百喻經

22. Selling Agarwood

Long ago, a man journeyed far out to sea in search of agarwood. Only after many years did he obtain a cartload, which he brought home and displayed in the marketplace for sale. Because the price was high, no one bought it, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.

He then saw many people carrying charcoal to the market, where it was purchased as soon as it arrived. He thought to himself: “If I burn my agarwood into charcoal and sell it, it will surely sell very well.” So he burned all the agarwood into charcoal and carried it to the market. Indeed, it sold extremely quickly. Yet the price of that entire cartload of agarwood was now not worth even half a cartload of ordinary charcoal.

** This story is an analogy: Practitioners seeking buddhahood should not fear difficulties and lose heart, pursue strange and eccentric practices, or turn back to seek the fruits of the Lesser Vehicle. In the end, they deprive themselves of great benefit, just like the man who burned agarwood into charcoal so that it would sell quickly. Such conduct is truly most lamentable.

23. Stealing a Blanket

Long ago, a thief stole a quantity of valuable brocade from a wealthy household. Outside the house, he also gathered up a tattered blanket and some old clothes. Afterward, he wrapped the tattered blanket and old garments in the brocade, made them into a bundle, and carried it everywhere with him. When people later learned of this, they all laughed at him.

** This story is an analogy: Those who have brought forth right faith and resolved to study and practice the Buddha-Dharma should not return to craving worldly fame and profit or violate the pure precepts. If they act in such a confused and inverted manner, they will inevitably damage their own virtue and become a laughingstock to onlookers.

24. Sowing Sesame Seeds

Long ago, a man ate raw sesame seeds and found them less delicious than roasted ones. He thought: “Roasted sesame seeds are so delicious. I should sow roasted seeds; then the seeds they produce will surely be delicious.” He therefore roasted the sesame seeds and planted them. As a result, not a single plant sprouted.

** This story is an analogy: Seeds that have been roasted cannot possibly sprout into plants and bear fruit. Likewise, only after cultivating the arduous practices of a bodhisattva through many kalpas can one hope to mature the seed of buddhahood. Yet some who wish to attain realization quickly instead cultivate the practices of the Lesser Vehicle; in the end, they cannot attain buddhahood. The Buddha often reproached followers of the Lesser Vehicle as “roasted seeds whose sprouts have been ruined.” This is precisely the meaning.

25. Water and Fire

Long ago, a man working in his house needed both cold water and fire. He placed fire in an earthenware bowl in the room, filled a metal vessel with water, and set it on top of the bowl containing the fire. He thought: “I have now prepared both fire and water.” Several hours later, when he needed the fire, it had gone out; when he needed the water, it had become hot. Neither could be used.

** This story is an analogy: Some people leave the household life to study the Buddha-Dharma, yet remain attached to their families and infatuated with sensual pleasures, never relinquishing thoughts of them. Consequently, they cannot escape the ocean of craving; moreover, they extinguish the fire of their merit and lose the water of precept observance. In the end, they lose both the merit of spiritual practice and their worldly undertakings.

26. Imitating the King

Long ago, a man wished to be as happy and joyful as the king. He therefore asked an acquaintance:

– How can I become as happy as the king?

The other man advised him:

– If you wish to enjoy happiness like His Majesty, you should imitate his manner and bearing.

Thinking this perfectly reasonable, the man went before the king, watched his every movement, and carefully copied his manner. At that moment the king repeatedly blinked, and the man imitated him exactly. Finding this very strange, the king asked:

– Is there an eyelash in your eye, or has dust fallen into it?

The man replied:

– No, there is nothing wrong with my eyes. I merely wish to be as happy as Your Majesty, so I am trying to imitate your manner.

On hearing this, the king flew into a rage:

– You are truly insolent!

He ordered his soldiers to give the man a severe beating and then banished him from the kingdom.

