The legend of the fish basket The Buddhist story of the fish basket tells the tale of a young girl who arrives in a village selling fish. The men in the village begging for her hand in marriage. She tells them that the first man to successfully recite the Lotus Sutra will be her husband. The village had never heard the teachings of the Buddha before. As a result, they had to study the sutras carefully in order to recite them when the girl returned. When the young girl selling fish returned to the village, only one man could successfully recite the sutras. She agreed to marry him, but on the night of their wedding, she tragically died of a heart attack. The young man was devastated. As they prepared to bury the young bride, a monk appeared. He told them that the girl’s coffin was empty and there was no reason for mourning. And he was right—the coffin was empty! In fact, the young girl had been a manifestation of the beloved bodhisattva, Guan Yin. She had wanted to spread the teachings of the Buddha. Once her job was done, she was free to leave. The legend of the fish basket communicates two very essential lessons: never judge a book by its cover and keep an eye out for important teachings because they may come in any form. ###################################################################################################### Music - Dee Yan-Key - Allegretto autunnale - CC Creative Commons https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dee_Yan-Key#contact-artist https://www.jamendo.com/artist/428874/dee-yan-key

The Lankavatara Sutra: consciousness is key The Lankavatara Sutra is one of the more existential Buddhist texts, but don’t worry. We’re going to break everything down into bite-sized pieces. The Lankavatara Sutra is popular in Mahayana Buddhism — the largest and most prominent branch of Buddhism in the world. This sutra is a record of a conversation the Buddha had with a bodhisattva named Mahāmati. In this conversation, the Buddha explained to Mahāmati that our consciousness is our only true reality. “My teaching is based upon the recognition that the objective world, like a vision, is a manifestation of the mind itself,” said the Buddha. The Lankavatara Sutra encourages Buddhist practitioners to recognize the unique nature of our reality. There is no such thing as a single objective reality. Everyone’s reality is unique, and it’s based entirely on our own perceptions, beliefs, and values. ================================================================================================= Music - Ava Drumm - Canon in D Major (piano only) - CC https://freemusicarchive.org/music/ava-drumm#contact-artist