Buddhist stories with morals: The bottomless begging bowl
One bright morning the emperor drove out of his palace. He stepped out of his ornate carriage and was about to set off for a leisurely morning stroll when he met a beggar. He asked the beggar:
- What do you want?
The beggar laughed and replied:
- You ask that as if you could grant my wish.
The monarch was greatly offended by the answer, and said:
- Of course I can grant your wish! What shall it be? Tell me!
- Think it over before you make any promises. - The beggar answered him.
The beggar had been the emperor's master teacher in a previous life, and although the emperor had not attained enlightenment then, his master had promised him that they would meet again and that he would try to awaken him. The ruler, however, completely forgot his teacher's promise, and who remembers his previous lives? So the emperor continued to tie the dog to the stake:
- I will do anything you wish, I am a powerful emperor, what could you wish for that I could not give you?
The beggar replied:
- 'Very well. It is a very simple wish. Do you see this begging cup, your majesty? Could you fill it with something?
The emperor said:
- Of course.
- I am ready, though my whole empire is at stake, but I cannot be defeated by a beggar!
It wasn't long before the emperor's treasury was emptied and all the diamonds, pearls and emeralds were gone. The begging bowl seemed bottomless. Everything, literally everything, was reduced to nothing the moment it was placed inside. Finally evening came, and the crowd just stood in silence, so that even the buzzing of the fly could be heard. The king prostrated himself at the beggar's feet and admitted defeat.
- Victory is yours, but before you go, please assuage my curiosity and tell me something! - What is this begging-cup made of?
The beggar laughed and said:
- It is no secret, the begging bowl is made of human consciousness, it is simply made of human desires.
/from unknown author/
