Ethel and Her Egg

In receiving and giving possessions,

we should be clear in what we are doing.

It is better to give more and receive less.

Everyone knows how lady dragons are about their eggs. Dedicated. Protective. Fierce when necessary.

That spring there was no need for ferocity as fire grass was plentiful. Daily, the husbands brought bundles of grass for their wives so they could all share, as was the custom.

All, that is, except Ethel.

Ethel had forgotten that to have food in the future, she needed to share what she had now. So, as her husband brought grass, she hid it. And when the ladies shared their grass with her, she didn’t write it down in her ledger so she’d be sure to repay them. Ethel just put the grass in the pantry and never bothered with updating her ledger.

But that was just one way that Ethel was different. When it came to protecting her egg, Ethel made the other lady dragons pale by comparison. She would hold on to her egg and never leave it. At night, she’d carry it into the cave and lock the door. In the morning, she’d carry it outside. Then she’d crouch in the doorway, furrow her brow, and glower through narrowed eyes.

The other dragons became increasingly concerned about her. One said he’d go tell Ethel’s mother what was going on. When she was told, Ethel’s mom was horrified. And very worried. She came running to Ethel’s cave where she saw her daughter crouching. Ethel’s mother took one look at her glowering daughter and burst into tears.

Since she had three heads, when Ethel’s mom burst into tears, it was really something. As one head wailed, another tearfully looked in their handbag for a handkerchief. The third looked on in fright. Ethel demanded, “Mother, what are you doing? All this noise will disturb the egg! And what are you doing here?”  

 Ethel’s mother’s third head knew what she had to do. “Dear, your friends are very worried about you and your ledger. Your father and I raised you to be unselfish and like all good dragons to always update your ledger. Also, to always be more generous to others than they are to you. This is the only way we can hold our heads high.“

 “But I also came to see about the little one. You’re being far too protective of your egg. Caring for it is one thing. When your baby hatches, he’ll take one look at your expression and be too scared to leave his egg! Then I’ll never get to see my grandson!” And with that her mother’s third head burst into tears.

Well, that got Ethel’s attention. Her baby afraid of her and refusing to leave the egg? Her not being generous as she had been taught? All three of her mother’s heads crying at once?

“Mother, I’m sorry. I’ll stop glowering. See? No more glower.” And indeed Ethel was beginning to smile.

“Mother, I owe you big time. Now, let’s find my ledger.”  

It is always good to give more than we receive.

At Peace With Ourselves

Only when we are at peace

with ourselves,

will we be able to live

peacefully

with others.

The Meaning of Amitabha Buddha

The cultivation method that we practice is mindfully reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha. What is the meaning of Amitabha Buddha? Amitabha means infinite, and Buddha means wisdom and awakening. Therefore, Amitabha Buddha means infinite wisdom and infinite awakening. This is a good thought. Infinite wisdom and awakening is Buddha-nature. In the case of phenomena, it is Dharma-nature.

When we chant Amitabha Buddha, we are chanting Dharma-nature. Wisdom and awakening reside in everything in the universe. Wisdom and awakening are innate in everything in the universe. Wisdom and awakening pervades the whole universe. This Dharma door of mindfully reciting the Buddha-name is absolutely perfect. This is the state described in the Avatamsaka Sutra.

“Mindfully chanting ‘Amituofo’ encompasses the Threefold Learning, the three kinds of wisdom, and all other methods.” This method is absolutely perfect.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

 

Pure and Unfettered

As we know, all beings in this world have cravings, which in turn generate illimitable and immeasurable vexations. Most of our cravings are for physical gratification and can only be restrained if we remain contented. There is an old saying: "Contentment leads to ceaseless joy." This may sound simple, but is by no means easy to carry out. Yet, it is undeniable that whenever you feel contented, your mind will be free of vexations and attachments and will stay pure and unfettered.

~ Analects of Master Kuang-ch'in

Harry's Nose

Gossiping about the wrongdoings of others is in itself wrong.

When we slander another excessively,

we too will suffer harm and great misfortune.    

It had been snowing for weeks, and snow families appeared all over the countryside. Mr. and Mrs. SnowJones were very lucky for they had two sons, Harry and Elmer. Like their father, they wore blue and yellow knit hats, and had carrot noses. Their mother, like her mother, wore a scarf and had a potato nose.

Harry and Elmer loved following their father as he walked up and down the hills. He praised his sons for joining him in greeting the neighbors. Because their father praised them for their politeness, Harry and Elmer tried even harder to keep up with him so that he’d be even prouder of them.

One day, before the SnowJones were awake, Harry felt something pulling on his nose. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into another pair of eyes. Big pink ones! Then he saw a pair of gigantic floppy ears and a nose as pink as the eyes. It was a rabbit! And while looking at the rabbit’s nose, he realized with horror that the rabbit had its teeth sunk into his carrot nose and was tugging on it!

Harry cried out. He grabbed his nose and pulled as hard as he could, but the rabbit was too strong. Before his family could come to Harry’s aid, the rabbit pulled the carrot out of Harry’s hands and bounded away with it. With one leap, the rabbit cleared the fence in the SnowJones’ yard and was gone.

And so was Harry’s nose.

Harry ran over to the fence and began pounding on it, yelling for the rabbit to return his nose. Realizing his nose was probably gone forever, he sat down and began to cry.

His parents tried to console him, saying they’d get him a new nose, but Harry knew that carrots were hard to find since they had all been used up by the snow people.

Snow families from around the neighborhood came running to see what the commotion was. By now, Harry had stopped crying and was getting angry. “He was a mean old rabbit!”

The neighbors agreed in sympathy.

“He was fat and ugly!” Harry continued.

A neighbor agreed, “He sure was one fat rabbit.”

“It’s amazing he could even jump the fence,” added another.

“He’s a thief!” Harry was really getting angry now.

“Can you imagine stealing a kid’s nose?” piped someone from the back of the crowd. “I never did like those dumb rabbits,” mumbled a snow woman near him.

“He should be caught and fined. We should take away all his carrots and see how he likes it!” Harry blurted out.

Feeling that things were getting a little out of hand, Mr. SnowJones motioned for everyone to calm down. He turned to Harry. “Now son, we know how badly you feel. But the rabbit taking your nose is no reason for you to say untrue things.”

Mrs. SnowJones added, “We don’t know all the facts. Maybe he’s hungry. Maybe his brothers and sisters, or his elderly parents are. We don’t know why he did it. But whatever the reason, we shouldn’t make up things.”

Then a hush fell over the crowd. An enormous carrot appeared at the top of the fence. It was held by a rope. And at the other end of the rope was a rabbit! He slowly lowered the carrot to the ground then jumped down next to it. He dragged the carrot over to the SnowJones, looked up at Harry’s parents, and swallowed hard.

“I heard what you said. I didn’t take the carrot for my brothers or sisters. I don’t have any. I don’t have any parents either. I never had anyone teach me what was wrong. But what you told Harry sounded like good advice. I ate his carrot while listening to you, so it’s gone. But here’s another one. It’s much bigger, so maybe you can cut it down for Harry to use.”

Then the rabbit turned to Harry. “I’m sorry I took your nose.”

“I’m sorry I made up stories about you,” replied Harry. “And I’m sorry you don’t have a family. Maybe you can live with us.” Harry turned to his parents.

“Mom? Dad?” His parents smiled in agreement.

And for the rest of the winter, the rabbit happily had a family.

  Kind, truthful words build friendships;

lies destroy them.