The story of scorpion and tortoise

In this teaching talk given by Venerable Hui Zhi, there is a story worth retelling to illustrate dharma practice of repentance.

A scorpion wishes to cross the river but is vulnerable of getting drowned. It asked a nearby tortoise to piggyback to cross the river. The tortoise said no for fear of being stung by the scorpion. The scorpion said no, it promised it won’t. After some coaxing, the tortoise relented and agreed. It is risky for the scorpion to do anything funny because it could get drown if the tortoise got stung.

Then the journey began. It went well until the scenery got better and the scorpion started to really enjoy the scenery. It was at this time that the tortoise stretched its neck a little more. And the scorpion saw the fleshing part of the neck and stung it.

The tortoise was in pain and turned its head to ask the scorpion what is going on, why didn’t it keep its promise.

The scorpion replied, “I couldn’t help it”.

This story illustrates that one could set up to do a certain thing but is still vulnerable to reacting in ways undesired because one couldn’t help it when the conditions unfolds in a certain way. This happens a lot in life as we slide into unwholesome acts. We lose our mindfulness so to speak.

The right way to proceed after such “I couldn’t help it” situation is to sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness, and regain one’s mindfulness to try not to do it again. Don’t need to beat yourself down, be gentle with yourself but inspire to have a future where one would not experience such lapses ever.

And know this is mindfulness.