Introduction
The sweetness of the honey is what is most significant. This, along
with its rarity and the difficulty -- even danger -- involved in getting it,
made it an apt symbol for Bliss. We must realize that, in very ancient
times, sugar from the refining of plants, roots and tree sap, was not generally
available.
In folklore and mythology, however, the word "honey" does not always refer to to the
product of the bee. Sometimes, it is used to refer to any kind of sweet fruit, or
its juice that we call "nectar." Often it must mean the nectar, such as
the syrup of over-ripe dates or figs that drips from over-ripe fruit still hanging
on the tree.
Certainly, bees flying by do not drop honey, as some traditional tales, would
have us think.
Traditional Medicine
Honey was known, as it still is today, to have some healing properties, but
it was also used as a binder and a kind of glue or base for ointment. For
example, Lama Tashi Dondhup expounding on Chekawa Pabongka's "Seven Verses for Training
the Mind," (a Tibetan commentary in verse on Atisha's system [Tib.
lojong]) told how the honey of a deadly type of
bee, when mixed with a compound of iron filings and powdered cowri
shell, could be applied to the crown of one's head.
The Parable of the Honey
The most famous example occurs in the great Indian epic,
The Mahabharat
(Book 11, sections 5-6) where Vidura the Sage, whose father is
Dharma, relates the parable known as "the drop of honey" to
blind king, Dhritarashtra:
A certain brahmana, living in the great world, found himself on one
occasion in a large inaccessible forest teeming with beasts of prey. It abounded
on every side with lions and other animals looking like elephants, all of which
were engaged in roaring aloud. Such was the aspect of that forest that Yama
himself would take fright at it.
Beholding the forest, the heart of the brahmana became exceedingly
agitated. His hair stood on end, and other signs of fear manifested themselves,
O scorcher of foes!
Entering it, he began to run hither and thither, casting his eyes on every
point of the compass for finding out somebody whose shelter he might seek.
Wishing to avoid those terrible creatures, he ran in fright. He could not
succeed, however, in distancing them or freeing himself from their presence.
He then saw that that terrible forest was surrounded with a net, and that a
frightful woman stood there, stretching her arms. That large forest was also
encompassed by many five-headed snakes of dreadful forms, tall as cliffs and
touching the very heavens.
Within it was a pit whose mouth was covered with many hard and unyielding
creepers and herbs. The brahmana, in course of his wanderings, fell into
that invisible pit. He became entangled in those clusters of creepers that were
interwoven with one another, like the large fruit of a jack tree hanging by its
stalk. He continued to hang there, feet upwards and head downwards.
While he was in that posture, diverse other calamities overtook him. He
beheld a large and mighty snake within the pit. He also saw a gigantic elephant
near its mouth. That elephant, dark in complexion, had six faces and twelve
feet. And the animal gradually approached that pit covered with creepers and
trees.
About the twigs of the tree (that stood at the mouth of the pit), roved many
bees of frightful forms, employed from before in drinking the honey gathered in
their comb about which they swarmed in large numbers. Repeatedly they
desired, O bull of Bharata’s race, to taste that honey which, though sweet to
all creatures could, however, attract children only.
The honey (collected in the comb) fell in many jets below. The person who was
hanging in the pit continually drank those jets. Employed, in such a distressful
situation, in drinking that honey, his thirst, however, could not be appeased.
Unsatiated with repeated draughts, the person desired for more. Even then, O
king, he did not become indifferent to life. Even there, the man continued to
hope for existence.
A number of black and white rats were eating away the roots of that tree.
There was fear from the beasts of prey, from that fierce woman on the outskirts
of that forest, from that snake at the bottom of the well, from that elephant
near its top, from the fall of the tree through the action of the rats, and
lastly from those bees flying about for tasting the honey. In that plight he
continued to dwell, deprived of his senses, in that wilderness, never losing at
any time the hope of prolonging his life.’"
Then Vidura expounds:
‘They that are conversant, O monarch, with the religion of
moksha cite this as a simile. Understanding this
properly, a person may attain to bliss in the regions hereafter.
That which is described as the wilderness is the great world. The
inaccessible forest within it is the limited sphere of one’s own life.
Those that have been mentioned as beasts of prey are the diseases (to
which we are subject). That woman of gigantic proportions residing in the
forest is identified by the wise with Decrepitude which destroys complexion and
beauty. That which has been spoken of as the pit is the body or physical
frame of embodied creatures. The huge snake dwelling in the bottom of
that pit is time, the destroyer of all embodied creatures. It is, indeed, the
universal destroyer. The cluster of creepers growing in that pit and
attached to whose spreading stems the man hangeth down is the desire for life
which is cherished by every creature. The six-faced elephant, O king,
which proceeds towards the tree standing at the mouth of the pit is spoken of as
the year. Its six faces are the seasons and its twelve feet are the twelve
months. The rats and the snakes that are cutting off the tree are said to
be days and nights that are continually lessening the periods of life of all
creatures. Those that have been described as bees are our desires. The
numerous jets that are dropping honey are the pleasures derived from the
gratification of our desires and to which men are seen to be strongly addicted.
The wise know life’s course to be even such. Through that knowledge they succeed
in tearing off its bonds.’" ~ 19th-century KM Ganguli translation.
This parable is probably very ancient -- older than the Indian epic that was
gradually composed over 5 or 6 centuries ( 300 BCE - 300 CE.) For example, it also appears in The
Lalitavistara, whence it made its way to
the Chinese "Parable Sutra."
