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After six years of practicing with all methods, including ascetic way, the master finally got enlightened, completed his spiritual quest and crossed all the rugged waterfalls of this side.
Feeling compassion for people living with no clear future at the other shore, the master worked hard to make hundreds of rafts with different shapes and colors to offer help for them.
Those who came from other shore to receive the rafts included many poets, artists, tourists, interior decorators, salespersons and monks.
Many people, however, did not want to have a ratf to cross the river; they felt happy with the flooding river and dared not to dream further their current conditions.
“Thank you Master for your compassion,” a tourist said while gazing at a raft. “This raft is so beautiful.” He gave praises, put his luggage onto the raft, traveled here and there on the rivers till death, and never thought of crossing to the other shore.
“The river stretching to the blue sky – so much beautiful,” a poet said while he stepped onto the raft, paddled around years and months and tirelessly enjoyed the cool breeze and blue moon. Traveling on the raft among the scenic view, he and his colleagues made hundreds of loving and soulful poems.
“This good raft will be more beautiful if I decorate if,” an interior designer thought, then he spent several days to buy materials to make the raft look like a marvelous castle floating on the river. He and his wife and children were very happy to live in the raft that was decorated by his artful hands. He and his family did not paddle far, just stayed around this shore.
“Thank the master for your generosity,” a salesperson thought. “I will become rich with this good raft, when I take the tourist to travel around,” he dreamed. Then he made a lot of money with his job as a tour guide on the vast and beautiful river.
“The scenic view is so much beautiful. I have to make a painting,” an artist, while ignoring the raft, sat on the river bank and sketched on paper a raft traveling on vast river. His painting was so wonderful that it was auctioned off with very high price.
“I have to reach the other shore and await for other people to cross the river,” a monk said, stepped onto the raft, invited many people to follow him and paddled hard. After reaching other shore, the monk gazed the helpful raft, pushed it back to other shore and silently wished, “Wishing you could take many more people to this peaceful shore.” Then he continued onwards.”
Some travelers who had been on the same raft with the monk said, “We have to keep this raft for souvernir collection. Why do we have to discard it? I helped us a lot.”
“Why do we have to keep it as souvenir? We should carry it home and worship it,” a person said.
“A very sound suggestion,” the crowd clamored and praised. “You said correctly.”
While they lifted the raft onto their shoulders, the monk already left out of sight. The crowd quietly watched each other, then looked at the other shore where the poets, artists, salespersons and interior designers on their rafts were struggling with the strong winds and high tides, whìle others without rafts were swept away in the flood waters.
Source: Thích Nhật Từ
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