A STORY ON THE COUGHING PARROT – THE POWER OF ROLE MODELS IS INFINITE
Master Jun Hong Lu: Once, there was this person who kept an adorable parrot as a pet. One day, a friend of hers dropped by to visit. The guest asked, “Is the parrot sick? Why does it keep coughing and look so miserable?”
Upon hearing this, the owner of the parrot became extremely anxious. As soon as her guest left, she took the parrot to see a veterinarian. After a thorough checkup, there was no sign of any sickness whatsoever. So, why was the parrot coughing?
Eventually, it was discovered that the parrot was not coughing but merely mimicking the lady owner’s cough whenever she was aggressively puffing away on a cigarette.
As a Buddhist practitioner, we must understand that in this day and age, it is common for people to focus their attention on others, just like the lady owner of the parrot mistakenly thought the problem lay with the parrot, only to discover it was her own doing.
Typically, people would point fingers at others whenever something goes wrong, oblivious to the fact that the actual problem may lie within themselves. This is because they hold onto the long-standing belief that they are infallible. As a result, they will never recognise their faults, much less correct them.
As the traditional Chinese culture says, ‘If one is not upright, how can they correct others?’ It goes without saying that in spiritual cultivation, we need to work on our own cultivation before being critical of others. What the parents do at home would have a direct influence on their children. If the parents behave like a Bodhisattva, their children are surely little Bodhisattvas. Thus, to inspire others to follow your path, you must behave like a Bodhisattva.
I would like to advise all of you who are going around propagating the dharma to understand one principle: To spiritually awaken others, you must first carry yourself like a Bodhisattva. If you aspire to influence your husband to follow in your footsteps to practise Buddhism, your conduct must resemble that of a Bodhisattva; only then would he be inspired by you. This exemplifies the immeasurable power of role models.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s World Buddhist Fellowship Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14 December 2015