Castles in the Sand
Some children were playing beside a river. They made castles of sand, and each
child defended his castle and said, 'This one is mine.' They kept their castles
separate and would not allow any mistakes about which was whose. When the castles
were all finished, one child kicked over someone else's castle and completely
destroyed it. The owner of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the other child's
hair, struck him with his fist and bawled out, 'He has spoiled my castle! Come
along all of you and help me punish him as he deserves.' The others all came to
his help. They beat the child ... Then they went on playing in their sand castles,
each saying, 'This is mine; no one else may have it. Keep away! Don't touch my
castle!'
But evening came, it was getting dark and they all thought they ought to be going
home. No one now cared what became of his castle. One child stamped on his, another
pushed his over with both hands. Then they turned away and went back, each to
his home.
(From Yogacara Bhumi Sutra 4, quoted from World Scripture) Taken from Thus
Have I Heard edited by Minh Thanh and P.D. Leigh.
