Bodhisattva Bird

In one of the dharma talks during the winter Kyol Che 2012–2013, Wu Bong Dae Soen Sa Nim told a story: Once I read in the Jataka tales the story of one of the Buddha's previous lives. He was a little bird then, and one day the forest where the bird lived caught on fire. For the bird, in fact, it wasn't such a big problem, because she could just fly away. But looking down on the forest while flying above, she saw all the other animals caught in the fire and struggling to get out. And the bird couldn't just fly away. She felt so compassionate for the other animals that she decided to help. She flew to the lake—quite far away—took some water into her beak, flew back to the forest and poured it down on the fire. And then she flew again to the lake and brought some more water, and then again, and again. And so she continued until she got completely exhausted. When she couldn't fly anymore, she fell down into the burning forest and died. Once I read this story, I could never get it out of my head.