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Verywise returned to Wise and said,  My friend, neither of us wants this
quarrel. Let s go to the old sacred tree and ask the tree spirit to settle it.
When they went to the tree Verywise said solemnly,  My lord tree spirit, we
have a problem. Kindly solve it for us. Then his father, hidden inside the
hollow tree, disguised his voice and asked,  What is your question? The
man s cheating son said,  My lord tree spirit, this man is Wise and I am
Verywise. We have done business together. Tell us how to share the
profits. Again disguising his voice, his father responded,  Wise deserves a
single share and Verywise deserves a double share.
Hearing this solution, Wise decided to find out if it really was a tree spirit
speaking from inside the tree. So he threw some hay into it and set it on fire.
Immediately Verywise s father grabbed onto a branch, jumped out of the
flames and fell on the ground. He said in his own voice,,  Although his
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name is Verywise, my son is just a clever cheater. I m lucky that the one
named Wise really is so. and I ve escaped only half toasted!
Then Wise and Verywise shared their profits equally. Eventually they both
died and were reborn as they deserved.
The moral is: A cheater may be clever but not wise.
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Tale 99, 101  Achieving Nothing
[No Thing]
Once upon a time the Bodhisatta  the Enlightenment Being  was born
into a high class family in northern India. When he grew up he gave up the
ordinary desires of the everyday world and became a holy man. He went to
the Himalayan Mountains where 500 other holy men became his followers.
He meditated throughout his long life. He gained supernatural powers 
like flying through the air and understanding people s thoughts without their
speaking. These special powers impressed his 500 followers greatly.
One rainy season, the chief follower took 250 of the holy men into the hill
country villages to collect salt and other necessities. It just so happened that
this was the time when the master was about to die. The 250 who were still
by his side realized this. So they asked him,  Oh most holy one, in your
long life practicing goodness and meditation, what was your greatest
achievement?
Having difficulty speaking as he was dying, the last words of the
Enlightenment Being were,  No Thing. Then he was reborn in a heaven
world.
Expecting to hear about some fantastic magical power, the 250 followers
were disappointed. They said to each other.  After a long life practicing
goodness and meditation. our poor master has achieved  nothing . Since
they considered him a failure, they burned his body with no special
ceremony, honors, or even respect.
When the chief follower returned he asked,  Where is the holy one?  He
has died, they told him.  Did you ask him about his greatest achievement?
 Of course we did, they answered.  And what did he say? asked the chief
follower.  He said he achieved  nothing , they replied,  so we didn t
celebrate his funeral with any special honors.
Then the chief follower said,  You brothers did not understand the meaning
of the teacher s words. He achieved the great knowledge of  No Thing . He
realized that the names of things are not what they are. There is what there
is, without being called  this thing or  that thing . There is no  Thing . In
this way the chief follower explained the wonderful achievement of their
great master, but they still did not understand.
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Meanwhile, from his heaven world,, the reborn Enlightenment Being saw
that his former chief follower s words were not accepted. So he left the
heaven world and appeared floating in the air above his former followers
monastery. In praise of the chief follower s wisdom he said,  The one who
hears the Truth and understands automatically, is far better off than a
hundred fools who spend a hundred years thinking and thinking and
thinking.
By preaching in this way, the Great Being encouraged the 500 holy men to
continue seeking Truth. After lives spent in serious meditation, all 500 died
and were reborn in the same heaven world with their former master.
The moral is: When the wise speak, listen!
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Tale 100  A Mother s Wise Advice
[Non-violence]
Once upon a time, the son of Brahmadatta was ruling righteously in
Benares, in northern India. It came to pass that the King of Kosala made
war, killed the King of Benares, and made the queen become his own wife.
Meanwhile, the queen s son escaped by sneaking away through the sewers.
In the countryside he eventually raised a large army and surrounded the city.
He sent a message to the king, the murderer of his father and the husband of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]