The Monkey King and the Water Demon [Attentiveness] Once upon a time, far away in a deep forest, therewas a nation of 80,000 monkeys. They had a king who was unusually large, as big as a fawn. He was not only big inbody, he was also large in mind. After all, he was the godhisattathe Enlightenment Being. One day, he advised his monkey nation by saying,My subjects, there are poisonous fruits in this deep forest,and ponds possessed by demons. So if you see any unusual fruit or unknown pond, do not eat or drink until you ask me first. Paying close attention to their wise king, all the monkeys agreed to follow his advice. Later on, they came to an unknown pond. Even though they were all tired out and thirsty from searching for food, no one would drink without first asking the monkey king. So they sat in the trees and on the ground around the pond. When he arrived, the monkey king asked them, Did anyone drink the water? They replied, No, your majesty,we followed your instructions. He said, Well done. Then he walked along the bank, around the pond.He examined the footprints of the animals that had gone into the water, and saw that none came out again! So herealized this pond must be possessed by a water demon. He said to the 80,000 monkeys, This pond is possessed bya water demon. Do not anybody go into it. |