Ancient Cultivation Stories: To Believe or Not to Believe

In ancient times, Bodhisattva Dizang came to the human world and found that people at that time no longer believed in God or Heaven. He then decided that he must find one who still believed in God and save him.

In order to look for a person who still had faith in God, Bodhisattva Dizang transformed himself into a beggar and begged for food from, travelling from one village to another. No one whom he came across would give him any food and he still couldn't find anyone who worshipped God. When he came to the entrance of a village, he saw an old grandmother burning incense in front of a Buddha statue. He then went up and begged for some food. The grandmother hesitated and then said, "I only have this one bowl of rice left. You can take half of it and I will make offerings to Buddha with the other half". Seeing the sincerity of the grandmother and her kind heart, Bodhisattva pointed to a pair of stone lions and told the grandmother the following before he left, "Whenever you see the eyes of this pair of stone lions turn red, it marks the time of a big flood. You have to quickly run to the top of the hill and then you will be safe." This kind grandmother spread this news around the village. However, no one believed her, but instead they mocked and scolded her. They said that she was insane and superstitious. How on earth could the eyes of a pair of stone lions possibly turn red? Disregarding the sarcasm, the old grandmother begged the villagers to believe in what she was telling them.

The grandmother firmly kept these words in mind and would take a look at the eyes of the stone lions every day. One day, several mischievous villagers came up with an idea. "Let's play a game with the old lady. We'll paint the eyes of the stone lions with red dye." The grandma saw the eyes of the stone lions had really turned red and so she anxiously shouted to the villagers, "Hurry up and run. The flood is coming." Upon seeing the grandmother so hysterically worried, people all laughed out loud and made fun of her. She saw there was no alternative and then ran to the hill by herself. By the time she reached the top of the hill, she looked back only to find out that the whole village was submerged by a flood and laughter was nowhere to be found.