Selfish Prayers

A leader of the mice explained, "The house we have lived in is owned by a very old family of this district. From generation to generation, all of the owners of the house have not liked a cat at all. Therefore, without a problem, we went on very well from ancestors to descendants. However, recently the head of the house brought a cat into the home. This hateful enemy killed my wife. All of us are in deep sorrow. We are helpless before the cat, so we have appealed to the mighty Kannon Deity to chase away our constitutional enemy.

The frog said, "Do you think that your most dreadful enemy is the cat?"

"Yes, that is right, that cat," answered the mice.

The frog laughed and said, "You think the cat is the most dreadful enemy, don't you. But actually, your sharp teeth are the most dreadful enemy of yours. Instead of praying to the Kannon, you had better pull your sharp teeth out."

The leader of the mice was very upset and said, "Because of these sharp teeth, we can cut and chew hard walls and boards. A god created the teeth for us. The teeth are our treasures. How could we pull them out?"

The frog explained, "Before you get too upset with me, think about the reason why the owner of the house keeps the cat, the animal that he does not like at all. You caused him to bring the cat in the house. If you had limited your food to the thrown out garbage, the owner would never bring the cat in. However, you selfishly chewed up walls, chests, rice bags, food containers, and many other things, then ate the food of the people of the house. Not only that, you ran all over the house and made too much noise. Now, even the generous master of the house has to keep a cat. That is why your teeth originally caused the killing of your loved ones and relatives."

The mice of this parable are we, human beings. We easily forget the cause or causes we have planted ourselves and then selfishly pray to a god or a deity for deliverance.

May 16, 1988