Skip to main content

(62) THE PATIENT EATS THE PHEASANT MEAT


Once upon a time, there was a man who was seriously ill. A skilful physician prescribed that he could be cured by eating some pheasant meat. After he finished eating one, the patient did not eat it again. Afterwards, the doctor came to him and asked, "How do you feel now?"
The patient replied, "You have told me to eat some pheasants. Now that I have eaten it, I dare not eat it again."
The physician said, "But why not? How can you expect to be cured with only one pheasant?"
This is also true with all the heretics. They should understand what the mind means on hearing such wise and skilful doctors as Buddha's and Bodhisattva's preaching. However, they cling to the view of permanence thinking that there is only one mind from the past, present through future, which does not undergo any change. This is just like the patient eating only one pheasant that his illness of ignorance and worries cannot be cured.
All Omniscient Buddhas teach the heretics to abandon their prejudiced view of permanence. For all phenomena are subject to change at the time of thought. How can the mind remain unchanged! This is just like the physician's telling the patient to eat more pheasants.
So is Sakyamuni Buddha's preaching to all men to understand all his teachings. Sakyamuni has it that things which can be ruined or destroyed are called impenitence.
Things which can be lasted are called continuity.
Once the context is understood, people will eradicate the wrong view of permanence.

62病人食雉肉喻
昔有一人病患委篤,良醫占之云:「須恒食一種雉肉可得愈病。」而此病者市得一雉,食之已盡更不復食。醫於後時見,便問之:「汝病愈未?」病者答言:「醫先教我恒食雉肉,是故今者食一雉已盡更不敢食。」醫復語言:「若前雉已盡,何不更食?汝今云何正食一雉望得愈病?」
一切外道亦復如是,聞佛菩薩無上良醫說言,當解心識,外道等執於常見,便謂過去未來現在唯是一識無有遷謝,猶食一雉,是故不能療其愚惑煩惱之病。大智諸佛教諸外道除其常見,一切諸法念念生滅,何有一識常恒不變?如彼世醫教更食雉而得病愈,佛亦如是,教諸眾生令得解,諸法壞故不常,續故不斷,即得剗除常見之病。

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The wonderful pear-tree

Once upon a time a countryman came into the town on market-day, and brought a load of very special pears with him to sell. He set up his barrow in a good corner, and soon had a great crowd round him ; for everyone knew he always sold extra fine pears, though he did also ask an extra high price. Now, while he was crying up his fruit, a poor, old, ragged, hungry-looking priest stopped just in front of the barrow, and very humbly begged him to give him one of the pears. But the countryman, who was very mean and very nasty-tempered, wouldn't hear of giving him any, and as the priest didn't seem inclined to move on, he began calling him all the bad names he could think of. " Good sir," said the priest, " you have got hundreds of pears on your barrow. I only ask you for one. You would never even know you had lost one. Really, you needn't get angry." "Give him a pear that is going bad ; that will make him happy," said one of the crowd. "The o

The Legend of The Three-Life Stone

The Buddhist believe metempsychosis, or the migration of the souls of animated beings, people's relationships are predestined through three states of life: the past, present, and future life. Legend has it that there's a road called Yellow Spring Road, which leads to Fogotten River. Over the river there's a bridge called Helpless Bridge (Naihe Bridge), at one end of the bridge sits a crimson stone called Three-life Stone. When two people die, they take this route to reincarnation. if they carve their name on the Three-life Stone together while they pass the stone, they are to be predestined to be together in their future life. Although before their rebirth they will be given a MengPo Soup to drink and thereby their memory of past life are obliterated. In reality, San-Sheng Shi (三生石), or Three-Life Stone is located beside Flying Mountain near the West Lake, Hangzhou. On the stone, there is seal with three Chinese characters that say "The Three-life Stone," and a de

The Fox and The Tiger

ONE day a fox encountered a tiger. The tiger showed his fangs and waved his claws and wanted to eat him up. But the fox said: 'Good sir, you must not think that you alone are the king of beasts. Your courage is no match for mine. Let us go together and you keep behind me. If the humans are not afraid of me when they see me, then you may eat me up.' The tiger agreed and so the fox led him to a big high-way. As soon as the travellers saw the tiger in the distance they were seized with fear and ran away. Then the said: 'You see? I was walking in front; they saw me before they could See you.' Then the tiger put his tail between his legs and ran away. The tiger had seen that the humans were afraid of the fox but he had not realized that the fox had merely borrowed his own terrible appearance. [This story was translated by Ewald Osers from German, published by George Bell & Sons, in the book 'Chinese Folktales'.  Osers noted that this story was