The Great Chand (Viriya Pramat)

In the long past, Bodhisattva was born as the son of the king who reigned in two related cities. But after the reign and the disagreements within the royal family agitated the city. The father's king died suddenly. The nobles divided the city. So the chaos broke out in the city. The king was still young but placed in the position of his successor, but the power in the court was unstable. The opponents tried to eliminate the royal lineage to seize all power.

The King was then subpoenaed and had to escape from the city with a number of attendants, hoping to gain a foothold in another friendly city. The journey went through the Great Sea, the single safest route of its time. A large merchant ship was prepared, but the journey turned out to be the turning point of Bodhisattva's fate.

When the ship left the shore, the sea was at first calm, the sky was open, the wind was light. The people on the ship still had hope that a new life was waiting, but the people had a strange feeling in their hearts, like a hunch that life was about to face a great test. But despite that feeling, he did not waver, because the Bodhisattva's mind was firmly established in reason and consciousness, not emotion.

Several days passed. The ship sailed deep into the ocean. One day the sky began to change color. The wind grew gradually stronger. Black clouds formed like mountains. The sound of waves began to thump unusually strong. The captain of the ship ordered the lowering of the sails, but not suddenly. A great storm was moving in quickly.

In a few hours, the ever-calm sea became a disaster. The waves as high as the mountain of Lom entered the boat. The sound of broken wood erupted. The people on the boat began to cry. Some prayed to the gods. Some screamed in fear. Some tried to throw baggage into the sea to keep the boat light, but everything was too late.

His Majesty stood calm in the middle of the ship, even seeing the chaos around him, but his mind was unmoved. He considered consciously, "This life is impermanent. If it is to end here, it is karma, but fear does not help."

Finally, a huge wave hit the ship until it broke apart, a loud sound like a collapse of the earth. Many people sank, disappeared in the blink of an eye. The sea swallowed everything unkindly. The Great One was knocked down into the wide ocean.

In the darkness of the sea, there is no direction, no shore, nothing to anchor; the only sound heard is the sound of the waves and their own breath beginning to weaken; the people who used to be on the ship have no more left; everything has become void.

But at that moment, the King did not give up on death, and the Bodhisattva's mind was greatly strengthened. He remembered that "effort is never wasted, that there is no one who sees, that there is no salvation, that if he is alive, he must continue to try." And he began to swim in the middle of the ocean with all his strength remaining.

The first day passed, the body was still strong, the waves were fierce, but hope was still there. The second and third days, fatigue began to press on every part of the body, the muscles became exhausted, but the great man did not stop swimming, because he saw that the cessation was definitely death. The fourth and fifth days, the eyes began to blur, the thoughts began to diminish, leaving only instinctive movements, but even so he did not give up his efforts.

Until the seventh day, the King had little awareness of his surroundings, leaving only a small determined mind that kept the body moving, even though he did not know where the shore was, even though he did not know whether to survive, but he did not stop swimming, because in the mind there was a deep understanding that "to stop is to give up to death, but to try is to heal life."

Meanwhile, the gods of heaven looked down at this, and a goddess of pity came down and tested the bodhisattva, appearing in the middle of the ocean, and said, "Since you do not see the shore, you do not see the shadow of salvation, why do you continue to swim?"

The King replied in a weak but firm voice, "Even if you do not see the shore, the perseverance will not stop as long as you live. Stopping is equal to accepting death without trying."

The answer silenced the goddess because he saw a pure, non-productive, reward-free, non-survival.

Finally, with great power, merit, and perseverance, the goddess helped to bring the Great King ashore without drowning, but it is important that the Bodhisattva does not rejoice in the miracle, if he only considers that "life is saved by perseverance, not by coincidence," and then continues to strive in the law.

And when he came ashore, the great man did not hasten to seek happiness or power, but lived in peace, and considered the righteousness and impermanence of the world, and saw that the sea that almost took away life was the teacher of great perseverance.

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This is the expanded commentary edition of "The Great Shag": The real core is not survival, but

Swimming Even Without Seeing Shore = Distressed Prestige

# Great people # Dharma # Bodhisattva