The buddha one day, put some sand particles on his thumb nail, and asked his attendant monk, the venerable Ananda, who was also his first cousin, ‘Ananda, which do you think is more, the number of sand particles on my thumbnail and those on the earth ?’
The venerable Ananda answered, ‘Lord, the number of sand particles on your thumb nail and that of those on the earth are beyond comparison. The number of sand particles on the earth is incomparably more than that on your thumb nail.’
The lord then went on, ‘It is just like that Ananda. The number of beings that are enlightened whenever a Buddha appears in the world is as small as the number of sand particles on my nail.
The number of beings that do not get enlightened even when a Buddha appears in the world is as much as the sand particles of the earth.’
It is therefore not an ordinary matter that a Buddha has appeared in the world. It is also indescribably fortunate to hear the teachings of the Buddha even though he has passed away. If an effort is not made to be liberated, then we go on and on, going floating and sinking in the stream of samsara.
Those with aggregates known as deities and man are said to be floating in the stream of the samsara. When they have a chance to listen to the teachings of the Buddha, when they have teachers who show them the path, they may be saved from suffering.
Those with aggregates known as beings of the woeful states, are said to have sunk in the stream of samsara, because when they are in animal forms or when they are in hell, even if a Buddha appears in the world, they cannot hear the dhamma and cannot be saved through guidance onto the path to deliverance.
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