《百喻经》
[The] Sūtra [Of A] Hundred Parables
（一四）杀商主祀天喻
(14) Parable [Of] Killing [The] Merchants’ Leader [To] Offer [A] ‘Heavenly [God]’
昔有贾客欲入大海，入大海之法要须导师然后可去，即共求觅得一导师，既得之已相将发引至旷野中。
[In the] past, [there] were merchants [who] desired [to] enter [the] great ocean. [As for the] method of entering [the] great ocean, [there] must [be a] guiding teacher, after that can [they] go [forth, they] then together sought [to] attain a guiding teacher. [Having] attained him already, [with] one another, [they] intended [to] set off, [and were] guided [to] arrive within wilderness.
有一天祠当须人祀然后得过，于是众贾共思量言：「我等伴党尽是亲亲如何可杀？唯此导师中用祀天。」
[There] was a hall [for] sacrifices [to a] ‘heavenly [god’], ‘needing’ [a] person [to be] offered, after that getting [to] pass [through]. Thereupon, all [the] merchants together considered [and] said, ‘[As] we companions are completely close relatives, how can [any be] killed? Only this guiding teacher within [can be] used [for] offering [to the] “heavenly [god].”‘
即杀导师以用祭祀。祀天已竟，迷失道路不知所趣，穷困死尽。
[They] then killed [their] guiding teacher, with [him] used [for] sacrificial offering. [With] offering [to the] ‘heavenly [god’] completed, [they were] confused [and] lost [their] path, not knowing that [to] turn towards, [with] poverty [and] death [in the] end.
一切世人亦复如是，欲入法海取其珍宝，当修善法行以为导师。
All [of the] world’s people [are] likewise thus. [If] desiring [to] enter [the] Dharma ocean [to] obtain its precious treasures, [they] should cultivate good Dharma practices, with [them] as [their] guiding teachers.
毁破善行，生死旷路永无出期，经历三涂受苦长远，如彼商贾，将入大海，杀其导者，迷失津济，终致困死。
[If] destroying good practices, [they are with the cycle of] birth [and] death’s extensive path, forever without exit’s date, passing through [the] three realms, receiving suffering far-reaching, [they are] like those merchants, intending [to] enter [the] great ocean, [yet] killing their guide, confused [and] losing [their] shipping route, in the end leading [to] poverty [and] death.
[Note 1: The three realms (三界) are the (i) Desire Realm (欲界), (ii) Form Realm (色界) and (iii) Formless Realm (无色界).]
[Note 2: To walk the path to Buddhahood, at least one good (or main) spiritual guiding teacher (such as the Buddha through his teachings, and the Patriarchs through their explanations) must be found, and the right Dharma instructions given must be followed. If an evil guide’s instructions are heeded, or if the good guide’s instructions are not heeded, Buddhahood will never be attained.
For discovering spiritual wealth and deathlessness, which are the opposites of worldly poverty and death respectively, a good guide is thus crucial and very precious, not to be given up when found, unless proven to be evil or inadequate. Otherwise, we will remain existentially confused and lost in the wilderness of ongoing rebirths.
According to the Buddha’s teachings, no truly heavenly god (天神), being with greater good than the average human being, will need or want any lesser sentient being to be sacrificed for him or her – unless that being is actually a heavenly demon (天魔), thus evil, but mistaken to be good.]
Namo Amituofo : Translation and notes by Shen Shi’an
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[13] The Parable Of The Person Easily Angry
https://purelanders.com/2023/07/29/13-the-parable-of-the-person-easily-angry-from-the-sutra-of-a-hundred-parables
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[15] The Parable Of The Doctor Giving The King’s Daughter Medicine To Enable Hastening Of Growing Up
https://purelanders.com/2023/08/01/15-the-parable-of-the-doctor-giving-the-kings-daughter-medicine-to-enable-hastening-of-growing-up-from-the-sutra-of-a-hundred-parables
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All Hundred Parables:
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