OK then, this story is “The Tortoise King,” which was one of the incarnations of Shakyamuni Buddha, in the magazine named “Từ Bi Âm” (“Compassionate Sound”). […] A long, long, long, long… time ago, there was a Tortoise King who meditated diligently, day and night. […] And so, due to the Tortoise King, who was wholeheartedly diligent and caring for the whole herd, these tortoise(-people) lived together very harmoniously, peacefully, and nothing bad was happening at all. […] That meant this Tortoise(-person) was respected by all, therefore the majority of the herd voted Him as their King. And when there was some discontent, something that was not harmonious, or something that was not fair in the tortoise society, then they asked the Tortoise King to resolve it. […]
There was another tortoise(-person) who wanted to be the king of the herd. It is like this. That tortoise(-person) was also a turtle, but he lived in a different area and led a different tortoise(-people) herd, and he wanted very much to be a king. So he saw this Tortoise(-person) who was so famous and respected so much by everyone. He knew it. But he didn’t say anything, not taking this Tortoise(-person) out to be a punching bag for him to beat on.
That tortoise(-person) led another herd, living nearby, not together with this herd, but just in the nearby mountain. The area where the second herd of tortoise(-people) lived, there were a lot of lizard(-people) on big old trees, often falling down to the ground. Those lizard(-people) were falling onto the tortoise(-people) or sometimes on their shells. But that is nothing yet, nothing happened yet. Those tortoise(-people) in the second herd thought that the lizard(-people) were great, falling from a high distance down to the ground, but didn’t die. So the tortoise(-people) sometimes stood and clapped their feet together to praise the lizard(-people).
So there is no lack of that kind of tortoise(-people). They don’t have anything to do, except stand there to watch the lizard(-people) falling down and clapping to praise them. It is OK for tortoise(-people) to do so, but it is ridiculous if a human does that. Did you see anyone who is kind of similar like that? (Yes, yes.) Yes? Don’t say like that. If you say like that, you might be taken out as a punching bag for them to punch. Yeah! But probably there is no one like that. (Yes, there is.) There is such a person, who claps their hands by seeing the lizard(-people) falling down. At most if people see some cow(-people) are fighting and clap their hands, not like the case of seeing lizard(-people) falling down. A little bit similar but not the same, right? Yeah. So… it is alright, it is OK to praise: “The lizard(-people) are falling from that height down to the ground and don’t die. Very good!”
Then the tortoise(-people) are standing there clapping their feet. All day long, after eating then they stand there waiting for the lizard(-people) to fall down, to watch, because they don’t have television. That’s why they watched the lizard(-people) falling down, as a way of entertaining themselves. Then, the tortoise(-person) who led that herd did not say anything. But the intelligent Tortoise(-person), who was respected by everyone, who is the Tortoise King. The Tortoise King and the leader of the group are different. The other tortoise(-person) was only the leader of that group, for one group only, but not the King.
And this one is both the Tortoise King and the leader of the herd. and He started to think about the actions of the lizard(-people), if the lizard(-people) keep falling down from the [tall trees] like that, then someday, we will invite a disaster, but he didn’t know what kind of disaster. Not knowing yet what the disaster might be, just thinking that someday trouble will come, that’s all. So it is better for us this herd of tortoise(-people) to find another place to live, and for the other herd to find another place, too. Otherwise, if the lizard(-people) keep falling down like crazy every day like this, we will have some problems.
Just finished His thinking, the Tortoise King wanted to move to another place, then the other herd from the other leader came and wanted to rest and stay in this area. So the Tortoise King came to stop them, and said, “My friends, you can’t practice spiritually here, because they will ruin us. Because those lizard(-people) from the trees keep falling down all the time, then one day they would cause us to lose our lives, or it would relate to something unlucky. So my dear friends, please go to another place, don’t hang around here anymore.”
