The Harp and the King

"Oh, good man! For example, there is a king who hears a harp, whose sound is serene and wonderful. In his mind delighted, joy and bliss arise, interspersed with loving thoughts, and it's hard [for him] move away the superb feeling. He says to his minister: 'From where does that kind of wonderful sound'? The minister answered: 'That wonderful sound comes from the harp, majesty. The King further says: 'Bring me that sound'! Then, the minister puts the harp before the throne of the king, and says: 'Oh great king! This is the sound '! The King says to the harp: 'Make the sound, make the sound'! But, the harp does not produce any sound. Then the King cuts off his strings, and still there is no sound. He rips her to bark, crushes the wood, and breaks everything up into pieces, intending to force the sound output, but no sound [arises]. Then the King gets enrage with the minister, and say: 'How dare you lie to me'? The minister says to the King: ‘That is not the way to get a good sound. All the causal relations, and good expedient means, can indeed call forth the sound'.

It's the same with the Buddha-Nature. There is no place where it rests. Only through the best expedient means is it able to appear. When it can be seen, one gains Unsurpassed Enlightenment. The icchantika can not see the Buddha-Nature. [Thus,] how can he make away with the sins of the three (evil) realms (of existence)?"

Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 32, on the Bodhisattva Highly-Virtuous King 6.

the harp and the king.mp3