Here is a story a Master told his disciples to show what damage a single trifling
attachment can do to those who have become rich in spiritual gifts:
A villager was once riding past a cave in a mountain at the precise moment when it
made one of its rare magical appearances to all who wished to enrich themselves
from its treasures. He marched into the cave and found whole mountains of jewels
and precious stones that he hurriedly stuffed into the saddlebags of his mule, for
he knew the legend according to which the cave would be open for only a very
limited period of time so its treasures had to be taken in haste.
The donkey was fully loaded and he set off rejoicing at his good fortune, when he
suddenly remembered he had left his stick in the cave. He turned back and rushed
into the cave. But the time for the cave to disappear had arrived and so he
disappeared with it and was never seen again. After waiting for him a year or two
the villagers sold the treasure they found on the donkey and became the
beneficiaries of the unfortunate man’s good luck.
When the sparrow builds its nest in the forest
it occupies but a single branch.
When the deer stakes its thirst at the river
it drinks no more than its belly can hold.
We collect things
because our hearts are empty.
🙂
Here is a story a Master told his disciples to show what damage a single trifling
attachment can do to those who have become rich in spiritual gifts:
A villager was once riding past a cave in a mountain at the precise moment when it
made one of its rare magical appearances to all who wished to enrich themselves
from its treasures. He marched into the cave and found whole mountains of jewels
and precious stones that he hurriedly stuffed into the saddlebags of his mule, for
he knew the legend according to which the cave would be open for only a very
limited period of time so its treasures had to be taken in haste.
The donkey was fully loaded and he set off rejoicing at his good fortune, when he
suddenly remembered he had left his stick in the cave. He turned back and rushed
into the cave. But the time for the cave to disappear had arrived and so he
disappeared with it and was never seen again. After waiting for him a year or two
the villagers sold the treasure they found on the donkey and became the
beneficiaries of the unfortunate man’s good luck.
When the sparrow builds its nest in the forest
it occupies but a single branch.
When the deer stakes its thirst at the river
it drinks no more than its belly can hold.
We collect things
because our hearts are empty.
🙂