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In front of an old temple, there was a pond where many toads lived. The toads would jump about in the pond incessantly while Dharma practitioners went about their chanting, holding incense and Mala beads (Buddhist prayer beads) while walking at a steady pace.
One day, the toads jumped to the edge of the pond and saw the Dharma practitioners dressed in Hai Qing garment, walking solemnly and chanting reverberantly. They became very envious. When the Dharma practitioners gathered at the main hall for prayers, one of the toads jumped towards the hall and started to pray devoutly. It prayed that Buddha would bestow it with the ability to walk on two legs just like a human.
Because the toad was very pious, it moved a celestial being who fulfilled its wish. The toad was elated because other toads could only jump on all fours while it could stand and walk on two. The toad was on top of the world.
One day, a snake appeared suddenly from the surrounding bushes. Many toads saw the ferocious snake and quickly jumped and escaped into the pond. The two-legged toad panicked and was petrified because walking on two legs is not as quick as jumping on four. Moreover, it has lost its ability to jump with four legs. The snake finally caught the toad. As it struggled painfully, it regretted. In self-reproach, it thought,” Why did I abandon my original nature just to seek standing and walking on two legs and ended up as a meal of a snake. But it is too late now for any remorse”.
Although this is a fairy tale, it provides a very important lesson. To learn the Dharma is to restore one’s original nature. Failure is inevitable if one does not recognise one’s ability and insists on pursuing the unrealistic through devious means. There are those who say one thing but do something else. They want to learn the Dharma but are obsessed with the pursuit of supernatural powers. Such people often end up losing their minds. Not only do they lose their sanity but they also terminated their wisdom life. What a pity!
I hope that everyone can understand ourselves and our nature thoroughly. If one cannot understand this, it will be difficult to recognise it even when the truth appears in front of us. That is why Buddha sighed that it is difficult to learn the Dharma when one cannot understand our basic nature. In reality, truth in its purest form is very close to us. But we tend to ignore it and pursue something far away. Similarly, we can see others clearly, but we cannot see ourselves. The one that is near at hand is often overlooked or neglected.
Learning the Dharma requires us to start with ourselves. The easiest and most convenient way is to practise with our inherent nature. Do not reject what is near at hand and seek the far away!
Translated by Chu Tiong Yong
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