Why Can One Not Escape the Body of an Ant

The world is vast, the buddha-lands are vast, the universe is vast—beyond what the mind can imagine. At best, we are like ants. What is there in an ant's world? What is there in an ant's life worth pursuing, worth fussing over, worth being proud of? Is there anything in an ant kingdom worth fighting over? What is there in each ant's five aggregates (pañcaskandha) worth clinging to and craving?

Yet when the Buddha observed the ant colonies, He saw that they are truly far too attached to their own five aggregates. Through the advent of seven buddhas, the ants have remained ants—this is precisely a manifestation of the ants' foolishness and their attachment. What difference is there between us and the ants? Countless buddhas have appeared in the world, yet we still remain beings of the six realms, still so foolish and attached, still burdened with such deep ignorance. Should we not feel ashamed? Should we not reproach ourselves? Do we not even possess the two wholesome mental factors of shame and remorse (hrī and apatrāpya)?

Wisdom is above all else; liberation is more important than anything. No matter how much hardship must be endured to attain it, it is worth it. Otherwise, we will go on being pitifully foolish forever, just like ants—while still imagining ourselves to be so great!

Many people have studied Buddhism for so long, yet they are still interested in mountains and rivers, traveling about everywhere, craving the scenery before their eyes, not knowing to cherish their precious time for cultivation. They do not realize how far an ant-like self can travel. However capable a colony of ants may be at walking, moving day and night without rest, they can hardly cross a single desert, let alone leave a whole country. Even when we ride an airplane, we can hardly leave the airspace above the earth. It would be better to open our own minds, broaden our horizons, embrace the entire great thousand worlds (trisāhasra-mahāsāhasra-lokadhātu), and explore the boundless mysteries of the universe—making ourselves omniscient and omnipotent, becoming a true wise one and a capable one like the Buddha, possessing boundless breadth of mind, wisdom, virtue, and ability.