Skip to main content

(94) THE MANI AND THE SEWER


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.

94摩尼水竇喻
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。

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kong Rong Gives up the Biggest Pear

Kong Rong (153-208), the 20 th generation descendant of Confucius, was a high official during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. As he was good-tempered and hospitable, his house was always full of guests. He was a noted poet and was one of the “Seven Famous Personages of Jian An.”  Kong Rong was once appointed the prefect of Beihai , hence named Kong Beihai . During his tenure of office, Kong Rong constructed cities, built schools, and advocated Confucianism. Kong Rong upheld etiquette , and had made his name heard in his childhood for a "giving up the biggest  pear" story.  In Kong  Rong ’s Family, there were seven brothers in his family and Kong Rong was the sixth son. When he was four years old, he was asked to choose a pear in priority. However, Kong Rong choose a smallest pear, leaving big ones to his elder brothers. Every time the siblings ate pears, his elder brothers always took big ones. He, however, always picked up the small one.  When ...
1 comment
Read more

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

This proverb originates from the story of Qin Hui, who was regarded till today as the most treacherous court minister of the Song dynasty. Qin Hui was born with a peculiarity: his feet measured one foot four inches from heel to toe. he was therefore nicknamed the Long-Foot Scholar when he was a student in the Royal Academy. Qin Hui had been teacher in a private school, he was very unsatisfied by his humble and mean position, and wrote a poem, one couplet of it was: If I had three hundred Acres of irrigated lands, I wouldn't have to be the Monkey king. Here the monkeys were referred to mischievous boys in the private school, he himself was the king of those monkeys. Later he passed the imperial examinations and rose quickly to the post of Prime Minister. By the time, the Song dynasty was under continuous attack by the northern tribe Jurchen [Jin]. Qin Hui initiated Peace negotiation with Jurchens, and made the Southern Song dynasty cede territory and subjugate itself to them....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Four Diamond Kings of Heaven

On the right and left sides of the entrance hall of Buddhist temples, two on each side, are the gigantic figures of the four great Diamond Kings of Heaven. They are four brothers named respectively Mo-li Ch’ing (Pure), Mo-li Hung (Vast), Mo-li Hai (Sea), and Mo-li Shou (Age). Mo-li Ch’ing, the eldest, is twenty-four feet in height, with a beard the hairs of which are like copper wire. He carries a magnificent jade ring and a spear, and always fights on foot. He has also a magic sword, ‘Blue Cloud,’ on the blade of which are engraved the four characters: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind. When brandished, it causes a black wind, which produces tens of thousands of spears, which pierce the bodies of men and turn them to dust. The wind is followed by a fire, which fills the air with tens of thousands of golden fiery serpents. A thick smoke also rises out of the ground, which blinds and burns men, none being able to escape. Mo-li Hung carries in his hand an umbrella, called the Umbrella of Chao...
Post a Comment
Read more