63. LOTUS POND AND THE CENTIPEDE
About 400 years ago, there was a great monk called Lianchi, which means Lotus Pond. He hoped all living creatures could be born again in the lotus pond in Amitabha's Pure Land.
Once he saw a man with a bunch of centipedes strung out on a sliver of bamboo. They were suffering. Lianchi asked, "Would you be so kind as to free those centipedes?"
"No way! These are poisonous centipedes that make good medicine. I won't let them go, but I might sell them to you, if you paid."
"Fine with me. How much do you want?" Even though that man was very rude, Master Lianchi smiled and talked politely to him. He bought all the centipedes, but they were almost dead because they had been skewered on that bamboo spike. Only one was still in good shape. It looked at Lianchi for a long time. Then it ran away on all of its legs.
Some time later, Lianchi and a friend were sitting around talking about Buddhist sutras, or holy books. Suddenly, his friend's face went pale. "Look at the size of that centipede!"
A huge, hairy, scary centipede was crawling up Master Lianchi's sleeve. His friend ran for a stick to brush it off, but the centipede wouldn't move. Lianchi didn't seem worried.
"What if it bites you?"
Lianchi talked to the centipede. "Could you be that centipede I set free a while back? If you are, just sit there quietly and I'll teach you about Buddhism."
The centipede didn't move, so the Master very gently said, "Anyone who wants to thoroughly understand what all the Buddhas know, has to see that the nature of everything in the material universe is a product of our minds.
"All life is made by our minds. A person with a vicious heart becomes a wolf or a tiger. A person with a poisonous mind becomes a snake or a scorpion, or some other poisonous insect.
"You are now a poisonous centipede. Is this just chance? No, you must have had a poisonous mind in a past life. If you want to leave behind your sufferings, leave behind your poisonous mind, and you will be free. But only you can free yourself.
"Understand? That's good. Now, it's time for you to go. Be good!"
The centipede slowly crawled out the window. The master's friend slowly crawled out from under his seat.
The Master told him, "You may think animals are free, but they live in fear. Worse than that, they live in ignorance. Life is full of suffering. If you want to be free from rebirth, ask Amitabha to take you to live in his Pure Land. There you can study to become a Buddha yourself. You will be free from rebirth, and you can save other living creatures. Isn't that better than living and dying and living and dying?"
63.莲池大师和蜈蚣
大约400年前，有一位叫莲池的高僧，他希望一切众生都能在阿弥陀佛净土的莲池中化生。
有一回，他看见有个人拿着撺在竹条上的一串蜈蚣。。它们正在苦苦挣扎。莲池问，“请您行行好，放了这些蜈蚣好吗？”
“做梦！它们是能做好药材的毒蜈蚣。我不会放了它们的。但是如果你付钱，我可以卖给你。”
“我同意。你要多少钱？”尽管那个人很粗鲁，莲池大师还是保持微笑，很有礼貌地和他说话。他把所有的蜈蚣都买了下来，可是它们已经奄奄一息，因为它们都被竹钉穿过了。只有一条情况稍好些，它久久看着莲池。然后才跑了。
不久后，莲池和一个朋友在这附近坐谈佛经，忽然，他的朋友脸色发白。“看那只大蜈蚣！”
一只很大的、多足的、可怕的蜈蚣正爬在莲池大师的袖子上。他的朋友跑去拿来一只棍子要把它拨开，但是蜈蚣一动不动。莲池看起来一点也不担心。
“如果它咬你怎么办？”
莲池对那条蜈蚣说，“你是我不久前放走的那条蜈蚣吗？如果是，就静静呆在那里，我来给你讲佛法。”
蜈蚣没动，大师轻轻地说，“任何人，想要了知佛陀所知道的道理，就必须明白，有形世界的所有事物本来都是我们意识的产物。”
“所有生命都是我们的意识造成的。一个凶恶的人会变成虎狼。一个歹毒的人会变成蛇蝎，或者其他毒虫。”
“你现在是一只毒蜈蚣。这是偶然的吗？不，你过去生中一定是心灵歹毒。如果你要离开这种煎熬，那么就要离开这种歹毒，然后才能解脱。只有你自己才能使自己得到解脱。”
“明白了吗？很好。现在你该走了，吉祥如意！”
蜈蚣缓缓地从窗户里爬出去了。大师的朋友这时才敢从椅子下慢慢地爬出来。
大师告诉他，“你也许认为动物们是自由的，其实它们生活在恐惧中。更悲惨的是，它们活在无知中。生活中充满痛苦。如果你想跳出轮回，那就请阿弥陀佛接你到他的净土去。在那里，你能够学习怎样成佛。你会从轮回中解脱出来，还能普渡众生。那不是比生生死死要好得多吗？”
