Penny Loaves

parables

"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things." --Zuangzi, by Chaung Chou.

In the Lotus Sutra there's a story of a wealthy man whose son is in his burning house. He tells the child to come out, but the child has no conception of a burning house, and so he stays inside. The man calls out and promises new toys and treats, luring the child out. The father lied, but it was the only way to get his kid out of the burning house. Promise us eternal life, promise us an end to suffering--maybe it has to be done in order to get us out. Our stuff is burning. Our children are burning. Our selves are always, always, burning.

There's a Hindu parable about a man who dreamed that he married a beautiful woman, and in the dream he experiences sixty years of their marriage--imagine his surprise when he wakes up to find that only a few minutes have passed. Yet somehow, later on, he comes across the children he fathered in the dream. I wish I knew more about this story.

posted by ata' allah at-talib @ 1:01 AM