on him and play with him, a bond of caring and affection forms solidly between them. Can anyone anywhere find any absolute standard of the great, the insignificant, the superior and the inferior? There is no such standard. If all of us would once and for all abandon our judgmental illusions of human differences, then we would all be able to live together in an atmosphere of peace and equality. After the Buddha became enlightened, his first words were, "All sentient beings have Buddha nature!" Sentient beings have different forms, different abilities, and different conditions because of karmic effects. Beneath these outer differences, however, the essential nature of all sentient beings is the same. This situation reminds me of a story in a sutra: An elephant, a horse, and a rabbit are crossing a river. For the rabbit the river is very deep, for the horse it is somewhat deep, and for the elephant it is not deep at all. The conditions for each of these animals are different, yet the river is the same. It is the same with three birds mentioned in another sutra - an eagle, a pigeon, and a sparrow. The eagle flies very high, the pigeon not so high, and the sparrow not very high at all. The conditions among them are not the same, and yet the sky itself never changes because of them. We should look upon the suffering of others with greatest concern and compassion, and we should embrace the ideals of equality and respect whenever we encounter differences. With this kind of thinking, we will surely succeed in bringing a lasting peace into this world. Equality among people depends on their being able to understand each others' points of view. How are we to establish an enduring concept of equality among people? The Buddha answered this question by telling us to treat others as we would have them treat us and to love others as much as
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