Reborn as a Fox

Venerable Master Chin Kung often tells the story of Master Baizhang of the Tang dynasty and a fox.

Once a monastic said something wrong and his karmic result was to be reborn as a fox for five hundred lifetimes. Someone had asked the master “Is an accomplished practitioner still governed by the law of cause and effect, causality?” The master mistakenly responded, “No, an accomplished practitioner is not governed by the law of cause and effect.”

His wrong answer brought a negative karmic result because he misled that person. Therefore, he was reborn as a fox.

The fox was diligent in its cultivation and succeeded in gaining extraordinary abilities, so it could show itself in human form. It knew the karmic cause of its being a fox but could do nothing to change the karmic result. It met Master Baizhang, an awakened monastic, and came to listen to his lecture every day by turning itself into an old practitioner.

People at the cultivation center got to know this old practitioner, not realizing that he was a fox. Only Master Baizhang knew the truth.

One day, the fox told the master its story and asked the master to help it. The master told the fox to come the next day and ask the same question the fox was asked. The next day, the fox asked him, “Is an accomplished practitioner still governed by the law of cause and effect?” Master Baizhang answered, “An accomplished practitioner is not ignorant of the law of cause and effect.”

With the answer changed from “not governed by” to “not ignorant of,” the fox was able to end its life as a fox and died the next day. Master Baizhang told some people that a fox had died in the mountain and took them there to bury it. When they saw the body of the fox, Master Baizhang told them its story.

Teacher tells this story often to remind us of the seriousness of giving a wrong answer. If we are not certain of the answer, it is best to reply honestly that we do not know.