** This story is an analogy: Some who hear the Buddha-Dharma wish to draw near and learn its practice, yet do not understand its fundamental principles. The Tathagata is omniscient and, wishing to save sentient beings from suffering, employs every kind of skillful means to guide them. At times he teaches shallow and provisional doctrines to liberate those of limited capacity; at times he manifests a human body and performs various deeds; and at times, as the apparent ripening of former grievances, he undergoes such events as “being pierced by a golden spear and eating horse fodder.”

Such people rigidly cling to these appearances, imitate them, or ridicule and slander them. In the end, they forever lose the benefit and realization available in the Buddha-Dharma and instead fall into the three evil destinies, where they undergo every kind of torment.

27. Treating a Wound

Long ago, an old man was cruelly beaten by a king and suffered a very deep and serious wound. He applied horse dung to it, and after several days the wound healed. A foolish man saw this and was delighted, saying:

– How fortunate! I have just learned an excellent remedy for wounds!

He immediately returned home and said to his son:

– I have an excellent medicine. Will you let me strike your back and wound you so that I can apply it and test it? It will surely be extremely effective.

The son obeyed his father.

The man struck and wounded his son’s back, then applied horse dung to it. To act in this way while regarding oneself as highly intelligent is truly to become a laughingstock among the wise.

** This story is an analogy: Attachment to a remedy may itself become an illness. When studying and practicing the Buddha-Dharma, if we refuse to use appropriate methods to counteract our habitual delusions and instead allow afflictions, anger, and delusion to arise freely, the result will be harmful.

For example, on hearing that the “contemplation of impurity” can enable one to relinquish the ordinary body and escape birth and death, one may first entertain lustful thoughts and then attempt the contemplation of impurity. In the end, not only does the contemplation fail, but one is further deluded by sensual desire, creating still more karmic retribution and endlessly wandering through birth and death!

When medicine is used unskillfully, it becomes an illness; when wholesome Dharma is practiced unskillfully, it increases karmic entanglements. This is an important matter from which we must learn to admonish ourselves.

28. Cutting Off a Nose

Long ago, a man was married to a beautiful woman whose only unattractive feature was her nose.

Later, he encountered another woman who was not only extraordinarily beautiful but also had a straight and lovely nose. He thought: “If only I could take her beautiful nose and replace my wife’s nose with it, would my wife not then be perfectly beautiful?”

He therefore cut off the beautiful woman’s nose, seized it, and ran home to tell his wife:

– My dear! Today I have had the good fortune to bestow a beautiful nose upon you!

He cut off his wife’s nose and threw it away, then tried to attach the other nose in its place. In the end, it could not be joined, and his wife, having lost her nose, became even uglier. Thus he harmed both beautiful women.

** This story is an analogy: When worldly people hear that venerable, long-practicing sramanas and brahmins possess great awe-inspiring virtue and receive universal reverence and offerings, they think: “How am I different from them?” They then falsely claim to possess virtue. This is not only of no benefit but also damages their own character, making them no different from the man who cut off his wife’s nose.

29. Burning a Garment

Long ago, a poor man worked for wages and saved enough money to have a short coat made of coarse cloth. When he wore it outside, another man saw him and asked:

– You are so handsome in form and appearance that you must come from a wealthy family. Why, then, do you wear coarse clothing? I have a way to help you obtain fine clothes, but you must trust me; I would never deceive you.

The poor man was delighted and replied:

– I will certainly follow your instructions.

The other man built a fire beside the road and told him:

– Throw your ugly coarse coat into the fire and burn it. Once it has burned, stand and wait a little while; beautiful clothes will immediately appear for you.

Following his words, the poor man threw his coarse garment into the fire. When it had burned, he paced back and forth waiting, yet no beautiful clothes appeared.

** This story is an analogy: According to the Buddha’s teaching, a human body is difficult to obtain. Having obtained one, we should diligently cultivate virtue, nurture future roots of merit, and practice in accordance with the true Dharma and its principles. Yet followers of non-Buddhist paths fabricate false doctrines to deceive people, saying that one should destroy this body by leaping into a fiery pit and will thereby be reborn in the heavens, and so forth.

