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　　In the example of the lotus it is not until the petals of the flower open and fall away that one can see the form of the Buddha that was there all the time. And it is the same with desires—until one”s desires have been eliminated, one cannot see the Buddha-nature which has been inside sentient beings all the time.

　　The second example of honey points to the covering or blocking presence of the second defilement of aggression or anger which is characterized by bees. Honey in itself is very sweet and tasty. This is like Buddha-nature which is very useful and beneficial for everyone. Yet, around the honey are all those bees whose nature is the very opposite. The bees sting and are very aggressive. As long as the bees are there, the situation is very difficult. So it is with the nature of aggression and anger which is also very unpleasant; it stings and hurts. The honey is there all the time and one can”t get to the honey because the bees are all around it. If one can find a way of gradually getting rid of the bees, one can get the honey.

　　Likewise, when one eliminates anger and aggression, one can develop this really beneficial Buddha-nature.

　　The third example of grains of rice inside their husks is used to point to the nature of the third main defilement which is ignorance or stupidity. The husk is very tough and difficult to separate from the grain which makes it a good example of ignorance which is also thick, strong, and difficult to get rid of. This ignorance stops us from having access to Buddha-nature.

　　Generally speaking, beings have a great deal of ignorance. Compared to animals, of course, humans are more clever in many respects and have more wisdom. But the wisdom of humans is quite limited. For instance, humans like ourselves can”t see what is happening beyond the walls of this room; they can”t see what is happening in the rest of the world. Knowledge stops where the wall stops. Even though humans can see other people inside the walls, they have no idea apart from a few vague indications what”s happening inside of people because human perception doesn”t stretch that far.

　　Even when we think we perceive other”s thoughts, we often make mistakes. If we have a friend, for instance, the friend goes out and we may start thinking, “I wonder what he is saying about me” and we develop a whole train of thought and become convinced that he is saying bad things about us. By the time he comes back there can even be a fight just because we have guessed the person”s intentions wrongly. Or we may think an adversary is changing his intentions towards us by acting in an open way which can also cause a lot of trouble if the enemy in fact is still an enemy. It is hard for us to see things as they really are.

　　When we learn about the Buddha”s teachings, we learn about the nature of desire, the nature of aversion, and so on. It takes a long time for us to understand what is really being taught. Even though we may know about the shortcomings of desire, yet due to our habitual patterns it takes a long time to act in a way which corresponds to our knowledge. The perception of the deeper aspects of truth is very hard for us to quickly understand because ignorance is so pervasive. That is why it is compared to the husk of a grain: It is tough, hard, and takes a lot of effort to remove. These three examples show how Buddha-nature is like a precious essence or jewel inside us, which is covered up by desire, aggression, and ignorance. The Buddha taught the dharma to show us how to have access to this precious Buddha-nature.

　　There is another example in the Uttara Tantra which illustrates this. There”s a very precious statue made of gold which ages ago had fallen and became covered with dirt. Bec…

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