Arriving at the Buddha's Side

Seeking the Buddha's teachings to attain supreme enlightenment, at the very back of the crowd stood Jingran, with Qiudong perched on his left shoulder and Little Monk on his right. Qiudong was a sun conure, its feathers a mix of yellow and red, now dozing with its head tucked under its wing. Little Monk was a monk parakeet, green-feathered with a gray belly, its claws gripping his clothing, its head nodding drowsily. He had traveled through time, from the mundane world of the Dharma-ending age over two thousand years later, stepping right into this thousand-year-old Shurangama Dharma assembly.