But that herd is very stupid, and didn’t listen to the Tortoise King. They said, “Why do you stop us? We are free, we can stay wherever we want, leave us alone!” So they stayed there, didn’t want to go anywhere else. They didn’t listen but scolded the Tortoise King, and determined to stay in that area. So the Tortoise King could not convince that herd anymore. He continued to advise them but to no avail, so He felt pitiful towards them, but didn’t know what else to do. The Tortoise King advised them to leave all the time but to no avail. The more he told them, the more they became disrespectful, the more they insulted and strongly opposed him. So this Tortoise King took his herd, including the ones who got initiated by Him, to go to another area. And left the other herd there, as they wished and practiced whatever they wanted to.
After the Tortoise King led His herd to another area, they did not contact neither associate with that herd who was left behind. Ten days after the Tortoise King’s herd left, there was a herd of elephant(-people) who came to rest under that big old tree, after they ate. Resting for a while, then suddenly a lot of lizard(-people) fell down from the tree, some of them landed in the ear of the elephant(-person). Some landed in the nose of another elephant(-person), some fell into the eye of yet another elephant(-person). The elephant(-people) were so upset and also tickled as well. The lizard(-people) fell down and then crawled inside the elephant(-person)’s ear, just like to tickle the elephant(-person).
These elephant(-people) were so ticklish. So ticklish and then so annoyed, so angry, the elephant(-people) stood up and moved their ears and wagged their tails. And moved their tusks… Ah, not their tusks, but moved their noses and used the noses to beat on anything. Beating on the trees, the tree branches, breaking them apart. And they roared very noisily. And the other elephant(-people), who did not have the lizard(-people) falling into their heads, their noses, their ears, their throats… heard that elephant(-person) roaring so loudly, and beating his ears and his nose like crazy, thought there must be something happening. You have (translation)? They thought something bad happening, so they also roared noisily and then started to run like crazy, too.
And you know every time how the elephant(-person) is running, right? It is also the same as someone who is walking and running without considering about the quietness for others, then it is kind of similar. Similar only, not exactly like that. Just similar only. So you should walk or run more carefully, not to make too much noise and dust flying all over the place. Others are meditating and in samadhi, and then taking them out of samadhi, you would create a bad karma.
So, the herd of elephant(-people) started to run frantically. And then the tortoise(-people) were running east to west, north to south, the way the turtle(-people) run. The way of turtle(-person) slow running. The tortoise(-people) were then being trampled by these elephant(-people). Their feet are so big, and trampled on the tortoise(-people), making their shells broken, their necks broken, and a lot of them died…
If they did not die, then the tortoise(-people) would be injured. At that time, they could not call for an ambulance in time. Because it was right on the holiday, that’s why a large number of the tortoise(-people) were injured and died. Too many tortoise(-people) were injured, the Red Cross ambulance could not transport them all. That’s why that day, a lot of tortoise(-people) died, so the leader of that herd… Remember? You, too, should walk carefully, so that you don’t crush other beings on the ground by your feet. You should look on the road to see if there are other insects or small animal(-people) such as snails, caterpillars, etc. Don’t crush them underneath your feet. That’s why when I walk at night, I use a flashlight to look. Sometimes you can’t see at night. You may see during the daytime, but not at nighttime. Then when you walk carelessly, looking at the sky, the Moon, you step on those beings on the ground! So after the herd of elephant(-people) trampled on the herd of tortoise(-people) and caused so many deaths to the tortoise(-people), even the leader almost died.
The leader of the herd of tortoise(-people) was not dead, just almost. Too angry, so angry, this leader thought inside and blamed the Tortoise King. Since the Tortoise King went to a different area, so this leader thought, “You already knew this calamity ahead, but didn’t tell us clearly so we could avoid it. Now we had to face this disaster and die like this. And you are safe and sound. So where in you is what we call compassion? What for are you practicing the Quan Yin Method? What kind of enlightenment do you have? What for are you vegan, and didn’t tell us clearly for us to know, so now we suffered like this?” Now this leader felt so much hatred towards that Tortoise King and said, “We swear that life after life, I will reincarnate with you, and will find all opportunities to take revenge on you to satisfy myself.” This tortoise leader later on reincarnated as Devadatta, and he always tried to find a way to harm Shakyamuni Buddha. (Yes, that’s right.)
