The Parable of the Drowning Man

A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.

Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you."

The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me."

So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. "The fellow in the motorboat shouted, "Jump in, I can save you."

To this the stranded man said, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the motorboat went on.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!"

To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat, what more did you expect?"

This parable helps to verify that “Humans have thoughts and believe their thoughts. Humans would rather hold on to their beliefs than to know truth/reality.”

In this parable, the man represents all humans who believe and pray to God. The rowboat can represent Buddha, who awoke to reality and taught how to reduce suffering in the world. The motorboat can represent science and Charles Darwin who discovered that humans evolved from other animals. Even with these two ways (as well as many others), humans would rather hold on to their (incorrect) beliefs. 

All animals are inheriently selfish. Even when an animal shows great compassion for their baby/child, this occurs because the baby/child is seen as an extension of oneself. All animals have a number of limited senses and abilities that help them survive in a particular niche. Animal parents often taught their children the skills and beliefs needed to survive. As long as an animal could survive (eat, sleep, be merry) and procreate, that was good enough.

Prior to humans, no animal had the means or desire to know truth/reality beyond what they needed to survive for a year. Animals lacked the means since truth requires many lifetimes to buildup, verify, and to accurately pass on. Once humans could write down (or an accurate oral tradition) “facts/knowledge”, then gradually truth could be discerned from reality, over many generations. This is why truth/reality is so difficult to come by and why animals do not have it. A selfish animal is only concerned with itself, and truth/reality requires being concerned about how the whole world/universe operates.

For those who believe and pray to God, they believe that God is all powerful and creates all things. That would mean that if Buddha existed (he was a real historic man), then Buddha can represent the rowboat in the parable. Buddha taught the truth/reality of how to “save humans from suffering”. Yet the vast majority of humans who believe in God will say, “No thanks” to Buddhism. Over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin arrived with a motorboat and delivered the truth about humans descending from other animals, yet those who believe in God say, “No thanks” to the truth/reality of evolution.

In this way, God sent multiple ways for humans to be saved, yet humans with incorrect beliefs refused them and will not be saved. This is the problem when humans have thoughts and believe their thoughts without bothering to know the truth/reality (God). Like in the parable, humans “never got in” so were not saved (and will be going extinct).