Such irrational claims cannot be trusted. Following them not only harms one in this life but also deludes one regarding future lives, just as the poor man was deceived.

30. Raising Goats

Long ago, a man raised goats so skillfully that they multiplied greatly each day, from one thousand to ten thousand. Yet he was extremely miserly and would not slaughter even one for food or to entertain guests. However others entreated him or offered to buy some, he would not part with a single goat.

There was then a very cunning and deceitful man who frequently visited him, ingratiated himself with sweet words, and became his intimate friend. The goat herder believed him to be sincere. One day the man said:

– You and I have become close friends, so I wish to discuss everything with you. You have neither wife nor children and are very lonely. I have heard that in the village to the east there is a beautiful young woman. If you marry her, you will make an excellent match. Let me serve as intermediary, and the arrangement will surely succeed.

The goat herder was overjoyed and gave the man many goats and some gifts as the first betrothal offering.

Several days later, the man returned and said:

– She has agreed to marry you, and, most fortunately, your wife has now given birth to a delightful child. I have come to bring you the happy news!

The goat herder had never even seen his betrothed, yet hearing that she had just borne a child, he was indescribably happy. He hurriedly gave the man many more goats, and they parted.

Several days later, the man returned again and said:

– My friend! What a painful tragedy—your child has died! I have come to offer my sincere condolences as your friend.

On hearing this, the goat herder threw himself about, wept bitterly, and remained inconsolable.

** This story is an analogy: Within Buddhism there are foolish people who do not crave fame and profit or delight in beauty and fine flavors, yet remain attached to worldly sensual pleasures and are deceived by them. They cast away the wealth of wholesome Dharma and merit and neglect spiritual cultivation. Consequently, not only do they ruin their wholesome qualities, but they also lose their lives and property. This is truly shameful and heartbreaking; they wrongfully bring suffering upon themselves.

31. Buying a Donkey

Long ago, a group of brahmin believers held a great assembly and needed many earthenware vessels. Their teacher instructed his disciples to go to the market and invite a potter to come. Obeying him, the disciples set out to find one. On the road, they encountered a potter leading a donkey laden with many pottery wares for sale at the market. The donkey stumbled and fell, and all the pottery on its back crashed to the ground and shattered. The potter grieved and wept without ceasing. Finding this strange, the disciples asked:

– Why are you weeping so sorrowfully?

The potter replied:

– How could I not weep? I labored painstakingly for a year to make all this pottery and intended to carry it to the market today. Unexpectedly, the donkey stumbled, and in a single moment everything was shattered. Is that not cause for grief?

The disciples were secretly delighted and thought:

– This donkey is extraordinarily capable! In the blink of an eye, it can destroy everything the potter labored an entire year to make.

They then negotiated with the potter to buy the donkey. The potter was furious with it and wanted to get rid of it, so when someone offered to buy it, he immediately sold it.

They rode the donkey back to their teacher, who asked:

– Why did you not invite the potter but instead bought a donkey back here?

The disciples replied:

– This donkey’s ability surpasses that of the potter. It takes the potter a year to make a quantity of pottery, whereas this donkey can destroy it all in a moment.

The teacher repeatedly shook his head and said:

– How foolish you are! This donkey may shatter any amount of pottery in a moment, but even in a hundred years it could not make a single vessel.

** This story is an analogy: Many people in the world receive the kindness and assistance of others, yet far from repaying that kindness, they often repay it with enmity. We should not associate with such ungrateful and treacherous people, for they can only cause harm and bring no benefit.

32. Stealing Gold

Long ago, two merchants shared the same place of business. One sold gold, and the other sold cotton cloth. When a customer came to buy gold, the gold was placed in fire to test whether it was genuine. The cloth merchant secretly stole a piece. Fearing discovery, he hid it among the cotton. The gold was glowing red-hot and set all the cotton ablaze, completely burning it up and exposing the theft. The man not only failed to steal the gold but also lost all his cotton cloth in the fire.