But it was because of this leader, not anyone else. Shakyamuni Buddha already warned them, right? He said that the lizard(-people) who kept falling down, one day will cause calamity to them. But the Tortoise King didn’t know exactly what disaster, and he only felt that they will have some disaster, that’s all. And after warning, that herd of tortoise(-people) didn’t listen, and cursed and insulted Him, like He violated the right to move, the freedom of migration. “Wherever I live, let it be, don’t interfere with my decision.” They also scolded, cursed at the Tortoise King, and almost took Him out as a punching bag to hit. Now they suffered a disaster, and then blamed the Tortoise King. Not only blamed, but the leader of this hurtful herd wanted to take revenge on Him, then said and done.
Because at that time, the resentment, the hatred was so intense, therefore whatever he said became a curse. So whatever he said then came true. Later on, whenever he reincarnated as a human, he was always the nemesis of Shakyamuni Buddha. Therefore, he would never help the Buddha with anything, even though he followed and studied under the Buddha. And he was called the cousin of Buddha, followed the Buddha, but didn’t practice at all. He followed the Buddha for fun and also knew what the Buddha taught, so later on, he came out and taught wrongly. He stole the job of the Buddha. He taught wrongly and had no power inside him, but only pass the words out of his mouth, outside only, so it would not be effective at all. Just like he didn’t have the cake, but heard [the Buddha] praising the good cake, then he came back and also praised the good cake. So the people who heard him would drool but had nothing to eat!
And down at the end, the story said that the Tortoise King, who had the instinct to know the disaster in advance, and led His herd of tortoise(-people) to another area for safety, was the previous life of Shakyamuni Buddha. So do you see that He practiced spiritually for a very long time? So advising people sometimes is quite difficult, right? Sometimes, we knew those things but we couldn’t say. We didn’t understand why we knew. Also, sometimes we meditate and we know, but when we tell other people, they don’t believe us. That’s why unless absolutely necessary, we can tell our inner experiences; otherwise, we should not. If we tell them, they will not believe us and then insult us later. So pitiful! Many people in this world are the same.
We know the spiritual path, the way to be liberated from the cycle of birth and death. And also, it can reduce a lot of suffering when we are still in this world. But many people don’t believe it. Because that kind of thing, we can’t prove to them, only us, we know. Because we practice spiritually, we know it is beneficial, our suffering is minimized. We have more blessings, more happiness inside, more tolerance and generosity, no dislike nor hatred towards anyone. But we only know ourselves, and this is not science so that we can prove black and white.
However, we can prove it. When our friends are close to us, they would notice the obvious change in us. But if they are not close to us, we can’t take any evidence out to tell them, that’s number one. Number two, we practice spiritually but we can’t say all the time, “I am so good, do you see? See that, I practice spiritually very well. Now I love people very much. I practice very diligently. I am so good!” That is not right. The more we talk, the more people would say that we are boasting. That’s why it is not easy to deal with. Truly, if anyone could practice spiritually, then Shakyamuni Buddha would have liberated all human beings already. Or Lord Jesus Christ already would have led everyone to Heaven already. No need for me today to suffer coming down here to work again or to come here to work again.
So all of you understand everything? (Yes.) Do you need me to say anything anymore? Just that is enough. Easy. So good? (So good, Master.) That kind of story, there is a lot in here, but you didn’t read it, and say it is good. (Yes, Master read it better.) What? You are so noisy that I can’t hear anything. Only one person speak, not the whole group, how can I hear. So what do you say? (Master reads the story so well.) (It’s Master who translated it beautifully.) What translation? This is in Aulacese (Vietnamese). (Master told it best.) (Only Master can tell a story that well.) Only I tell it so well? (Yes.) Because I added more salt and pepper to it. Ah, not that, added soy sauce. I added soy sauce, seasoning, so that it is more delicious, that’s all.
Photo Caption: We Bloom for Others, Though in Confined Situation
