What does this Zen saying mean?

im not sure. it sounds fascinating. thanks for sharing.

The master who is washing his bowls has eaten something that was in the bowl, that has been provided for him. The bird will eat the frog that has been provided for him. The monk was sad that the frog has to die so that the bird could live. The master reminded the monk that the food that he has eaten was at the expense of some other creature and that the circle of life is for all our benefits.

It reminds me of a story that I've told when I was teaching children. My story goes like this...

In the nest of an eagle just before the eaglets are hatched the mother eagle goes out and finds a branch with green leaves on it. Biologist have pondered why this happens. There doesn't seem to be any obvious benefit for this behavior. The conclusion that many have come to is simply so that the young eagle will have something nice to look at. Then I ask the children if they remember ever looking up at the sky at night and seeing the stars in the sky. (of course every one raises their hand) I remind the kid's how big each star is and how much space between each star and all the solar systems. I tell them that they shouldn't feel small land unimportant because God loves them so much that he made all those stars just so we would have some nice to look at -- just like the mother eagle does for her young.

The incident of the two birds fighting over their hoped for lunch of frog was, to the monk, one of violence.

The monk did not see that such was neither good nor bad but was simply the natural order.

He had forgotten that the frog had contested with other frogs for the dragon fly he had eaten, that the dragon fly had contested with other dragon flies for the insects it had dined upon, which had contested for their food as they all acted and reacted in a natural manner to the lived experience and necessities of life.

The natural food chain is a cycle and even humans take part as their waste products can be used to feed plants and their bodies will feed the soil when they have died.

This was an opportunity for the monk to learn not to judge and to live in the present moment while viewing the same for what it is and seeing such objectively rather than in the subjective manner he was viewing the same in.

This was also a chance for his caring and compassion to expand as he viewed the plight of the frog with empathy as in the suffering of any we see our own suffering reflected back to us just as our suffering is merely a reflection of the suffering of others.

Thus we come to understand that we are all one.

Many lessons can be learned from this saying.

Which ones can you see?

namaste.

The birds fighting over the frog signify greed, and the benefits of watching it is to see what would happen if we let greed control us as well.

discomfort is a factor of the human situation and it somewhat is short in nature, while we are actually not, surely. In essence we are religious beings, trapped in a actual penal complex it is the human situation. suffering (our reaction to discomfort) is attachment to the human situation. journey the discomfort, be an observer, evaluate the reason: this physique and this techniques are actually not actual, do no longer 'grow to be' the discomfort because it somewhat is going to pass. by ability of turning into the discomfort, in spite of if actual, psychological, emotional, different, or a mix thereof, we "go through" as we lose sight of fact. This sounds so sufi additionally :) thank you for sharing. Salaam. :::additionally:: i think of classes of suffering are an important element of the human situation, as inshaAllah we are made extra responsive to our state of separation. "do no longer communicate of your suffering -- he's conversing. do no longer look for Him everywhere -- he's finding for you. An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it; A pebble shifts in a pass, He is responsive to it. If there's a computer virus hidden deep in a rock, he will understand its physique, tinier than an atom, The sound of its compliment, its secret ecstasy -- All this He is responsive to by ability of divine understanding. He has given the tiniest computer virus its nutrition; He has opened to you the way of the Holy Ones." ----- Abû'l-Majd Majdûd b. Adam Sanâ'î

The winning one will fill its stomach with the frog and the fall one will fill the human stomach.

It is a dog eat dog world even for humans Ask any hungry bear or tiger you meet.

Everything that happens is designed to educate us.

Lead me not into temptation. I can find it myself. ......what do you want for 2pts..lol