** This story is an analogy: Followers of non-Buddhist paths steal the teachings of Buddhism and claim them as their own. Yet because they do not understand the principles or know how to apply them skillfully, they not only fail to understand the Buddha-Dharma and accomplish nothing, but also cause their own doctrines to become adulterated. In the end, their scheme is exposed and they become a laughingstock to onlookers.

33. Cutting Down a Tree to Find Its Fruit

Long ago, in a king’s garden there grew an excellent fruit tree with luxuriant branches and exceptionally sweet, delicious fruit found nowhere else.

One day, a foreign guest came to visit. The king showed him the tree and said:

– This tree bears incomparably delicious fruit found nowhere else.

The guest asked:

– If its fruit is truly delicious, may I taste one?

The king agreed and summoned someone to cut the tree down to search for fruit, but none could be found. The king later ordered his servants to replant the felled tree and tried every possible method, but they could not make it sprout and flourish as before. The tree died completely and never bore fruit again.

** This story is an analogy: The Buddha Shakyamuni taught us that the merit of observing the precepts resembles a great tree capable of bearing the delicious fruits of supernormal powers, wisdom, loving-kindness, and meditative concentration. If we desire these fruits, we must first observe the precepts and cultivate the path, nourishing them with the many merits of wholesome Dharma, before we can hope for perfect results.

Yet some do not understand this method. They recklessly violate the precepts and rules of deportment while still seeking supernormal powers, concentration, and wisdom. They are like the man who cut down the tree to find its fruit: not only do they fail to obtain the fruit, but from then on the precious tree is withered and dead.

Those who act in this way are truly pitiable.

34. Shortening the Road

Long ago, a village lay one hundred miles from the capital. It had a well whose water was extraordinarily clear and sweet. The king commanded the villagers to transport water to the capital every day for him to drink.

Exhausted by traveling back and forth each day, the villagers could bear it no longer and planned to flee far away. When the village headman learned of this, he convened a great meeting and announced:

– Brothers, do not go anywhere. I shall ask the king immediately to shorten the road from one hundred miles to sixty. Your journey will then be shorter, and you will not be as exhausted as before.

After the meeting, the headman hurried to the capital and made this request of the king. The king approved it and ordered the highway office to shorten the hundred-mile road to sixty miles. When the villagers received the news, they were delighted and felt that the journey was now shorter. Thereafter, they trusted the king even more and unanimously declared that they would not move away.

** This story is an analogy: People resolve to study and practice the true Dharma in the hope of escaping birth and death and samsara. Yet because the period of cultivation is so long, they grow weary and retreat halfway, unwilling to continue.

The Tathagata possesses abundant skillful means. From the Dharma of the One Vehicle, he provisionally teaches three vehicles, enabling those of inferior capacities and shallow wisdom to hear that the Buddha-Dharma is easy to practice and realize. They then vigorously cultivate wholesome Dharma and merit in hopes of escaping birth and death and samsara.

After they attain the fruits of the Lesser Vehicle, the Buddha again admonishes them and explains that the Buddha-Dharma has always had only the One Vehicle, not two or three: “There is only one reality; where there are two relative things, neither is the truth.” They then trust the Buddha’s words even more, turn from the lesser fruits toward the Great Vehicle without doubt, and peacefully advance in cultivating the Great Vehicle bodhisattva path.

35. Seeing a Reflection in a Mirror

Long ago, a very poor man had incurred so many debts that he had no means to repay them and could only flee.

One day, while crossing a vast open plain, he suddenly saw a chest. He opened it and found it filled with gems and jewels, with a sheet of glass covering them. Overjoyed, he reached in to take the treasures. But then he saw a man appear inside the chest—his own reflection—who seemed to threaten him. Terrified, he withdrew his hand. Anxious and uneasy, he said to the man in the mirror:

– I thought this chest in the wilderness was unattended and that no one was here. How strange that someone is inside it!

Having spoken, he hurriedly fled elsewhere.

** This story is an analogy: People are constantly bound by countless afflictions, leaving them distressed and miserable. Lacking merit and wholesome conditions, they are oppressed by the cycle of birth and death, by “demons and karmic creditors,” and therefore seek deliverance from suffering and sorrow through studying and practicing the Buddha-Dharma.

