The Wise Shovel Man
(Renunciation)
Once upon a time, the Bodhisattva was
born into a family of vegetable gardeners. When he was old enough, he cleared a
patch of land with his shovel and grew herbs, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers and
other vegetables. He sold these to earn a humble living.
The shovel was his one and only
possession in the whole world. As he carried it in the same way that a forest
monk carries his walking staff, he became known as the ‘Wise Shovel Man’.
“What good does it do me to live an ordinary
life of a gardener? I will give up this life and become a forest meditator,
then I will be peaceful and happy,” he thought one day. So the Wise Shovel Man
hid his only possession, his shovel, and became a forest meditator. Soon,
however, he started thinking about his shovel. He was so attached to this
shovel that he couldn’t get it out of his mind, no matter how hard he tried! So
he gave up the struggle to meditate, and returned to his shovel and his
ordinary life as a vegetable gardener.
But it was still the Wise Shovel
Man’s wish to stay peaceful and happy. Therefore, it wasn’t long before he
again gave up his mundane life as a gardener, hid his shovel once again and
became a forest meditator. But still he could not get his shovel out of his
mind, and so he renounced his life as an ascetic for a second time. All in all,
this happened six times!
When the Wise Shovel Man gave up his
forest meditation the seventh time, he finally realised it was because of his
old, worn-out shovel that he had gone back and forth seven times! He decided to
throw it away, once and for all, into a deep river, so that he could meditate
peacefully in the forest for good. “I will not see which part of the river this
shovel drops into. Otherwise, it may tempt me again to give up my quest,” he thought
as he took his shovel down to the riverbank. So he closed his eyes, swung the
shovel in a circle over his head three times, before throwing it out as far as
he could into the middle of the river.
“I have conquered!
I h a v e c o n q u e r e d ! I h a v
e conquered,” roared the Wise Shovel Man when he realised
that he had finally triumphed over
his attachment to the old shovel.
Meanwhile, the King of Benares was
riding past in a victory procession. He was on his way back to his palace after
quashing a revolt near the border. He had earlier bathed in the river, and was
riding on his magnificent royal elephant when he heard the victorious shouts of
the Bodhisattva.
“Listen. Who is proclaiming that he
has conquered? Whom has he conquered? Bring that man to me,” he ordered his
ministers. When they brought the Wise Shovel Man to him, the king said, “I am a
conqueror because I have won a battle. You say that you have conquered. Whom
did you conquer?”
“Your lordship, even if you conquer a
hundred thousand armies, they are meaningless victories if you still have
unwholesome thoughts and desires in your own mind! By conquering the craving in
my mind, I know I have won the battle against unwholesome thoughts,” replied
the Wise Shovel Man.
As he spoke, he meditated on the
water in the river, then on water itself, and achieved a high mental state. In
a sitting position, he rose into the air and preached these words of truth to
the king, “Defeating an enemy who returns to fight against you again and again
is no real victory. But if you defeat the unwholesomeness in your own mind, no one
can take that true victory away from you!”
All unwholesome thoughts left the
king’s mind when he heard these words. At that moment, he decided to give up
the pleasures of the ordinary world and seek real peace and happiness. “Where
are you going now, wise one?” he asked. “I am going to the Himalayas, oh King,
to practise meditation,” answered the Wise Shovel Man.
“Please take me with you. I wish to
give up this worldly life too,” announced the king.
Saying that, the king, together with
his entire army and all the royal ministers and attendants, turned northward
with the Wise Shovel Man. News travelled and soon all in Benares knew their
king had renounced his kingdom to follow the Wise Shovel Man.
“What shall we do?” cried the folks.
“It is better that we follow our king.” So all of Benares left the city and
travelled towards the northern mountains of Himalayas. Soon, Benares was as
empty and quiet as a ghost town! This great migration of people came to the
attention of god Sakka, King of the Heaven of 33. Never had he seen so many
people renouncing their worldly life for a spiritual one. He ordered the
architect of the gods to build a dwelling place in the Himalayan forests for
all these people.
When they arrived in the Himalayas,
the Wise Shovel Man was the first to declare that he had given up the ordinary
world for good. Then all those around him did the same. Never had so many
people renounced their worldly life, all at the same time. With time, the Wise
Shovel Man developed the ‘Four Heavenly States of Mind’. The first is
loving-kindness, or tender affection for all. The second, compassion, is
feeling sympathy and pity for all those who suffer. The third, appreciative joy,
is a feeling of happiness for all those who are joyful, successful, good and
wholesome. And the fourth state is, equanimity, or having a sense of balance
and calmness, even in the face of difficulties or troubles.
He also taught the others advanced stages
of meditation. With diligent effort, they all developed pure mental states, and
were reborn in the heavenly worlds.
The moral is ✏ Only one possession is enough to prevent the mind from finding
freedom.
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