In a mountain forest lived a little monkey. He was pure, simple and peaceful. He enjoyed and appreciated everything around him. Even if it was only a tree or a stone, he would still observe it with enthusiasm and sincerely praise Mother Nature: "How beautiful!" and "How wonderful!" Every creature in the forest, whether it was a fierce tiger or a delicate bird, was equally adorable to him.

One day, a fire broke out in the forest. The little monkey's parents told him to run for his life. On his way out of the forest, the little monkey thought of his favorite backpack and books, which had been left behind in the rush, so he turned back to find them. As he grabbed them and prepared to flee, he saw Grandma Raccoon, who was too weak to move any further. The little monkey could not just leave her and run for his own life, so he told the panic-stricken old raccoon to climb on his back so that he could carry her out of the fire.

As they were hurrying along, the little monkey heard someone crying out, "Help, somebody, help! Please help me out of here." The monkey found that it was a mole. The little monkey asked the mole, "How come you're still here? Why don't you escape before it's too late?"

"I can't see anything during the day," the mole answered. "I can only see clearly at night. So now I have no idea which way to go."

Without a second thought, the little monkey said, "Come on, get in my backpack. We'll leave together." Hearing that, the mole hopped straight into the backpack. With both Grandma Raccoon and the mole on his back, the little monkey kept on racing against the wind.

At the end of the road, they came to a steep cliff. The little monkey began to worry. "How can we safely get to the other side? What if we fall? We'll be smashed to pieces. What should I do now ?"

Seeing the flames approaching, the little monkey felt even more anxious. He raised his head and looked around. Suddenly, he noticed a pine tree standing right on the edge of the cliff. The little monkey came up with a brilliant idea. The pine tree's branches stretched out towards the opposite side. Maybe they were not quite long enough, but with the help of a vine they might still have a chance to swing over to the other side. The little monkey told Grandma Raccoon to hold him tight and the mole to stay in the backpack. Then, he pulled a vine and jumped with all his might. Sure enough, they made it.

Grandma Raccoon was deeply touched by what the little monkey had done. "Little monkey, how brave and compassionate you are! When the forest caught fire, nobody cared about anybody else but himself. But even though we had never met each other before, you were still willing to risk your life to rescue the mole and me. You are indeed the guardian angel of this mountain and a living bodhisattva among all creatures."

Pure, peaceful nature is shared by all living creatures. Even animals have wisdom and loving hearts. This inner moral nature can be the most beautiful place on earth so long as it is kept clean from the contamination of the Five Poisons.

The little monkey in this story, for example, marveled at every sound he heard and cherished every creature he saw as a masterpiece of nature. When disaster came, he was willing to risk his own life to save others. This is the true nature of living creatures.