Parable: Watering with Sugar
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: Watering with Sugar
Once there were two people who cooperated in plating a crop of sugar cane. They made a pact with each other: “The one who comes up with the better crop will be rewarded, while the one who doesn’t do as good a job will be severely punished.”
At that time, one of the two thought to himself, “Sugar cane is extremely sweet. If I crush the sugar cane and obtain juice and irrigate the plants with sugar-cane juice, then the sweetness of this crop will certainly excel that of my partner’s.”
Thereupon, he crushed his sugar cane and used their juice to irrigate his own plants, hoping that they will become even more succulent and sweet-tasting. But, instead he damaged the seeds and lost his entire crop.
People of the world are like this farmer. Wishing to pursue wholesome blessings, they rely on their own wealth and influence to oppress the people and usurp and confiscate others’ wealth and possessions. They conduct themselves in this way in their pursuit of blessings, hoping for riches and wholesome rewards. They fail to realize that. They will reap a terrible retribution. They are like the man who squeezed sugar cane juice on his sugar cane plants and ended up losing both the juice and the plants.
