Parable: The Mirror in the Treasure Chest
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: The Mirror in the Treasure Chest
There was once a poor and destitute man who always had debts and had no means to repay them. In order to avoid his creditors, he fled to the open wilderness. There he discovered a treasure chest filled to the brim with rare jewels. On top of all the jewels was a bright mirror. When the poor man saw all this, he was beside himself with joy and started to look through it. Then he saw an image reflected in the mirror and became frightened. Putting his palms together, he said, “I thought this was just an abandoned chest. I didn’t know that you were here. Please do not be offended!”
Ordinary people behave in the same way. They are driven to destitution by innumerable afflictions and hounded by the demon king, creditor of birth and death. Wishing to flee from birth and death, they enter the Buddhadharma, cultivate wholesome dharmas, and perform meritorious acts. This is like encountering a treasure chest. Deluded by their own image as reflected in the mirror of the view of a body, they falsely perceive there to be a “self.” Thereupon they close the treasure chest, thinking the “self” to be true and real. Consequently, they fall and lose all their merit and virtue, as well as their Dhyana samadhis, their shares of the Way, and their wholesome non-outflow acts. They lose the fruit of the Way of all the Three Vehicles. Just as that foolish man relinquished the treasure chest, those who cling to a view of self give up the Buddhadharma.
