The frog in the Well

In 1977, my student Chris Rixon quoted to me,

“The summer insect shall not know what the ice is,

The frog in the well shall not know the immensity of the sky,

It you see something strange and ignore it,

its strangeness will vanish.”

I have always given deep thought to the line, “The frog in the well shall not know the immensity of the sky.”

Patrul Rinpoche elaborates upon the line and tells the story of an old frog who had lived all his life in a dank well.  One day a frog from the sea paid him a visit.

“Where do you come from?” asked the frog in the well.

“From the great ocean,” he replied.

“How big is your ocean?”

“It’s gigantic.”

“You mean about a quarter of the size of my well here?”

“Bigger.”

“Bigger? You mean half as big?”

“No, even bigger.”

“Is it… as big as this well?”

“There’s no comparison.”

“That’s impossible! I’ve got to see this for myself.”

They set off together.  When the frog from the well saw the ocean, it was such a shock that his head just exploded into pieces.