Spirit of the Lotus Pond

Source：The Internet

One day, as he was practising yoga he felt rather sleepy, so he got up and went for a stroll in the wood. Surprisingly, he came across a lotus pond and saw that the lotus flowers were in full bloom, they were so beautiful!

The practitioner suddenly had an idea and thought to himself: “These lotus flowers are really beautiful, if I pick one and carry it around with me, I could smell its sweet fragrance. I would feel completely refreshed!”

Therefore, he leaned forward and picked a flower from the side of the pond. As he was leaving, he heard a low and heavy voice rumbling loudly, “Who are you?  How dare you steal my lotus flower!”

The practitioner looked around him, but could not see anything. Hence, he stared at the sky and said, “Who are you?  What makes you say that the lotus flower belongs to you?”

“I am the Spirit of the Lotus Pond. All the lotus flowers in this forest belong to me. It is a great pity that you are a Buddhist practitioner. By stealing my lotus flower, greed has grown in your heart. You fail to reflect, evaluate and regret. Yet, you dare to ask whether the lotus flower belongs to me!”  the voice in the sky replied.

The practitioner’s guilt rose from the very depth of his heart and he immediately got down on his hands and knees in repentance and prostrated to the sky, “Spirit of the Lotus Pond!  I realise that I have done wrong. From now on, I repent all my sins of the past. I promise I shall never be greedy and take anything that does not belong to me.”

Whilst the practitioner was shamefully repenting his sins, a person happened to pass by the pond. “Look!”  as he mumbled to himself, “So many lotus flowers were in full bloom!  I will pick them all, sell them at the market and earn some money. I shall see whether I can recover all the money I lost gambling yesterday!”  He immediately jumped into the lotus pond and trampled from one end to the other, picked all the flowers until there was not a single blossom left in sight. All the lotus leaves were trampled on beyond recognition, and all the mud at the bottom of the pond was overturned. Then, laughing to himself, he walked away with a big bunch of lotus blossoms cradled in his arms.

The practitioner expected the Spirit of the Lotus Pond to manifest himself in protest and to either scold or punish this thief for stealing all the flowers. However, there was nothing but complete silence.

The practitioner was fully puzzled and said to the sky, “Oh, Spirit of the Lotus Pond!  You severely scolded me when I picked just the one lotus blossom, even though I was humble and sincere. Now, you do not say a single word when that person has just taken all the lotus blossoms and has completely destroyed the whole pond!  Do you take advantage of virtue and hide from wickedness?”

The Spirit of the Lotus Pond in the sky said, “You are a Buddhist cultivator. You are like a sheet of white cloth where even one spot of dirt becomes obvious. I remind you so as to quickly remove the dirt for you and let purity be restored. The person who has just stolen all the lotus blossoms is a villain. He is like a piece of cloth full of excrement, as it makes no difference however filthy it becomes. Therefore, I remained silent as I cannot help him. I can only watch as he bears the consequences of his evil deeds. You should not complain but ought to be happy. Your fault can be seen and I am willing to guide you to the correct path. That is why your cloth always stays so white and is worth purifying. Now that is something worth celebrating!”

Postscript：

1. There is a famous Chinese saying “Gentleman do not cheat in a dark room”. This means that even in a place where nobody can see, we cannot commit evil deeds. If we can practise what we preach, maintain our thoughts and actions in unison, and cultivate in a “solitary sanctum”, we are, in fact, already cultivating the Buddhist path.

In Buddhism, the greatness of “Secret Practice” is that one can cultivate the path and reach enlightenment in a “solitary sanctum” oblivious to those around us. Those disciples of “Solitary Awareness” and “Cause and Effect Awareness” can achieve awakening by meditating and practising the dharma in a ‘solitary sanctum’ and by observing the chain of cause and effect. The renowned saying “A gentleman is cautious when he is alone” is of great significance. Only when one is in a “solitary sanctum”, one’s level of cultivation and sense of awareness is revealed. Hence, Buddhism often states, “Be not afraid when ignorance appears, but be afraid when awakening comes too late”. Therefore, the best time to put one’s cultivation to the test is when one is in a “solitary sanctum”.

2. Sometimes, to be scolded is actually a blessing in disguise. The Guru is an accomplished cultivator with high moral conduct and discipline, and would not scold someone at random. As a disciple, in order to fully receive the merits and virtues from our Guru, we should accept our Guru’s disciplinary advice or strict words of wisdom with an open and happy heart. In addition, our Guru is actually helping us to remove karma and purify our spirit. Subsequently, as a disciple, we must carefully review and reflect upon our actions and correct ourselves accordingly. We must not possess any feelings of anger towards our Guru. Your Guru holds you in high esteem and sees you as a piece of beautiful jade, thus he is prepared to ‘polish’ you and discipline you!  However, if your Guru finds out that your reaction is a negative one and that you are not willing to accept any instruction, then in order to avoid your creation of more karma (through insulting, arguing or even scolding your own Guru), your Guru would just smile compassionately as a final blessing.