Thus I have heard:
Long ago before your grandmother's grandmother was born, there lived a great
king called Five Weapons. King Five Weapons was famous for defeating the
horrible monster Sticky Hair, and for ruling his kingdom so well that if
an old lady dropped her purse in the street, everyone would rush to be the
one to pick it up and hand it back to her.
One day, a messenger came to King Five Weapons and told him, "Sire! We are
in desperate trouble! There is a huge monster roaming the land, eating
people and cattle everywhere he goes. His name is Big Fellow, and he is
the brother of Sticky Hair. We have tried to chase him off, but he is too
large. You defeated Sticky Hair all by yourself- now you must come and
free us from Big Fellow!"
King Five Weapons kissed his wife and little children, and got on his
royal elephant to go and meet with Big Fellow. He traveled through the
woods and over many streams. Finally, he found a place where there were
no animals and no people. Bones lay strewn about everywhere, and the
broken weapons of fallen warriors littered the ground.
King Five Weapons got down off of his elephant and strode ahead alone.
He rounded a big rock, and there was Big Fellow himself, standing next to
the path to catch his supper. The monster was so large that King Five
Weapons couldn't see his head- it was lost in the clouds above. His body
was covered with dirty hair, and his feet were so big that the royal
elephant could take a nap in the shade of his smallest toe.
King Five Weapons called up to the creature in his loudest voice, "Hey,
have you seen the monster called Big Fellow?"
The monster heard King Five Weapons, and bent down to look at him. As his
head cleared the clouds, his huge yellow eyes came into sight, searching
the ground below for the source of the call. His mouth was so large you
could drive a chariot through the spaces between his sharp teeth.
"I AM BIG FELLOW!" bellowed the monster. "CAN'T YOU SEE HOW HUGE AND
GREAT I AM? I AM EVEN LARGER THAN THE GODS THEMSELVES!"
"You are indeed a big fellow," said King Five Weapons, "But you are no
god. The gods are kind to people and to animals, but you chase them and
eat them."
The monster roared, "I AM TOO A GOD! PEOPLE FEAR ME! I AM HUGE AND GREAT,
AND IF I WANT TO EAT THEM, NO ONE CAN STOP ME! I AM THE MOST POWERFUL
THING IN THE WORLD!"
King Five Weapons shook his head. "You say you are powerful, but you are
really very weak. Your mind is weak, and so you do not understand that
you are just a mortal creature like us all, and will some day pass away.
And you may be able to control other creatures, but you cannot control
yourself. You are a victim of your own hungers and desires, and they are
infinitely more powerful than you. You may be able to catch anyone who
wanders down your path, but can you catch your own mind?"
The monster beat his chest with his fists, making a sound like thunder
that shook the whole countryside. "I AM THE MOST POWERFUL THING IN THE
WORLD! I CAN CATCH ELEPHANTS AND DRAGONS! HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO CATCH
MY OWN MIND? TELL ME HOW, AND I WILL SHOW YOU! AND WHEN I AM DONE, YOU
WILL BE MY SUPPER!"
King Five Weapons did not become scared. He taught Big Fellow how to
meditate in order to follow his mind. The monster sat down and crossed his
enormous legs into the lotus position, knocking over several tall mountains
in the process. Then he set about catching his mind.
Big Fellow sat chasing his thoughts, minute after minute, hour after hour.
But just when he believed he had mastered them, they would slip away
again. Meanwhile, he became very hungry, and considered eating the little
human anyway. Then he realized this hunger was more powerful than himself,
and tried to control it. But he could not. Finally, he had to admit that
he was not the most powerful thing in the world.
The monster sighed. "YOU ARE RIGHT, I MAY BE BIG, BUT I AM NOT AS
POWERFUL AS I THOUGHT. YOU MUST BE A WISE MAN- PLEASE TEACH ME HOW I CAN
LEARN TO CATCH MY MIND AND CONTROL MY DESIRES."
Then King Five Weapons taught Big Fellow about the Four Noble Truths and
the law of karma. The monster nodded and said, "YES, IT IS TRUE, EVEN
FOR SOMEONE AS BIG AS ME, THERE IS SUFFERING. I AM SO LARGE THAT I CANNOT
HIDE FROM THE WIND AND RAIN, AND BUGS NEST IN MY HAIR WHERE I CAN'T
SCRATCH THEM. I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY, AND EVEN IF I EAT A WHOLE VILLAGE OR A
WHOLE HERD OF DEER, IT ISN'T ENOUGH. BUT HOW CAN I STOP KILLING LIVING CREATURES? I AM SO LARGE THAT I MUST EAT PEOPLE AND ANIMALS, OR I WOULD
STARVE. AM I DOOMED TO FALL INTO HELL FOR THESE EVIL ACTS?"
King Five Weapons shook his head. "There is always a choice in life. If
you practice your meditation diligently, you will realize the truth."
Big Fellow vowed not to stop meditating until he achieved understanding.
He sat for hours, and then for days, and then for weeks. He became very,
very hungry, but he kept his vow and kept meditating. The seasons
changed, and gradually the animals came back to the forest. People from
all around came to see the meditating monster, marveling at how King Five
Weapons defeated him without even drawing a sword.
Finally, the monster realized that he was part of the world, and that the
world was part of him. He relied on the sun and the moon, the rain and
the wind, and all the living things on Earth, and he had no right to
harm them.
Big Fellow opened his eyes. To his amazement, everything around him
looked gigantic. He had shrunk! He hadn't eaten in so long that his
body had shrunk all the way down to human size. And now he had a human-sized ego to match.
King Five Weapons came to visit him, and Big Fellow said, "Thank you,
wise King. Now I have realized that size and strength do not make a
person powerful, but only control of desires and compassion toward others.
And now that I am the size of a human, I do not have to kill living creatures to eat. I will never harm another person or animal again as long
as I live."
And he didn't.
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