Do you cook rice?
I cook rice.
Some time back, my mum ordered quite a few packets of rice.
As such, a couple of packets have rice beetles growing out from the grains.
* (Amazing isn't it? How things evolve - That beetles actually grow from within the grains. But that's another subject matter.)
Because I don't want to harm / kill the beetles, whenever I cook rice, I would scoop out the amount I want, put them on a plate, and leave the plate standing for a while so that the beetles can crawl out.
However, what I notice is, not all crawl out.
So what I do next, is take a handful of rice grains at a time, and try to remove any beetles that I find.
I observe that some will be clinging on to the grains, while there are others which would try and escape 'my clutches' by running further into the grains, hiding themselves and refusing to come out.
But, when I find them, or when they show themselves, I'll try to help them.
Then, little by little, I would slowly pour the grains into the cooking pot so as to ensure that I don't miss out any, and I can save the 'last minute ones' - those which I missed out earlier, before I start washing the rice.
Funny thing though, is that I thought I've managed to get all the beetles out, but when I start washing the rice, I realised that there are still some which I've missed out.
How did I miss them?
Is it because I'm not thorough and meticulous enough? Not careful enough? Or is it because this is just the way it is : that there are some that can't be saved - they prefer to be drowned.
When I reflected on it, it made me realised.
1) Those which crawl out on their own when I left the plate standing are like those who listen to the Dhamma (Truth), they'll strive forth through their own effort and diligence to get out of Samsara.
They see the Dhamma, realised the Dhamma, and become awaken.
2) Those which I use my hands to help and they're still clinging on the grains are like the people who listen to the Dhamma, they know, maybe even understand, but they can't let go.
3) Those which I try to help but they run further into the grains and hide, refusing to come until they're being found, are like the people who hears the Dhamma, they may know, but they can't or find it hard to accept the Truth, even though they know it makes sense, is reasonable, and is good for them.
They think that by running away, escaping and hiding, they'll be fine.
They're just deceiving themselves.
4) Those who stay hidden, thinking they've outsmart / outwitted me, that I can't find them, are the real ignorant ones.
They're the people who don't listen to the Dhamma, and even if they do, they don't bother, and they don't believe.
They rather hold on to their fixed and/or false views, and they refused to accept the Truth.
What happen?
They drown. They die.
They go down the hole of the sink, into the pipe, into the sewage (Samsara - Suffering).
Cooking rice can be so much fun.
- Mahayana Sixth Patriach Sutra
"Few among men are they who cross to the other shore (Nibbana).
All the others only run up and down the bank on this side."
- The Buddha
"You can run, but you cannot hide. Truth is Truth."
"The foolish man, who, on account of false views, scorns the teaching of the Arahants, the Noble Ones and the Righteous, produces fruit like the bamboo, only for self-destruction."
- The Buddha
"Not in the sky, nor in the mid-ocean,
Not in mountain cave, is found that place on earth where abiding,
One may escape from the consequences of one's own evil deed."
- The Buddha
