Two beggars sit by the side of a small road that leads into a smaller village. One of them is tall. His name is Luo. One of them is short. His name is Yi. Neither one of them is fat. They are beggars, after all. Each wears robes that are ragged and threadbare. Each has a cracked alms-bowl in front of him. You have to have the best tools you can if you expect to do your job well. But despite their fine tools, no one gives the beggars any money.
Without money, the two beggars cannot buy the finer things in life. They cannot buy monkeys. They cannot buy elephants of either the African or Indian variety and they certainly cannot buy the pagodas that balance splendidly upon the elephants' broad backs. They cannot buy shape-changing robot battle-suits equipped for trans-galactic space travel or the beautiful alien pearls that power them.
Oh, and they can't buy food, either. Without food, the two beggars get very hungry. Soon, they are so hungry that they stop wanting money altogether. The Buddha might say this is a step towards Nirvana. Then again, he might not.
Up the road Luo and Yi see a monk in saffron robes. People give him food when they pass.
"Why do people give those monks food," Luo grumbles. His stomach grumbles, too.
Yi considers. "I think it's because people recognize the monk's Enlightenment and hope to touch that Enlightenment through charity, thereby bringing themselves a step closer on their own path to Nirvana."
"No," says Luo, "I don't think that's it. It must be because of his fine robes. People feel more comfortable around him because he's not dressed like a beggar. If we had his robes, people would give us food, too."
"Maybe you're right."
Luo and Yi attack the monk! The monk demonstrate his Enlightenment, but he's humble, so it's over quick. Luo and Yi are covered in bruises. The monk leaves. Yi says "that was a very enlightened monk." Luo just groans. Then they both pass out.
Unconscious, they dream. Yi dreams of a mouth-watering banquet. Luo dreams of a soaring hawk, strong and proud in its flight. In Luo's dream, the hawk gives forth an echoing cry.
The noise startles Yi awake. "What was that?"
Enlightenment!