Xmac
4-11-13, 1:32am
A Zen priest was jailed several times after getting caught stealing small items from his neighbors. "Please," a friend begged him, "stop stealing. I will provide you with what you need."
"It's not that," the priest replied. I steal so I can get back to the prisoners, and bring them the message about the Way."
I love this. It challenges the assumptions that one can easily fall into about right and wrong, enlightenment and delusion, and good and bad; not to mention the motives of others.
The Buddha, in his incarnation before Siddhartha, was supposed to have murdered someone out of compassion. The someone was planning to kill many other crew members on a ship at sea. The person who would become the Buddha in his next life wanted to save the would be murderer from the Karma that would come from killing so many.
What's even more instructive for me though, is questioning the smaller, more pernicious assumptions like, "he complaining", "she is negative" or "they're so stupid".
"It's not that," the priest replied. I steal so I can get back to the prisoners, and bring them the message about the Way."
I love this. It challenges the assumptions that one can easily fall into about right and wrong, enlightenment and delusion, and good and bad; not to mention the motives of others.
The Buddha, in his incarnation before Siddhartha, was supposed to have murdered someone out of compassion. The someone was planning to kill many other crew members on a ship at sea. The person who would become the Buddha in his next life wanted to save the would be murderer from the Karma that would come from killing so many.
What's even more instructive for me though, is questioning the smaller, more pernicious assumptions like, "he complaining", "she is negative" or "they're so stupid".