The disadvantages of excessiveness
A man in the city wanted to become a farmer in the village. One day, he made a special trip to visit the fields. When he saw the thriving crops of wheat, he asked the farmers the method to get a good crop. They said: " It is very simple. All you have to do to have good results is to loosen the soil and add the fertiliser."
Having learnt the way to do it, he tried it out for himself. When he had finished preparing the soil and was going to sow the seeds, he suddenly worried about stepping onto the soil and hardening the ground. Thinking that this might jeopardise the germination of the seeds, he thought: " It might be better if I am carried on a bed into the field. In that case, I would not risk trampling on and hardening the loosened soil."
So, he hired four men to lift the four legs of the bed, and had him carried onto the farmland to sow the seeds. What originally would have been two legs now turned out to be eight instead. With the weight of the bed on the soil as well, it was really hardened.
When the Buddha knew of this, he said to his followers: " This is
like the cultivators in Buddhism who originally cautiously strive to have
their seeds germinate in the field of blessings. Towards the later stages,
however, they often become over concerned and will therefore be bondaged
by the Dharma. This will instead result in their cultivation being in discord
with the Dharma. How then can the Bodhi seeds germinate?"
