30.5.10

A Short Story.

A pratyeka buddha finished his term in hell today.  It was a contract he had not wanted to get dragged into.  He signed that contract under duress, but no lawyer could get him out of it..  I remember when I first saw him, he was nothing but a hungry ghost.  
We saw a lot of hell together.  Through our different eyes.  He never really wanted anything but the fastest way out of the fight.  But he used the Buddhas teaching skillfully and wisely, even if it was a bit selfishly...
Toward the end he started making the preparations though,  leaving signs for others so that they might have some direction in the fight.   I think he even thought of making a career out of saving sentient beings for a second.  
I might see him again though.  I think there is a part of him that might look down and see those still suffering in the hell realms and their calls might just be irresistible.  It is hard to see suffering and not want to lend aid.
But it is also hard to face hell again.  Especially knowing what your getting into, and then leaping into hell with a smile, well that takes a special kind of saint.
So cheers to my good friend.  May you be well and happy.
And remember, If you ever feel like crusading through hell again, the door is alway open, and we can always use another general in the battle against Mara.

8 comments:

MyoChi said...

Aha..the hell..one does not have to die to visit it..may we all get out of our hells.

Anonymous said...

Dance clubs are very efficient. A team effort with lots of supply lines and more carrots than sticks. I'm already been recruited by several teams and everything is done professionally. I've been involved in several recruiting drives and have been working for years with new arrivals.

Pleasure and Pain both motivate and everyone has a good time. The surleyest volunteer is called Joy!

It's a different market segment with much higher footfall and conversion rates.

This week I've done a handover and one guy is working on a difficult issue that requires lots of 1:1 tuition.

Anonymous said...

And the team have organized for me to have some private tuition. It's well overdue.

Anonymous said...

and I'm already working for a firm that handles another market segement in a different way.

In fact I've had three different types of teams training me. I'm going to be a busy bunny in the future with few if any days off.

And of course whilst doing my day job I'm doing training at home as well.

It looks like I've signed up for a big job that's day and night. You haven't seen the rest of the plans I have for the house.

Anonymous said...

If everything is one you get much more worker productivity.

I'm still shaking when I look at all I've done and the fact that it's two months behind schedule. The house should have been fully online by now.....

SlowZen said...

MyoChi, it seems we are always cycling through birth and death.

Anon, Shine on you crazy diamond.

Mumon K said...

Jordan,
I hope your Memorial Day is good. I have been very lucky not to have anyone in my family be more than wounded in battle, and that is 2 generations back - my grandfather. His Purple Heart is on my Zendo altar. You do a life I cannot really imagine, and for which I am utterly unfit.

Thank you.

SlowZen said...

Mumon, Memorial day did not go entirely as planned, lots of rain made our peace park picnic plans not so doable, but it turned out to be good enough for the girls and I to spend the day just being grateful to be alive. Thanks, seriously thanks for your sentiments.

Jordan

Thanks for looking!