My Teacher, the Enlightened Dog, was sitting in quiet meditation when he was once again pestered by the many seekers of truth who insisted on poking his mind to see what words of wisdom would spurt out.
"Oh Enlightened Dog," one disciple said this time, "please tell us the truth of the world. And don't just say 'Ruff!' again because that only confuses us."
The Enlightened One sighed. "Very well, I will tell you the truth of the world. Actually, there are several Truths. Understand these, and you see the reality behind the mess our world is in. The First Truth is, people are stupid. The Second Truth is, people choose to be stupid, and the Third Truth is, they choose the path of stupidity because being smart means admitting you're stupid. There, you now know the truth of the world."
"Uh... could you expound on that, great Enlightened Dog?" the disciple asked.
"Stupid means blaming others for the mess you've gotten yourself into. Stupid means accepting what other people say as the truth because it's what you want to hear. Stupid means thinking your life is more important than the lives of anyone else and your happiness is more important than their happiness. That's the First Truth of Stupidity. The Second Truth is, people are quite capable of realizing this and some do so. It's not entirely hopeless. The Third Truth tells us that people would rather suffer in stupidity than wise up and do the hard work of fixing their own problems. There. That good enough for you?"
The disciples murmured among themselves. "I'm not sure we like that," the disciple finally said. "Are you saying everyone here is stupid?"
"You're the ones asking a dog for words of wisdom," the Enlightened One replied. "Ruff!"
Comments
A nice bounce for the day. Tnx.
"Ruff!"
Reminded me of newly discovered Christian text ...
“Where do pets come from?”
http://opcoa.st/0SbDV
I feel @Cinorjer post is an outstanding example of right speech. No blushing required.
It works on several levels:
Ajahn Brahm is a good example of folding dharma into an entertaining package ... though you need to spare an hour to watch ...
I love Ajahn Brahm. I'm going to sit and relax and listen to him here later today. You guys (and gals) are a great audience because you "get it". I tried showing that to my stepdaughter and she said, "So, the dog talks, and nobody thinks that is strange?"