Parable: On Curing Baldness
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: On Curing Baldness
Once there was a man who was completely bald. In the winter he felt very cold and in the summer he felt very hot. He was bitten by mosquitoes and gnats so that he felt afflicted day and night. One day, the bald man went to consult a physician skilled in medical practice. He said to the physician, “Great master, please cure my baldness!”
The physician took off his hat, showed the man that he was also bald, and said, “I am vexed by the same problem. If I could cure this problem, I would have done so for myself a long time ago.”
People of this world are the same. Attacked by the disease of birth, old age, sickness, and death, they seek for immortality. Hearing about shramanas and Brahmans who are good physicians of the world skilled in curing these diseases, they seek one out and say to such a Brahman, “Please release me from this disease of the impermanence of birth and death, so that I can forever dwell in comfort and joy.”
The Brahman then says to them, “I myself also suffer from the disease of the impermanence of birth and death. I have made many attempts at seeking immortality, but I still haven’t found it. If I could help you attain it, I would first attain it myself and then help you attain it.”
Thus is like the bald man who tired himself out pursuing a cure in vain.
