Date: 04/19/2025 04/20/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
A Father and Son Searching for Gold
In the past, there was a father and son who lived together. One day, while the son was cutting wood in the mountains, he saw shining gold in a spring. He immediately returned home and asked his father to divide the family property so that he could go into the mountains to collect the gold more conveniently.
The son said to his father, “All the property belongs to you. I only ask for an ox cart, two bushels of rice, an axe, and a piece of reed grass. I do not need anything else.”
The father disagreed with his son’s idea and tried his best to dissuade him, but the son insisted on going. So the father said to him, “If you must go, then do not come back again.”
The son went into the mountains and began digging for gold in the spring, but after several days, he found nothing.
One day, the father went into the mountains to check on his son. He discovered that the gold in the water was actually just the reflection of a gold mine on the mountaintop, refracted by the sunlight, making it appear as if there was gold in the water.
So, the father climbed up the mountaintop and used a wooden stick to knock the gold nuggets down to the ground.
The father said to his son, “This is the correct way to search for gold. If you keep digging in the spring, when will you ever find it?”
A son who does not know how to search for gold is like a person who fails to uphold the Five Precepts, blindly chasing after the six sensory desires. Once a human body is lost, how difficult it is to regain it!
A father who understands how to find gold is like a wise person who comprehends the difference between fundamental and superficial principles. By upholding the Five Precepts and practicing the Ten Good Deeds, one will receive the blessings of rebirth in the heavenly realms, ensuring the continuation of human existence in every life. Ultimately, one will surely attain Buddhahood.