They diligently cultivate fields of merit and wholesome seeds, like a chest filled with treasures, yet they remain obscured by “the view of a self and attachment to self.” Thus, amid impermanence and non-self, they falsely cling to an enduring self. The view of a self and attachment to self are like the reflection in the mirror, but they mistake them for reality. Consequently, they cannot cultivate meditative concentration and the factors of the path or realize undefiled merit. Their conduct is no different from that of the man who reached the treasure chest yet obtained nothing.

36. Mistakenly Gouging Out the Eyes

Long ago, a mountain practitioner mastered a magical art that enabled him to discover all gems and treasures long buried beneath the earth. When the king heard of this, he was delighted and told his ministers:

– I wish to invite that adept to remain in our kingdom and help me find buried treasures. Our country will immediately become immensely rich and powerful.

A minister was commissioned to find the adept. He did indeed find him, but instead of inviting him back to the kingdom, he gouged out the man’s eyes, brought him before the king, and said:

– Your servant has gouged out the adept’s eyes, so he will be unable to leave the kingdom.

The king was displeased and said:

– You are truly foolish! I wished to invite this man precisely because his eyes could discover buried treasures. Now that you have destroyed his eyes, what use can he be?

** This story is an analogy: Some Buddhists see eminent and virtuous monks austerely cultivating in forests and mountains and, with extraordinary reverence, invite them home to receive offerings. They do not realize that this may obstruct the monks’ austere and simple cultivation and may even cause them to damage their precepts, decline in wholesome Dharma, and fail to attain the fruit.

Lay Buddhists often suffer from this grave blindness and error. They protect the Dharma without understanding it, make offerings contrary to the Dharma, or allow worldly sentiment to stain the lofty morality and concentration of virtuous monastics. In doing so, they harm both themselves and others and create no small amount of wrongdoing.

37. Killing the Oxen

Long ago, a man raised 250 oxen and regularly released them into the fields to graze.

One day, a tiger seized and devoured one of them. The man thought: “I have lost one ox, so the number is no longer complete. What use is the herd to me now?” He therefore drove the entire herd into a ravine, where every ox died without a single survivor.

** This story is an analogy: A Buddhist monastic may perfectly receive and uphold the 250 rules of the complete precepts. Later, through carelessness, he may happen to violate one. Instead of feeling shame, repenting, and confessing so that his purity may be restored, he mistakenly thinks: “I have already broken one precept, so my morality is defective. Even if I repent and carefully uphold the other precepts, it will be useless.” From then on, he brazenly violates the precepts without fear and abandons the entire discipline. Such a practitioner and the man who killed his oxen are equally foolish and pitiable.

38. Telling the Water Not to Flow

Long ago, a traveler became extremely thirsty. Beside the road, he saw a cave from which a crystal-clear spring flowed into a nearby barrel until it overflowed. The man put his mouth to it and drank. After quenching his thirst, he pointed at the barrel and said:

– My thirst is now relieved. Water, stop flowing!

But the water continued flowing without pause. Enraged, the man stood beside the barrel, loudly cursing it. Seeing this, people laughed and rebuked him:

– Why do you need to behave like this? Simply go elsewhere. Why insist that the water stop flowing?

** This story is an analogy: People are habitually intoxicated in the ocean of birth, death, and craving, drinking the foul water of the five desires. At times they grow weary of it and wish that the demon of sensual pleasure would cease troubling them, but matters cannot be resolved merely by wishing. We must guard the sense faculties and carefully examine ourselves: for the time being, do not become entangled in sensory conditions, and do not let the mind entertain deluded thoughts about worldly affairs.

If we make no effort to cast away the impurities in our minds and merely wish to prevent the external objects of the five desires from disturbing us, not only will we be unable to avoid the bait of the five desires (I), but they will constantly drag us down the painful road of degeneration. We will continue revolving in the deep pit of wrongdoing with no hope of ever escaping affliction and delusion. Such conduct is futile.

