Parable: Planting Cooked Sesame Seeds
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: Planting Cooked Sesame Seeds
Once there was a fool who ate raw sesame. He found that it was not as tasty as cooked sesame. Then he came to the following conclusion, “I should plant cooked sesame seeds. Then I will reap a tasty harvest.” Thereupon he cooked the sesame and planted them in the ground. Of course, the sesame never sprouted.
People of the world act in the same way. Because they are discouraged by the idea that Bodhisattvas have to throughout many aeons engage in ascetic discipline that is hard to practice, they arrive at this notion, “I should become an Arhat and swiftly put an end to birth and death. To practice this path is quite easy.” But, afterwards, when they try to pursue the Bodhisattvas’ fruition, they never attain it, just as cooked sesame seeds could never grow. Stupid people commonly act this way.
