There’s a tree by the road that’s full of lush leaves. The people felt refreshing every time they passed by. So they began to like the tree.

On a typical day of the season, two little seeds were brought to the tree by the mild wind. They’ve settled themselves under the tree, rooted, and sprouted.

As two of the little seedlings grow, they looked very different. One of it is a vine, and another one’s a grass. Since then, the tree’s got itself two little companion.

Vine is someone who likes to talk and sing, pretty much a joyful spirit that comes with funny thoughts and dreams. Its biggest ambition was to grow as tall as the tree, so that it could look at the world, and to gain interest from the people.

Grass, on the other hand, was quite shy to speak its dream. “I… I just wish that people around me could be happy.”

Soon, the tree and vine became best friends that could share every little thought in their mind together. They seemed to forget the existence of the grass.

Finally, they fell in love with each other. The tree hugged its vine warmly as the vine grows with him. With the huge tree as its base, vine was able to grow taller and taller. It looks more and more gorgeous in time.

Meanwhile, misfortune seemed to be the only friend for the grass. There was once a kid who plucked away a few of its leaves; a man once stepped on him mistakenly; a sparrow passed motion on him; some ants were even eating him alive! But, you may find it quite strange that, as the grass’ roots grow deeper and deeper, it began to have siblings and children.

One day, vine had a selfish thought. She refused to stay the way she was, relying on the tree. She wanted to grow even taller than the tree, she wants the whole world to know that, she’s the queen on every plant! So she began to struggle as she grows, getting any chance she may have to show off her talent…

Vine finally got her wish come true. She lifted her head up above the tree and danced in joy. She looked down on the grass and hated that she had to depend on the huge tree. Her egoism began to grow larger. However, she hasn’t notice that the tree had stopped breathing… She was too happy enjoying herself.

One day, a farmer passed by and investigated the tree for a few times. But the vine thought that he was admiring her, so her egoism led her to a moment of glory.

“Ouch! What’s hurting me!” Out of a sudden, the vine could feel her body aching. The farmer chopped her body half. Being in great pain, she hugged the tree tightly, hoping that he would console her for a little. It was till then she realized that the tree wasn’t warm anymore. Before she could understand what was happening, she went crushing onto the ground.

On the last few moments of her life, she was finally aware of the situation. Her tears began to overflow…

The little grass understood this. He said “Vine is regretful now.”

A few years later, there grew a plenty of grasses. They turned that place into a large field. The animals and people took it as a natural park. They’ve appreciated it as a treasure.



Postscript:

In a crowd of people, there must be two types of people. One being arrogant and proud, and another one being humble and modest. Those who are humble may not be easily spotted in a group of people. On the other hand, those who seek for everyone’s attention are usually the proud ones. How should we define ‘arrogant’? I think it’d be people who are over-confident that never respected others.

We might not like to be called ‘arrogant’, but somehow, it does appear from time to time. When it appears, we wouldn’t know it. People around us may remind us on our behaviour and attitude, but it’s quite hard for ourselves to accept it. This is because our ‘fundamental darkness’ had covered up our good side.

For example, sometimes we might be over-confident with ourselves, believing that we’re capable of doing lots of things. When people are giving us opinion and guidance, we’d think that we’ve already knew what they’re telling. Such egoism hinder us from advancing, just like the vine that’s being over-confident in herself and thinking that she’s the best. Ikeda Sensei once said “An ego person could not advance, but regress. Only those who are humble to learn could march forward.”

When we have an ego ichinen, we’d begin to neglect things and people around us like the vine did. When we’re challenged by problems, it is then we realize our comrades have left us. Till then, we’ll truly become a failure.

On the other hand, if we’re being humble, we can continuously achieve advancement. No matter how harsh some of the judgement may be, we could still learn and advance with a humble heart. Having such an attitude that keeps on advancing, we’d finally become a victor. In addition, such attitude could also encourage our comrades. This is the mission of Bodhisattva of the Earth!

When someone’s given us some opinion and reminder, it is time we reflect ourselves and chant in front of Gohonzon such that we could accept their words. In contrary, we should appreciate these chances for improvement.

Ikeda Sensei hoped for the Future Divisions to be the society’s capable people. To realize our mentor’s expectation, we must follow his guidance. In addition, Ikeda Sensei always reminds us to keep on learning. Hence, we must remember not to be ego. As JD PICs, we must strive hard to be a good role model for the children.

The world’s kosen rufu is our playground. We must do our utmost so that all the people would know such noble Buddhism, becoming citizens with absolute happiness!

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