A young forest monk (āraṇyaka), alone in the forest, was lazy in practicing dhyāna [Zen]. In this forest there was a deva [a god], a disciple of the Buddha; he entered into the body of a corpse, approached the young monk singing and dancing, with this stanza:
In the forest, little bhikṣu, Why are you lazy?
If you do not fear me when I come during the day
I will return again during the night.
The frightened bhikṣu [monk] arose from his seat and reflected on himself. During the night, he fell asleep again. The deva came to him [in the form of a monster] with ten heads, spitting fire from the mouths, fangs and claws like swords, eyes red as fire. Looking at the bhikṣu, he said that he would chase and grab him [and added]: “In this place, it is not allowed to be lazy. What are you doing there?” Very scared, the bhikṣu began to reflect: he meditated on the Dharma with special vigor and obtained arhathood. Thus, by means of effort on oneself, exertion, conscientiousness, one can attain the fruit of the path. — From Nagarjuna's Mahāprajñāmitā-Śāstra Vol. 2
Submitted May 25, 2019 at 11:41PM by Mumagic http://bit.ly/30CyMUC
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