STAY DILIGENT IN YOUR BUDDHIST PRACTICE TO KEEP IGNORANCE AND BEWILDERMENT AT BAY
Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me share a fable with you. Once upon a time, a horse and a donkey came to know that Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang would be travelling to the West to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures.
Reasoning that it would be a long and exhausting journey riddled with challenges, the donkey said, “I’m not going”. The horse, on the other hand, said, “I will go”. And off the horse went with Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang.
After overcoming countless difficulties, they successfully retrieved the Buddhist scriptures. Upon returning, the donkey probed, “Brother, has it been an arduous journey for you?”
The horse replied, “While I was away to retrieve the scriptures, the distance that you had covered during this time was not any shorter than mine. Not only were you blindfolded, you were constantly being lashed by humans. As a matter of fact, I am a diligent horse, and having gone through this round of trials and tribulations, I’ve become a thousand-mile fine steed”.
In reality, the actual fatigue experienced has nothing to do with our physical but mental because true fatigue stems from our ignorance and bewilderment. The moment bewilderment sets in, many people will enter into a state of confusion which is tantamount to being ignorant simply because you do not understand the reality of things, and are attached to the perception of form. This will cause you to sink deeper into confusion over time. Hence, those who hope to keep confusion at bay, they must stay diligent in learning Buddhism, performing recitation and mind cultivation.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Public Talk, Milan, Italy, 23 September 2017
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