LOST TRAVELER (corrected)

Once upon a time, there was a traveler who wanted to go to a city !ecause o" time constraints, he decided to ta#e a shortcut which re$uired him to cross a "orest %hen he reached the middle o" the "orest, he saw a tiger The tiger saw him too and started to chase him At "irst, the traveler ran as "ast as he could &ut soon reali'ed that, i" he #ept running, he would &e caught &y the "aster tiger %hile running, he tried to thin# o" ways to escape this tiger (irst, he dropped all his provisions so as to run more $uic#ly )e then saw a well not "ar in "ront o" him )e decided to *ump into the well, hoping that the tiger would not "ollow him Luc#ily, a &ig tree root protruded "rom the inside wall o" the well )e *umped in, saw the root, gra&&ed it and held on, thus preventing a "all to the &ottom o" the well As he had hoped, the tiger did not "ollow him down the well &ut instead waited "or him near&y )e was greatly relieved to have escaped the tiger A "ew minutes later, a hissing sound came up "rom the &ottom o" the well Loo#ing down, he saw three venomous co&ras Again, he "elt than#"ul to have avoided another deadly situation )e told himsel" that he was a very luc#y man The traveler was not only tired a"ter running to avoid the tiger, &ut he also "elt very hungry )e decided to ta#e a rest on the tree root "or awhile )e noticed two rats (&lac# + white) &iting the part o" the root where he was resting, close to the wall o" the well )owever, &ecause he was "eeling tired, he did not worry a&out the possi&ility that those rats could &rea# the root A"ter a while, a strong wind &lew through the &ig tree a&ove the well A &ee hive perched on a &ranch over the well &ro#e, causing its honey to drip down onto him )ow luc#y he was, (irst, he had escaped "rom two deadly situations And now, when he was very hungry, delicious honey was dripping onto him Soon a"ter he started eating the honey, he heard the sound o" gun"ire (&ang, &ang, &ang,) )e thought that a hunter had pro&a&ly shot the tiger -ot wanting to waste any time, he started to yell (help, help, help,) hoping that the hunter would hear his calls The hunter, trac#ing the tiger, approached the well and heard the traveler.s shouts The hunter told him that he had chased the tiger away and then helped him &y dropping a rope/ladder down the inside o" the well 0rate"ul to the hunter, the traveler said, 1Than# you so much, 2 will always remem&er your #indness 3 )owever, out o" greediness and ignorance, the traveler continued en*oying the delicious honey drops, not thin#ing to hold the rope/ladder "irst As time went &y, and the rats continued &iting the tree root, the tree root wea#ened and &ro#e The traveler "ell to the &ottom o" the well )e was &itten &y the co&ras and died

The moral o" this story4

%e, ordinary people (puthu**ana), always run in the round o" re&irths (sa s5ra) in order to get what we want (mostly trying to satis"y our greed "or sensual pleasure) -ot only do we not #now the "ault o" sas5ra, &ut we also are not aware that death (the tiger) is always chasing us Every time the sun goes down, we are one day older Every day &rings us closer to death 6ue to ignorance (moha), we can.t see the law o" nature %e thin# o" impermanence (anicca) as permanence (nicca), o" su""ering7dissatis"action (du##ha) as happiness (su#ha), and o" not/sel" (anatt5) as sel" (att5) Although we try to hide (*ump into the well) "rom death, we can.t escape it The law o" impermanence (anicca) will &ring us to death eventually (venomous sna#e &ites) (orms o" su""ering, such as old age (with its gray hair, wrin#led/s#in, poor eyesight and toothlessness), sic#ness, pain, etc , attac# us constantly, day or night, *ust li#e the two rats chewing on the tree root 6espite all o" those evils and &ecause o" greed (lo&ha), we always crave (tanh5) sensual pleasure (honey drops), although we #now it could drag us to lower realms (animal, hungry ghost7peta, demon7asura, and hell) As we all #now, a !uddha very rarely appears in this world 2t is also a rare opportunity to encounter the teachings o" the !uddha (!uddha s5san5) To &e &orn a human &eing is di""icult and it is hard to have a good li"e and good health 6ue to craving "or sensual pleasure (honey drops), we tend to "orget to ta#e the vipassan5 practice (the rope/ladder) that was given &y Lord !uddha (hunter) in order to "ree us "rom the su""ering o" sas5ra %e always say that we don.t have time to ta#e the vipassan5 practice %e say, 12 will practice when 2 "inish my education3 or 1a"ter 2 have a sta&le *o&3 or 1a"ter 2 have a "amily3 or 1a"ter 2 have children3 or 1a"ter my children get married3 or 1ne8t wee#, ne8t month, ne8t year,3 etc The right time will never come i" we don.t give ourselves a chance -o&ody else can give us the right time either 2t is true that it is very di""icult to avoid sensual pleasure, let alone to &e "ree "rom it totally )owever, we have a very rare opportunity to do that %e should not let this opportunity slip away, or it will &ring us remorse At least, we should ta#e vipassan5 meditation (hold the rope/ladder) to the level that will "ree us "rom "alling to lower realms ("alling to the &ottom o" the well), while at the same time we still can en*oy some sensual pleasure (honey drops)

2" there were -O !uddha and -O vipassan5, then -O one would #now how to &e "ree "rom sas5ra Thus, we all S)O9L6 practice vipassan5 while we have this very rare opportunity A"ter reading this vipassan5 dhamma, may all o" you reali'e the importance o" vipassan5 meditation :ay all o" you &e a&le to practice with ease and reali'e the -o&le 6hamma (:agga, ;hala, and -i&&5na) in this very li"e Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu,

The <=th o" Octo&er, >?<? 2T!:9, @angon, :yanmar

Ashin Si##h5nanda