Where are the gophers (cmy on DN 21, AN 10.72, etc.)? Simile explained.

regarding

DN 21, MA 134, DA 14: Smoking out the chinese gophers, hearing sound in 4 jhānas, two agama parallels to DN 21

and

AN 10.72 and KN Ud 3.3 smoking out the gophers, you can hear sounds in the four jhānas

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/theravada/comments/11ifaio/comment/jb8zg66/?context=3

hedgehogsweater wrote:
I read both posts and there were no gophers 😡😡😡

Frankk response:

The gophers are just a simile I made up.

Let me spell it out in detail.

The Buddha planted a delicious, nutritious vegetable garden, meant for all humans.

The syndicate of rogue gophers, dug deep holes all over the Buddha's garden.

They stole all of the vegetables, dragged them down into their dark holes, ate and processed the vegetables and baked 'brownies'.

Then the syndicate of rogue gophers peddled the brownies and sold them to humans, and advertised those brownies as 'the Buddha's vegetables' to the humans.

True, the brownies they baked are derived from and contain the Buddha's original vegetables, but they have additives, a very different flavor, and not the same nutritional profile and benefit as the vegetables from the Buddha's garden.

Most gardeners in modern times just trust the gophers and believe what they say.

A few gardeners who studied the gophers carefully realized what was going on.

So they set up some humane traps to catch and release all the gophers on the island of Alcatraz, after smoking them out.

The meaning of 'smoking them out', is exposing the gophers' activity with detailed audits, and educating the other humans that they too can restore their own vegetable gardens.

Whether those humans prefer vegetables or brownies, is up to them.

moral of the story

1. Gophers who peddle their brownies as the Buddha's vegetables lack honesty and integrity.

If you sell your brownies and advertise them as brownies inspired and derived from the Buddha's vegetables, then no problem.

Unfortunately history of religions has shown this hardly ever happens.

Whoever is popular and holds majority sway, their views, however distorted and corrupt, becomes "the authentic and true interpretation of the religion".

2. Humans should develop their critical thinking (and smelling) skills so they can differentiate brownies from vegetables.