transforming into an ostrich. He also said that he was much prettier than the other birds. These remarks made the other large birds so jealous that they attacked the ostrich until he was bitten all over and almost dead. He felt great pain. After the other birds left, he could not help crying out loud. Soon, the Tathagata Buddha from the heavenly paradise appeared and held the ostrich in his hand. With great mercy, the Buddha said, phoenix, stop crying, this is what it is like at lower levels, and you should never show off your life experience in front of other lives in the future.
Later, the phoenix reincarnated and became a round stone the size of a man’s palm. This time he kept the Buddha’s words in mind; he remained silent no matter how enthusiastically the other stones beside him talked amongst themselves. Gradually, he earned himself the nickname “dumb stone.” One day, a teenager came by and felt the stone to be special, so he took the stone home and put it on the table.
The young boy seemed lonely; he often held the stone in his hands and touched it, or he looked at it for a long time. As time went by, the stone started to talk a little bit in an effort to alleviate the boy’s loneliness. One sunny day, the boy was about to leave his home. As soon as he stepped out the door, the stone told the boy to stay home because it was going to rain heavily. The boy did not heed the stone’s words and walked away. Soon after the boy left home, it began to pour. After this incident, he readily followed the stone’s advice.
After generations of ups and downs, as well as endless hardships and great changes over the course of time, the phoenix eventually grabbed the opportunity to learn Dafa and became a Dafa practitioner.
Reflecting on the hardships of my previous lives, I understand that I must treasure this lucky chance. Every additional day our lives here are extended is intended for ourselves and sentient beings alike. We must cherish every minute and every second of this time.
That is to say:
Come down to the human world to save lives
No matter how fierce the evil forces are
Learning Fa to cultivate back up to the heavenly world
And treasure every minute to accomplish my grand aspiration!
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2008/8/10/54297.html
