Once upon a time, there was a man who was having an affair with a married woman. They were together when her husband came back. He found out their affair and stopped outside the door waiting for the man to come out to kill him. To the lover the woman said: "My husband knows what is going on. There is no way out but the mani."
She wanted the man to escape by means of the sewer. The man misunderstood her to mean looking for the mani pearls. He looked everywhere but in vain. He said to himself: "I'll not leave here, if can't find the mani pearls."
He was then killed by her husband.
This is also held to be true with the common people.
It is said, between birth and death, we live a life of impermanence, suffering, emptiness and unreality of ego. We have to reject the two extremes of annihilation and permanence by holding fast to the golden mean in order to get deliverance. However, the common people, misunderstand the two extremes to refer to the universe being finite and infinite and the human beings having ego and having no ego. Therefore, they are unable to grasp the meaning of the middle way to avoid extremes. After being stricken with sudden death, they will be killed out of impermanence and falling into the Three Evil Paths of Transmigration.
This is just like the stupid man getting killed looking for mani pearls.
昔有一人與他婦通，交通未竟夫從外來，即便覺之住於門外，伺其出時便欲殺害。婦語人言：「我夫已覺，更無出處，唯有摩尼可以得出(摩尼者齊云水竇孔也)。」欲令其人從水竇出，其人錯解謂摩尼珠，所在求覓而不知處，即作是言：「不見摩尼珠我終不去。」須臾之間為其所殺。凡夫之人亦復如是，有人語言：「生死之中，無常、苦、空、無我，離斷、常二邊，處於中道，於此中過可得解脫。」凡夫錯解，便求世界有邊無邊及以眾生有我無我，竟不能觀中道之理，忽然命終，為於無常之所殺害，墮三惡道，如彼愚人推求摩尼為他所害。
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