The True Precious Stone (2)

One day the Buddha, showing a precious stone that changed colour depending on beholders, asked his students, “What colour is this?” Each of the students responded with a different colour. Then, the Buddha hid the precious stone in his sleeve and raising his hands, said, “What colour is this?” His students answered, “You don’t have the precious stone in your hands. Where can the colours be?” The Buddha said with a sigh of grief, “How can your ignorance be this deep? When I showed you a worldly precious stone, each of you produced words such as blue, orange, red, white, black and so on. However, when I show you the true precious stone, you say that you don’t know.”

Student: “What was the true precious stone that the Buddha showed?”

Master: “It is the worldly precious stone.”

Student: “What is the difference between them?”

Master: “If you see them as different and separate, both become worldly precious stones. If you see them as one, it is the true precious stone.”

Commentary:

Everything is from your mind.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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