The Parable Sutra
(T217.4.801)
simplified, from Charles D. Patton's translation:
This
is how I heard it:
Once, the Lord was
staying in Jetàvana Grove, near the city of Shrivasta.
At that time, The
Famous Celebrity was part of a great gathering, and he was speaking to the King
named Brilliance:
"Great king, for
your majesty, I will now briefly discuss a story-lesson (parable) about the
beings of samsara,
who are bothered by
feelings, attachments, mistakes, and troubles. Your majesty should now listen
closely, and think carefully about it.
"Going back many,
many ages ago, there was a person who went into the jungle. He was chased by an
evil elephant. Full of fear, he ran, but he had nowhere to go for safety.
Then he saw a deep
and empty well. Dangling into it was a tree root; so he quickly shinnied down
it, and hid inside the well.
There were 2 rats,
one dark and one light, that together kept gnawing on the root above the man.
And in the well,
one at each of the directions, were 4 vipers trying to bite the man.
And below him,
there was a great poisonous serpent.
So the man was
terrified and also, worried about the tree root's breaking.
Now the tree had a
beehive in it, and 5 drops of honey fell into his mouth.
But when the tree
shook, the bees swarmed down to sting the person.
And [while the man
was down there] brush fires came to burn the tree, over and over again."
The king asked,
"How should a person deal with such a terrible situation?”
The Buddha
answered:
“The jungle
is like our ignorance, which is very great and unclear. When I say, ‘that
person' I mean the mind of a person, reborn over and over again.
The elephant stands
for impermanence. The well is like our situation in any life.
The dangerous climb
down the tree roots is like our life’s journey.
The dark and light
rats stand for night and day. Their gnawing at the root is like our
constantly having annoying thoughts that keep leading to other thoughts, right
up until we die.
Those 4 vipers
stand for our existence in 4 elements [earth,
air, fire, water.]
The honey drops are
like our 5 desires [for
food and drink, sleep, sexual comfort, wealth and fame]
and the bees stand for false thinking.
The fire is old
age, and illness that comes more than once. The great serpent represents death.
"That is why,
great king, you should know that birth, old age, illness, and death are quite
terrible. You should always remember them, and not become a slave to your
desires."
Paul Reps in
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.
1957/1998 tells this parable but substitutes a strawberry, so the impression we
get (which is not in the original) is that we ought to live in the moment, as in
Robert Herrick's 1648 poem, "Gather ye roses while ye may":
A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. He
fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of
a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from
above.
Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was
waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one
black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine.
The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand,
he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!”
Variations appear in European literature, such as the one by 19th-century
Russian novelist
Leo
Tolstoy in his Confession: The traveller, having been chased by a
dragon, falls into the well, grabs onto a branch, but two mice -- one white and
one black -- chase each other round the tree, gnawing at the root.
Ukrainian poet and satirist
Ivan Franko (My Emerald) gives more detail in his 1898 poem, "A
Parable About Life."
Denial and Damnation
The parable may have entered Europe from the collection called
Gesta Romanorum,
ca. 1548 (or earlier.) It contains material attributed to St. John
Chrysorrhoas (675–749) of Damascus, whose works include Liber Sancti Barlaam
et Josephat, which (round and round we go like the 2 mice)
consists of Buddhist material disguised as the words of "saints" Barlaam and
Josephat, who we now know are entirely fictional.
Notice how the intention of the Indian parable is perverted here:
Tale CLXVIII. Of Eternal Condemnation
Barlaam says that a sinner is like a man who, being afraid of a unicorn,
stepped backward into a deep pit. But when he had fallen he laid hold of the
branch of a tree, and drew himself up. Looking below, he espied at the foot of
the tree by which he had ascended a very black well, and a horrible dragon
encompassing it. The dragon appeared to expect his fall with extended jaws.
Now the tree was constantly being gnawed by two mice, of which one was white
and the other black, and the man felt it shake. There were also four white
vipers at its foot, which filled the whole pit with [. . .] pestilential wrath.
Lifting up his eyes, the man beheld honey dripping from a bough of the tree;
and, wholly forgetful of danger, he gave himself up to its fatal sweetness.
A friend, stretching out to him a ladder, would have raised him entirely
out; but, overcome by the allurement, he clung to the tree, which fell, and cast
him into the jaws of the dragon. The monster immediately descending to the
lowest pit, there devoured him. He thus died a miserable death.
~ Credit to Aug. 23, 2006 entry "Strawberry" in Blog of the
Octopuses {Mar 2012, no longer available)
_____________________________________________________________
parable: An example of behaviour, or an illustration
of a principle, in the form of a brief narrative.
Lalitavistara: Sanskrit, meaning "Details of the Play of the
Buddha." The word, lalita here refers to "play" in the
sense of the delightful manifestation of divine activity. This extensive text
includes all the traditional elements of the life of Buddha Shakyamuni as well
as the
two buddhas preceding him. It is a traditional and extensive Mahayana
sutra, revealing all the Buddha's activity as motivated by compassion for all
beings.
 2003 rendition by Sandra Bays:
The Voice
of the Buddha: The Beauty of Compassion.
Dharma: In Indian mythology, this is another name for
Yama, who brought death into the world and hence, he is Lord Death. We
could rightly say that dharma is "how to live in the face of death," which, in
fact, is what the honey parable is about.
moksha: Sanskrit term for release or liberation
from the round of existence.
Chrysorrhoas: gold-pourer.
            
       
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