Speaking of elephants and rabbits, I was reminded of
this story:
Peace: Four Harmonious Brothers
Retold by Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com
Once upon a time an elephant came upon a giant tree in
the forest by the river bank. He rested under its
shade for a rest. Soon a monkey came to rest there
also. The elephant said, "This is my tree. I found it
first." The monkey replied, "Do you see any fruit on
this tree?" "No" said the elephant. The monkey said
triumphantly, "Ah! I was here before you. I ate up the
fruits on this tree before you got here." The elephant
then bowed to the monkey, "OK, you're my big brother,
since you came here first." "Wait a minute" said the
rabbit that hopped by, "When I saw this tree, it was
just a sapling with only a few branches and certainly
not any fruit. So I was here before both of you." Then
the elephant and monkey bowed to the rabbit: "OK,
you're our big brother, since you were here first."
Just then, they heard "Ha! Ha! Ha!" from a partridge
on the treetop: "This tree wouldn't have sprouted if I
didn't spit out the seed from a fruit I had eaten. So
I was here before all of you." Then the elephant,
monkey, and rabbit, all bowed to the partridge, "OK,
you're truly our big brother, since you planted this
very tree." Then they decided to share the tree
together in peaceful harmony� enjoying the beauty of
the tree's fragrance, the nourishment of the tree's
fruits, and the bounty of the tree's shade. Other
animals in the forest often see them together with the
partridge on top of the rabbit who is held up by the
monkey who rides on top of the elephant. Henceforth,
they were called "the four harmonious brothers", and
by their example, peace reigned throughout the jungle.
Thanks,
Diana
--- ventouxboy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- Thanks for the clarification Alex. I certainly
> understand
> natural interest in spirituality/philosophy. I might
> not go so far
> as to say the elephants are losers though. Rabbits
> cannot stay in
> their hole forever, inevitably we must go out for
> food and water,
> and it would be nothing for an elephant to stomp our
> little bunny
> brains out. Moral of story: Never underestimate your
> opponets.
>
>
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED], Alex Bunard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> > That's an excellent question. Why practice and how
> > does that benefit me?
> >
> > There is a Buddhist saying to the effect that the
> > elephant does not tread along the rabbit's path.
> The
> > elephants lack the ability to hide inside the
> rabbit's
> > hole. Naturaly, rabbits hold that because of that
> > inability, and because of the elephants'
> demonstrated
> > inability to gracefully track down the rabitts'
> paths,
> > elephants are big fat losers.
> >
> > The reason I practice is because I am naturally
> drawn
> > to it. Same as I am naturally drawn to playing the
> > guitar. Or, same as I'm naturally drawn to women
> with
> > busty figure. Ever since I was very young I've
> > discovered that I like playing guitar and I like
> busty
> > women and I like practising Buddhism. It's just in
> my
> > bloodsteam.
> >
> > I realize this means nothing to someone who is not
> > naturally drawn to such a thing. Same as watching
> > football on TV means nothing to me, although I
> have
> > friends who are, from a very young age, naturally
> > drawn to that. But, because watching Superbowl is
> not
> > in my bloodstream, I never ever practice it. Why
> waste
> > time?
> >
> > As with anything we do while being naturally drawn
> to
> > it, the benefits are immeasurable. My Buddhist
> > practice benefits me in the sense that I immensely
> > enjoy doing it. It makes me happy, simple as that.
> > Need I say more?
> >
> > --- ventouxboy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >
> > > Your explanation of Buddhism was an eye
> opener.
> > > To boil it down
> > > to the focus on basic human existance leaves me
> a
> > > little cold
> > > though. While I undestand the anecdote, the guy
> on
> > > the hill was were
> > > he was(if he had been thinking about a lost dog,
> he
> > > wouldn't of been
> > > there), my question is Is that it? Is that all
> we do
> > > with our gift?
> > > Just sit there and waste oxygen? Certainly,
> > > according to Zen,
> > > nothing more is required.
> >
> > The issue boils to the following:
> >
> > As you probably already know, there are people who
> > suffer from an eye catharact. If we hold up a
> blank
> > piece of paper in front of them and ask them what
> do
> > they see, such people may tell us that they see a
> > piece of paper with some black lines on it.
> >
> > That perception is refuted and invalidated by the
> > non-faulty perception. Common consensus (meaning,
> > people with non-faulty perception) refutes the
> black
> > lines (as reported appearing on the blank piece of
> > paper).
> >
> > Similar to this, a phenomenon that appears to the
> > untutored perception (read: to the regular folks)
> gets
> > interpreted in a certain way. That way falls
> within
> > the confines of what's known as 'common
> consensus'.
> >
> > Typicaly, a phenomenon will get interpreted as
> 'really
> > existing' (for example, I may interpret a
> perceived
> > blank piece of paper in front of me as really
> > existing, meaning I may perceive it as being
> separate
> > from everything else, as possessing its own unique
> > identity, as being substantial). Then, I may light
> a
> > match and burn that same piece of paper, and then
> > conclude that this piece of paper has now truly
> ceased
> > to exist.
> >
> > However, that same phenomenon, when presented to
> the
> > Buddha, will get interpreted totally differently
> by
> > him. In a nutshell, the Buddha will flatly reject
> my
> > interpretation, and will promptly inform me that I
> am
> > merely imagining things (same as we would inform
> the
> > persons who suffer from an eye catharact disease
> that
> > they are merely imagining the black lines).
> >
> > Now, same as the persons with an eye catharact are
> not
> > in the position to falsify our contention that
> there
> > are no black lines on the paper, common folks'
> > perception is not qualified to refute the vision
> of
> > the Fully Enlightened One. We're just not
> qualified to
> > make any judgment on the Buddha's vision. We
> cannot
> > ever refute him.
> >
> > So when you interpret proper Zen attitude as
> merely
> > wasting oxygen, you are passing judgment on
> something
> > you are not qualified, at this point, to comment
> on.
> > There is much, much more there than meets your
> eye.
> > Just because you may not be capable right now of
> > envisioning it, doesn't mean it's not there.
> >
> > > Alex, from what I've read so far, your
> > > knowledge of Buddhism
> > > far exceeds mine. But my concept of Zen is based
> on
> > > living a
> > > spiritual life on the physical plane. Take the
> > > concepts inherent to
> > > Zen, gain understanding from them, but return to
> the
> > > world to do
> > > some good. I guess that's not mandatory, but I
> > > choose to pass along
> > > kindness and understanding(read empathy) with no
> > > judgement,
> > > expectation, or strings attached.
> >
> > Here is what Chandrakirti had to say on this
> topic:
> >
> > "Victorious Lord, as long as worldly beings have
> not
> > gone to supreme peace,
> > As long as space itself does not disintegrate,
> > What entry into supreme peace could be for you,
> > Whom Wisdom has brought forth, Compassion nursed?
> >
> > All those who feed on noxious food (the world
> obscured
> > by ignorance)
> > You make your dearest friends, with love more
> > anguished than
> > A mother feels whose dearest child has swallowed
> > poisoned food,
> > And thus you do not pass, Supreme Protector, into
> > peace." (Madhyamakavatara)
> >
> >
> > As you can see, the fundamental principle, the
> real
>
=== message truncated ===
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