The Story of
Angulimala
The Buddhist scriptures relate that
one day, after his meal, the Buddha went out from the monastery where he was
staying and walked towards a great forest. Seeing him going in that direction
various people working in their fields called out to him to warn him that in
that forest dwelt the dreaded Angulimala.
Little is known for certain about
Angulimala but the usual account of his life has him the son of a well-to-do
family and at one time a brilliant student at the University of Taxila, then
the Oxbridge of India.
At Taxila, other students were
jealous of him and succeeded in poisoning their teacher’s mind against him,
with the result that the teacher asked of him what he must have believed would
be an impossible honorarium, a thousand human right-hand little fingers.
Unbelievably, instead of giving up and quietly going home without graduating,
the young man set out to collect the fingers and pay the fee. Presumably, he
quickly discovered that people were reluctant to willingly give up their little
fingers and so he was forced to resort to violence and killing in order to
obtain them.
Then he found he had nowhere to
store these fingers. He tried hanging them on a tree but the birds stole them
so his solution was to string them around his neck. For this gruesome and
growing garland of bloody fingers he was nicknamed Angulimala which means
‘finger garland’ or ‘finger necklace’.
This was the man who, peering out
from his lair, spotted the Buddha coming towards him and who that day had round
his neck nine hundred and ninety-nine little fingers. This powerful and
athletic serial killer, who had already successfully resisted several attempts
to apprehend him, grabbed his weapons and dashed out to murder the Buddha and
complete his score.
He expected to easily overtake him
and quickly finish the job but then a very strange thing happened – even though
the Buddha was only walking, serene and unhurried, Angulimala, despite his
formidable strength and speed, found he couldn’t catch up with him. Eventually,
exhausted, angry, frustrated and soaked with sweat, Angulimala screamed at the
Buddha to stop.
Then the Buddha turned and with
neither anger or fear, speaking quietly and directly, he told Angulimala that
he, the Buddha, had already stopped. He had stopped killing and harming and now
it was time for him, Angulimala, to do likewise. Angulimala was so struck by
these words that there and then he stopped; he threw away his weapons and
followed the Buddha back to the monastery where he became a monk.
Later, the King, ignorant of what
had happened, came by leading his troops out to arrest Angulimala. Being a very
pious monarch, he called to pay his respects to the Buddha and to inform him of
what he was up to. The Buddha asked the King what his reaction would be were he
to discover that amongst this assembly of monks sat Angulimala.
To the King it was utterly
unbelievable that such a foul and evil person could now be a Buddhist monk and
seated amongst such exalted company, but were it the case, he answered, he
would certainly pay his respects and make offerings. Then the Buddha stretched
forth his right hand and, pointing, announced that there sat Angulimala.
When he’d mastered his fear and
recovered from the shock, the King, having paid his respects, said to the
Buddha how incredible it was that, “What we have tried to do by force and with
weapons you have done with neither force nor weapons!” In the course of time,
after a period of some trial to himself, Angulimala did eventually succeed in
purging his mind of all greed, hatred and delusion and realised for himself the
Buddhist goal of Enlightenment.
The story of Angulimala teaches us
that the possibility of Enlightenment may be awakened in the most extreme of
circumstances, that people can and do change and that people are best
influenced by persuasion and above all, example.
The Story of Poor Sopaka
There once was a boy by the name of
Sopaka, born to a very poor family. When this boy was only seven his father
died and his mother married another man who was very wicked and unkind. His new
stepfather always beat and scolded small Sopaka who was very kind, innocent and
good.
The stepfather thought, "This
boy is a nuisance, a good-for-nothing, but I cannot do anything to him because
his mother loves him so much. What shall I do about him?"
One evening he said, "Dear son,
let us go for a walk."
The boy was surprised and thought,
"My stepfather has never talked to me so kindly. Perhaps my mother has
asked him to be kind to me." So he happily went with his stepfather.
They walked to a cemetery where there
were many rotting bodies and the stepfather tied Sopaka to one of them, leaving
him alone and crying.
As the night became darker and darker
Sopaka's fear increased. He was alone in the cemetery and so frightened that
his hair stood on end and drops of sweat rolled down his body. The noises of
the jackals, tigers, leopards and other wild animals made him even more
frightened. Then, when he was almost paralysed with fear, he saw a shining
noble-looking person with a bright light coming towards him saying,
"Sopaka, don't cry. I am here to
help you, so don't fear." At that moment Sopaka broke his bonds and stood
before the Buddha in the Jetavana monastery. The Buddha bathed him, gave him
food to eat, cloths to wear and consoled and comforted him.
