Parable: The Rustic Steals from the Palace Treasury
Hundred Parables Sutra
Parable: The Rustic Steals from the Palace Treasury
Long ago there was a country bumpkin who stole items from the king’s treasury and ran far away. The king sent men to search for him in the four directions. They apprehended him and brought him before the king. The king accusingly asked, “Where did you get those clothes?”
The rustic said, “These clothes belonged to my grandfather.”
The king ordered him to prove it by putting them on, but the rustic did not know how to wear them. He put on his arms what should have been on his legs; he put on his head what should have been on his back. Seeing he must surely be the thief, the king called his ministers for a consultation. Then he said to the rustic, ”If these clothes really belonged to your grandfather, you would know how to wear them. Why did you get them all mixed up? Since you didn’t know how to put them on, they certainly can’t be your own clothes. You must have stolen them.”
In this parable the king is like the Buddha. The precious treasury is like the Dharma. The stupid rustic is like those of externalist ways who eavesdrop on the Buddhadharma and then take it as their own. Because they misinterpret it, they get it all mixed up and fail to understand the marks of Dharma. This is like the rustic who know how to wear them and put them on upside down.
