The Fisherman's Trip to the Sea Palace

There was once a fisherman named Urashima Taro. One day, he saw three children torturing a turtle on the beach. Taro's heart went out to the turtle, so he asked the children to set it free. But they didn't want to. So, Taro bought the turtle from the children and released it. As the turtle was swimming away, it kept looking back at Taro as if to thank him.

A few days later, when Taro went to the beach again, he saw the very same turtle there. The turtle told Taro that it came from the sea palace, and when it returned and told the Dragon King of the sea how Taro had rescued it, the Dragon King was very grateful and asked the turtle to invite Taro to the Palace.

Upon arriving at the sea palace, Taro was amazed by what he saw. It was full of splendor and filled with many treasures. The Dragon King said to him, "You can take whatever you like." Taro said, "There are so many things here and all of them are such fine treasures. No matter which one I choose, I'll find the next one better. So, I'm happy to just look at them."

Taro stayed in the sea palace, looking around and enjoying fine food and luxurious accommodation. Three days had passed. Taro said to the Dragon King, "I enjoy my stay here, but I need to go home." The Dragon King also agreed. Riding on the turtle's back, Taro returned to the land. When he came ashore, everything looked unfamiliar to him. The surroundings were all different from before. Taro felt very puzzled.

He kept walking and then he came across an elderly lady who looked at him and exclaimed, "Aren't you Taro? Where have you been? You disappeared for decades." Taro asked, "Who are you? I don't even know you." She then said she was his wife. Taro said, "It can't be! My wife can't be this old." The elderly lady said, "But you are really my husband." Taro said, "It can't be. I'd stayed in the sea palace for only three days. How old are you?" The elderly lady replied, "I'm almost 90." Taro said, "I'm only in my twenties and you're almost 90." His wife said, "You'd been away for over 60 years." Taro was truly shocked to hear that. 

Then, a middle-aged man came by. Taro's wife said to the man, "Your father went missing when you were born. Here he is." The man said doubtfully, "He's so young. He can't be my father." Taro also said, "My son can't be this old." And, not far behind stood Taro's grandchildren.

Although this is just a legend, it reminds us that our life in this world is very short. In comparison, beings in heaven, or the sea palace in this legend, live a much longer life than us. We all know that some species of turtles have a long life. Compared to them, human life is very short. But, in this world, there are many other animals whose lifespan is even shorter than ours. So, be it humans or other animals, although we all live in the same world, different beings have different lives.

Many people may not be aware, but only humans can practice spiritual cultivation and attain Buddhahood. This is because among all living beings, only humans can learn the Buddha's teachings and awaken their true nature within. The Buddha said that heavenly beings cannot attain Buddhahood as they enjoy such a long and happy life that they can't take in the Dharma. Even if they hear the Dharma, they cannot understand the impermanence of life as their lives are very long and comfortable. So, only humans are able to understand the law of impermanence taught by the Buddha, and only with this understanding can we further realize that everything in this world is impermanent.

The sunlight that we see now was actually emitted from the sun about eight minutes ago. That's how long sunlight takes to reach the Earth. Day and night on Earth are distinguished by the rising and setting of the sun and the moon. Light travels so fast that we cannot see how it travels with our naked eyes. Likewise, time goes by so fast without our noticing it. So, we truly should seize the time we have.

Life is impermanent, so we need to make good use of our time. Only our pure, true nature is permanent. And when our true nature is awakened, we'll be able to understand all truths in the universe.