From the Pure Land where he dwelled, the Buddha lowered a single spider’s thread down into hell where Kandata suffered. When Kandata looked up he unexpectedly found the spider’s thread dangling in front of his eyes. If I climb this thread, Kandata thought, I might be able escape from this dreaded hell! He carefully grasped the thin thread with both hands. When he found that thin as it was, it did not break, he quickly began climbing it.

After climbing for a while, Kandata became tired and decided to rest. Looking down, he saw hell far below him. Ah! Kandata thought, all I have to do is climb just a little more and I’ll get out of here! “Great! Great!”

At that same moment, however, Kandata became aware of the multitudes of evil beings like himself who were trapped in hell, following him up the spider’s thread. There were so many they looked liked ants climbing the thread to which he was holding on for dear life. The thread was so delicate that he wasn’t sure it would support him… how much less would it support all the others following him?! If that thread broke, not only he, but all the others would fall back into hell!

“Hey!” Kandata yelled to those below him. “This is my thread! Get off! Get off!”

That was the moment when, just above where he was holding it, the spider’s thread broke and Kandata and all the others fell back into hell.

There’s no doubt that Kandata was an evil person. And because he was, it was only natural for him to fall into hell. But when a way for him to escape appeared before him, he ruined his opportunity because he had no concern for others. Shouting to those following him, “This is my thread!” is what ruined his chance to escape hell. He was, after all, a person who thought only of benefitting himself.

What is most important about this story is comparing Kandata’s attitude with ours. Can we say we are better than Kandata? Would we be able to act differently if we were in a similar situation? I believe that was the deep introspection of the writer, Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

Because of deep introspection into his true nature, the Venerable Master is quoted as saying in Article 13 of “Notes Lamenting Differences”:

If the karmic cause so prompts us, we will commit any kind of act.

What this tells us is that we don’t know what sort of evil we will commit when confronted with similar causes and conditions.

And as Master Rennyo is quoted as saying in Article 195 of “Heard and Recorded”:

We clearly see the faults of others but rarely our own.