One day, when the Buddha was in the bamboo forest retreat in the country of Gyoko, he accepted the prayer of a layman and went to the city with his disciples to give teachings.
After the end, on the way back to the house out of the city, he happened to meet a man driving the cattle back to the city; The herds were fat and strong, jumping and running along the way, and from time to time they contradicted each other with their horns.
When the Lord saw this scene, he was moved and said a poem:
For example, people exercise canes, herd cattle, die of old age, and also support their lives to thousands of men and women of one race
Accumulation of property, all of which are immortal, and the dead are ordered to attack themselves day and night, and the longevity is exhausted, like a glow piercing through water
Back to the Bamboo Forest Monastery, after the Buddha washed his feet and took his seat,
Ananda immediately asked: "World-honored one, the disciples did not fully understand the meaning of the verses you said on the way back, so please be merciful and enlightened!"
The Buddha told Ananda, "On the way back, did you see the cowherd driving the cattle back to the city?"
Ananda replied: Yes.
The Buddha went on to say that the owner of this herd of cattle was a family of butchers, who originally raised thousands of cows, and in order to make the cattle strong and fat, the butchers hired people to graze the cattle every day in a place where the grass was abundant, and selected the fattest cattle day by day, and slaughtered them to make money.
As the days went by, more than half of the cattle had been slaughtered, but the confused cows were unaware of it, and they were still happily grazing and playing or fighting with their companions every day.
That's why I say this because I feel so unwise about them.
Then the Buddha taught to the crowd that not only this herd of cattle is like this, but also the people of the world, who do not know the truth of impermanence and cling to the existence of a real and unchanging self. Every day, they only know the pleasure of coveting the five desires, and they hurt each other for the sake of insatiable desires.
When impermanence comes, it is unable to transcend, and it falls into the abyss of reincarnation in vain, unable to leave the life after life. So how is the difference between the world and the herd?
At that time, there were exactly 200 bhikshus who were greedy for profit and nourishment, but did not know how to work the Dharma. When they heard the Buddha's teachings, they were ashamed and deeply encouraged, so they settled on the present and corresponded, that is, they attained the fruit of an arhat, possessing six kinds of supernatural powers. The people present were full of joy and respectfully bowed to the Buddha.
The allusion is excerpted from: "The Book of Fa Sentences and Parables. Volume 1
