original text

For example, appraisers and businessmen in the parade will be in the middle of the road, and camels will die. There are many treasures, delicious food [1] and sundries on camels. When a camel dies, skin it. The merchant gave up the trip and sat on the words of the second disciple [3]: "Look at the camel skin, don't get it wet." Then it rained, and the two of them were stubborn [4]. They covered the skin and their clothes were rotten. The price difference between leather and juniper is very big, so it is foolish to use juniper skin.

So do people in the world. Those who don't kill are compared to cypress, those who camel's skin are compared to wealth, and rainy days are compared to wanton destruction of good deeds. Those who don't kill, that is, the most wonderful truth of Buddhism [5], can't be repaired, but building towers and temples with money and supporting monks, taking roots as the end, not seeking their roots, wandering five ways, can't live on their own. So, you should be careful not to kill others.

To annotate ...

[1] Fine and soft: light and portable valuables such as jewelry and silk.

[2] Dieu: refers to high-quality fine cotton cloth.

[3] Sit: Stay and Stay, which are used as verbs here.

[4] yín: Stupid, stubborn and treacherous.

[5] Miaoyin: Miaoyin is the big line of Bodhisattva.

translate

There used to be a businessman who walked around doing business. Once on the road, his camel suddenly died. There are still some treasures, soft and fine cotton cloth and other items on the camel's back. Now that the camel is dead, he has skinned it. When the merchant was about to set out, he told his two disciples, "Take good care of this camel skin and don't let it get damp and rot." Shortly after the merchant left, it began to rain, and two stupid people covered the camel's skin with fine cotton cloth. As a result, all the valuable fine cotton fabrics have rotted away. The value of camel hair skin and fine cotton cloth is obviously very different. Because of stupidity, expensive cotton cloth was used to cover the worthless camel skin.

So do people in the world. Don't kill things, such as noble cotton cloth and camel skin, such as ordinary goods, things that get wet when it rains, such as Buddhist disciples who indulge their behavior, thus breaking the precepts and ruining charity. Not killing is the best and most wonderful truth in Buddhism, but they don't practice it well. All they know is to use some money to build towers and temples to support monks. This is to give up basic practice and ask others for blessing. Naturally, I will wander in the five roads, and I can't live without life and death. It is for this reason that practitioners should pay attention to practice without killing life.

Comment and analysis

As the saying goes, "penny wise and pound foolish", this story is about two stupid people who, because they didn't know the respective values of cotton cloth and camel skin, used cotton cloth to shelter camel skin from the rain and finally made it fester. The world is sometimes the same. Before they really understand the essence and value of things, they turn their center of gravity upside down, abandon the fundamental and main parts of things and pursue those details, thus losing higher value and leaving only those things with low value. At the same time, this story also warns us: when things happen, there must be a clear positioning, which is lighter, which is better or worse; You should also have correct judgment and be able to make the best choice between taking and giving up with the balance in your heart.

Story quotation

Is the bottle full?

One day, after the old abbot told his disciples about Buddhism, he immediately took out a big glass bottle and opened two cloth bags: one containing walnuts and the other containing lotus seeds.

"Today I want to show you an experiment that I saw when I was young. I still often think of the results of the experiment and often use it to motivate myself. Therefore, I hope that after you have seen this experiment, you can remember it as much as I do. The key is to remember the experimental results. " When the old abbot finished, he first stuffed walnuts into the glass bottle until no one could put them in.

Then he asked his disciples, "Do you think the bottle is full now?"

A disciple replied, "If you continue to pack walnuts, it will be full."

The old abbot took out lotus seeds and filled the space left by walnuts with lotus seeds. Then the old abbot asked, "Can you draw any conclusions from this experiment?"

As soon as the old abbot finished speaking, the disciples began to speak enthusiastically and started a discussion.

One of the disciples said, "This shows that there is no absolute perfection in the world, and everything is relative."

Another disciple said, "This shows that time is like water in a sponge. If you are willing to squeeze, you can still squeeze out. "

Another disciple said, "This shows that space can be subdivided infinitely."

After patiently listening to the disciples' opinions, the old abbot smiled and said, "What you said is reasonable, but you still haven't said what I want you to understand." The disciples thought for a long time, but they didn't understand what the truth was.

The old abbot went on to say, "Can you think backwards, or think backwards?" If I put lotus seeds instead of walnuts first, can I wait until the lotus seeds are full before putting walnuts? "

The old abbot continued: "Think again, is life sometimes like this?" We often neglect to do things that are really important to us, and we are often troubled by trivial things, so we watch our lives sink into those trivial things and finally waste a lot of precious time. So I hope you can always remember today's experiment and remember the results of this experiment. "

Upon hearing this, the old abbot nodded his head.