Parable: Getting Sink-In-Water Incense From The Sea
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: Getting Sink-In-Water Incense From The Sea
Once, an elder’s son went to search for sink-in-water incense from under the sea. After searching for many years, he finally managed to bring home a cartload of it. When he went to market to sell his wares, he could not find any buyer because of the high price that he asked for the incense. After several days he grew tired and was afflicted. He saw that the charcoal merchants were able to sell their wares very quickly and thought to himself, “Why don’t I burn the incense into charcoal and then I’ll be able to dispose of it quickly!”
Thereupon he burned the incense until it became charcoal and went to sell his wares at the market. But the price he got for the burned incense did not even come up to that of half a cartload of charcoal!
So are the stupid people of the world. With countless expedients they diligently cultivate, aspiring towards Buddhahood. But upon encountering difficulty, they retreat. They think, “I might as well seek the fruition of Sound Hearers, quickly cast off birth and death, and become an Arhat.”
