THE ARROGANT MONKEY
Master Jun Hong Lu:
During the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period in China, King Wu went up the Monkey Mountain. All the monkeys, except one, fled the scenes upon seeing an army of soldiers in armour. Wanting to show off its agility, one lone monkey was seen jumping from branch to branch.
By now, King Wu had raised his bow to aim at the monkey. When the arrow was shot, surprisingly, the monkey was so agile that it was able to catch the arrow. In a fit of rage, King Wu commanded his envoys to simultaneously take aim which eventually had the monkey killed.
King Wu turned around to look at Yan Buyi and let out, “This monkey was asking for it! Belittling me with its dexterity. As for you, don’t be too self-conceited. Watch your demeanour!”.
Stricken by fear, Yan Buyi sought help from sage Dong Wu to guide him to get rid of his arrogance so that he could practise extreme humility and to change his temperament.
Oftentimes, the sage reminded him, “To be a Buddhist practitioner and a man of nobility, you must learn to let go and see through the reality of things and be cautious, because ‘being close to the sovereign can be as perilous as lying with a tiger’”. With this advice, Yan Buyi was able to chip away his arrogant streak, and stayed away from fame, vanity, glory, splendour, wealth and rank. Three years later, he gained the appreciation of the king.
As a Buddhist practitioner, you must not be haughty. Refrain from simply judging others based upon your limited capability, talent and knowledge of Buddhism, because for all you know, such knowledge is nothing but miniscule in the eyes of others.
Being arrogant would usually lead to a downer ending. As Buddhist practitioners, we should refrain from being arrogant. Instead, our minds should remain tranquil like still water. Only with a tranquil mind, one is able to discover many of the truths of this world.
Many of the universal truths will only dawn on a mind that is tranquil!
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Inspirational Short Stories, Volume 1 Chapter 8
< Words of Wisdom