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The Daily Dharma – July 18, 2021

The Royal Tiger by Eugène Delacroix

A Parable

Buddha told a parable in a sutra:

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger chased after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the ledge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little, started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

from 101 Zen Stories
as printed in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

1 thought on “The Daily Dharma – July 18, 2021”

  1. Hello. Hope your day is going well. I believe I’m to get from this parable to live in the moment. But in comparing it to myself I see me …easily losing focus.
    That’s why I like to do balance yoga asanas- I must focus or topple over.

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