Having the Proper Perspective

A visiting ambassador said: “I wish you a long life.”

The king replied: “Please don’t say that!”

​The ambassador then said: “I wish you much wealth.”

The king replied: “Please don’t say that!”

The ambassador then said: “I wish you many male offspring.”

The king replied: “Please don’t say that!”

The ambassador inquired: “Those are what most the people want. Why don’t you?”

The king said: “To have many princes only creates more worries, to be wealthy creates more work and to have a long life only increases criticism. They only bring more suffering. That is why I do not find them desirable.”

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This king is quite wise. He is not greedy and therefore has less suffering. He symbolizes the Sound-Hearers who have realized transcendental wisdom.

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Then the ambassador told the king: “You think like a superior monarch. However, men are born in order to carry out tasks. If you have more princes then you just give them more tasks. What is there to be afraid of? Furthermore, if you are wealthy and can share it with others, what additional work is there? Finally, when you can sleep and eat in moderation, your mind is constantly at ease. When the world is good then you share your goodness with them and when the world is bad then you rectify them so that they become good and solidify. And lastly when your time comes to an end, you leave behind a better world and go to an even better place: how can you possibly fear criticism?”

The ambassador then immediately returned to his country. The king immediately dispatched his own ambassador to the other monarch to form an alliance with such a wise ruler who surrounds himself with such wise men.

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The ambassador’s advice to the king symbolizes the spirit of the Bodhisattva who wades into the suffering world in order help save all living beings once they are free from greed, anger and stupidity.