(I) The five desires: wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep; alternatively, sights, fragrances, sounds, flavors, and tangible objects. These objects constantly confuse and delude people.

39. Plastering a Wall

Long ago, a man visited a friend’s house. Seeing that his friend’s wall was smoothly plastered, dry, and clean, he asked:

– What did you use to plaster the wall so beautifully?

His friend replied:

– I mixed rice bran with mud and water.

The man thought: “If bran works so well, surely mixing whole grain with mud to plaster a wall will work even better.”

He returned home and mixed a large quantity of grain with mud, then plastered it onto his wall. As a result, he not only wasted the grain but also made the wall uneven, with bulges, hollows, and many broken places.

** This story is an analogy: Some people misunderstand the Buddha-Dharma or regard themselves as intelligent. They stubbornly practice according to their own opinions and depart from the true Dharma, often laboring painfully in cultivation only to bring themselves harm and no benefit. For example, ordinary people hear a noble being teach that cultivating wholesome dharmas leads after death to heavenly rebirth or liberation. They then mistakenly kill themselves in hopes of being reborn in heaven to enjoy blessings. In the end, they merely destroy their bodies and gain nothing in cultivation. They are as foolish as the man in the story.

40. The Bald Man Seeking Medicine

Long ago, a man was completely bald, without a single hair. In winter he suffered terribly from the cold, in summer from unbearable heat, and mosquitoes and gnats caused him great pain by biting his scalp. He heard that a skilled physician could cure baldness and every other disease, however difficult to treat.

The man went to him and pleaded:

– My baldness causes me great suffering. I have heard that you can cure it. I beg you to have compassion and heal me.

The physician immediately removed his own hat, showed the man his bald head, and said:

– Look! I myself suffer from the same ailment and am in great distress. If I could cure baldness, I would already have cured myself.

** This story is an analogy: People suffer from the painful illnesses of birth, old age, sickness, and death. They seek a path to immortality, yet refuse to approach the Buddha and bodhisattvas—the noble beings who transcend the world—to learn the path of liberation. Instead, in their blindness, they seek instruction from followers of non-Buddhist paths. Although those teachers themselves still drift through birth, death, and samsara and possess no Dharma of liberation, how could they possibly save anyone else?

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41. Two Demons Quarreling over Possessions

Long ago, two demons found a chest, a staff, and a pair of wooden sandals. Each claimed the objects as his own, and they quarreled endlessly.

A man came upon them and asked:

– What use are these three objects that makes you quarrel over them so fiercely?

The two demons replied:

– The chest can produce food, clothing, mosquito nets, blankets, and every kind of wealth. If you merely hold the staff, all enemies will submit to you and dare not resist. If you put on these wooden sandals, you can ride the clouds and reach distant places in the blink of an eye.

After hearing this, the man told the demons:

– Go somewhere else for a few minutes and then return. I shall fairly adjudicate the matter for you.

Believing him, the demons ran away. The man hastily embraced the chest, took the staff, put on the sandals, and flew into the sky. From the air he called down to them:

– Now you have received justice, for there is nothing left over which to quarrel!

On hearing this, the two demons were extremely distressed. Helplessly, they suffered the loss of their possessions and knew of no way to recover them.

** This story is an analogy: Generosity is like the treasure chest, for all wealth and necessities enjoyed in the human and heavenly realms arise from the wholesome cause of giving. Meditative concentration is like the precious staff, for one who cultivates concentration can subdue the enemy thieves of affliction, greed, anger, and delusion. Observance of the precepts is like the precious sandals, for through pure morality one may be reborn in heaven or realize the peace of nirvana.

The two demons are like the maras and followers of non-Buddhist paths. Those followers seek pleasant karmic rewards within conditioned, outflowing dharmas, but in the end cannot fulfill their wishes. One must single-mindedly cultivate wholesome practices such as generosity, morality, and meditative concentration, for only these practices can free one from suffering and enable one to realize the bliss of nirvana.