Why Can't We Escape the Ant Existence

The vastness of the world, the immensity of Buddha lands, the expanse of the universe—these are beyond the imagination of the mind. At best, we are like ants. What exists within an ant's world? What pursuits, concerns, or sources of pride could an ant possibly have? What is there to fight over in an ant kingdom? What is there about the five aggregates of any single ant worth clinging to or coveting?

Yet, when the Buddha observes a colony of ants, He sees them clinging fiercely to their five aggregates. Even after the appearance of seven Buddhas, the ants remain in their ant form. This precisely demonstrates their inherent ignorance and clinging nature. How are we any different? Countless Buddhas have appeared, yet we remain sentient beings trapped in the Six Realms, still bound by the same ignorance and clinging, still burdened by such profound delusion. Do we not feel ashamed? Do we not reproach ourselves? Have we not yet developed the two wholesome mental factors of shame and remorse?

Wisdom surpasses all else; liberation is more important than anything. No matter how much hardship must be endured to attain it, it is worth the effort. Otherwise, we will remain forever ignorant and pitiful like ants, all the while imagining ourselves to be grand!

Many have studied Buddhism for so long, yet they remain fascinated by mountains and rivers, traveling far and wide, greedily enamored with the scenery before their eyes, unaware of the need to cherish their precious time for cultivation. They fail to realize how far an ant-like being like themselves can truly travel. No matter how diligently a group of ants marches, day and night without rest, they can scarcely traverse a single desert, let alone cross an entire country. Even if we travel by airplane, we struggle to leave the Earth's airspace. Instead, we should open our minds, broaden our vision, embrace the entire great chiliocosm, and explore the infinite mysteries of the universe, striving to become omniscient and omnipotent—true sages and masters like the Buddha, endowed with boundless mental capacity, wisdom, virtue, and capability.