Parables:
  The Spider Thread
  Mr. Makiguchi and Fudo Myo-o
  Taishaku and the Fine Feathered Bird
  A Little Priest Fable
  Shakyamuni and the Lovers
  The Parable of the Zither
  SuShi and the Buddhist Monk
  Wo and Jah
  Stonecutter (Tao of Pooh)
  The Dancing Monk and the Self-Denying Monk
  24 Hours To Die

Essays:
  The Jewel and the Genome
  Mantras of Kitties
  The Mantras of Other Beings
  The Wave Theory of Karma
  Water Karma
  Gandhi on Anger
  Buddhas' Footprints
  Connections
  The Great Wish, the DaiGohonzon, and the SGI
  The Gakkai Spirit

Humor:
  The Daimoku Parrot
  The Excommunicated Newlyweds
 
 

Taishaku and the Fine Feathered Bird 

Lord Taishaku* and his forces battled against the demon Asura's** army.  The battle turned in favor of Asura, and Taishaku's army scattered at the foot of Mount Sumeru — there they found the nest of a rare fine-feathered bird and heard a baby bird chirping inside it. 

If they advanced they would kill the baby bird, but Asura's solders were closing from behind. 

Taishaku shouted: "Turn back the carts and chariots; you must not kill the baby bird." Then he lead his astonished soldiers, wheeled around, and began to advance into the path of Asura's army. 

Asura and his soldiers were shocked by Taishaku's bold move. They began to retreat. Fear seized hold of Asura's army and it was easily routed.  Asura's soldiers vied with one another to be the first to escape. 

Asura's victory became a defeat. He and the remnants of his army fled to the safety of the Temple of Asura.

Taishaku won a great victory over Asura. 

(This story is from The Treasures of the Heart, p. 36, by Daisaku Ikeda) 

"It is not difficult to become a Buddha. A bird's egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts which form a bird, and can fly into the sky. We, too are like the egg, ignorant and base, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we develop the beak of the Buddha's thirty-two features and the feathers of his eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the skies of the ultimate reality." 
— From "Letter to Niike," Major Writings, Vol. 1

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* Taishaku (Indra) is a god in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. He is the God of Thunder living at the peak of Mt. Sumeru.  He is served by the Four Heavenly Kings and they all are represented on the Gohonzon (number 17 on the Gohonzon Diagram). 

** Asuras are demons who delight in harassing gods. The king of the Asuras appears on the old Nitattsu-transcribed Gohonzon.