Meanwhile, on returning home, the
wicked stepfather was questioned by Sopaka's mother. "Where is my
son?" she asked. "I don't know," he replied, "he came home
before me." But the mother could not sleep the whole night for worrying
about her son.
Early next day she went to see the
Buddha for help. "Why are you crying, sister?" asked the Buddha.
"O Lord," replied the lady,
"I have only one son and since last night he has been missing. My husband
took Sopaka for a walk and the little boy never returned home."
"Don't worry, sister. Your son
is safe. Here he is." And so saying the Buddha showed her Sopaka, who had
become a monk. The mother was overjoyed to see her son again, and after
listening to the Buddha's teachings she too became a follower.
Sunita, the Scavenger
In Savatthi there was a scavenger named Sunita. He was a
road-sweeper and barely earned enough to feed himself. Sunita slept on the
roadside, for he did not have a house to go to. He saw other people enjoying
themselves but he could not mix with them because these people called him an
outcast. Whenever a higher caste person went on the road Sunita had to run and
hide so his shadow did not fall on them. If he was not quick enough he would be
scolded and beaten. Poor Sunita lived a miserable life.
One day, as he was sweeping a dirty, dusty road, Sunita saw
the Buddha with thousands of followers coming towards him. His heart was filled
with joy and fear and finding no place to hide he just stood, joining his palms
in respect. The Buddha stopped and spoke to poor Sunita in a sweet, gentle
voice saying, "My dear friend, would you like to leave this work and
follow me?"
Nobody had ever spoken to Sunita like this before. His heart
was filled with joy and his eyes with tears. "O, most venerable Sir, I
have always received orders but never a kind word. If you accept a dirty and
miserable scavenger like me I will follow you."
So the Buddha ordained Sunita and took him along with the
other monks. From that day forth no one knew what Sunita's caste was, and
nobody treated him with disgust and cruelty. Everybody, even kings, ministers
and commanders, respected him.
Kindness, sacrifice,
gratitude, wisdom and tolerance of the Buddha-External Degree Program-Bhiksu
University of Sri Lanka
Prince Siddhartha was very kind to people,
animals and other living things. He was also a very brave horseman and won many
prizes in the country. Although he did not have to suffer any hardships and
difficulties, as he had everything, he always thought of the poor people and
living things who were working hard to make him happy. He felt sorry for them
and wanted to make them happy too.
One day he was walking in the woods with his
cousin Devadatta, who had brought his bow and arrows with him. Suddenly,
Devadatta saw a swan flying and shot at it. His arrow brought the swan down.
Both the boys ran to get the bird. As Siddhartha could run faster than
Devadatta, he reached the swan's injured body first and found, to his surprise,
that it was still alive. He gently pulled out the arrow from the wing. He then
got a little juice from cool leaves, put it on the wound to stop the bleeding
and with his soft hand stroked the swan, which was very frightened. When
Devadatta came to claim the swan, Prince Siddhartha refused to give it to him.
Devadatta was very angry to see his cousin keeping the swan away from him.
"Give me my bird! I shot it down," said Devadatta.
"No, I am not going to give it to
you," said the Prince. "If you had killed it, it would have been
yours. But now, since it is only wounded but still alive, it belongs to
me."
Devadatta still did not agree. Then Siddhartha
suggested, "Let us go to the court of the Sage and ask him who really owns
the swan." Devadatta agreed, so off they went to the court of the Sage to
tell him about their quarrel.
The Sage hearing both boys' version of the
story, said, "A life certainly must belong to he who tries to save it, a
life cannot belong to one who is only trying to destroy it. The wounded swan by
right belongs to Siddhartha."
One day, the children’s nanny got very sick.
She was in great pain. Both Vishaka and Bimsara were very concerned. As soon as
they returned from school they went to see their nanny and helped her with
whatever they could. It is a very good quality to extend help when needed, for
a person who always helps others. The two children showed this quality of
gratitude. Both Mother and Father were very happy about the good qualities of
their children. That day after the evening worship, the mother praised her
children.
“My dear children, we are very happy about you.
Most parents are not blessed with kind-hearted children. Proud and lazy
children can be a burden to their families. If someone does not help a person
who has helped them, then that person will not develop the quality of
gratitude.”
“Mother, today we helped nanny to wash. She is
getting better now.
“Yes my children, that is very good! This
is the real offering to the Buddha. The Buddha discoursed “Yo gilanam
upattheiya, so man upattheyya” that means; if someone cares for a sick person,
he is the one who cares for Buddha.
Children, the Buddha highly appreciated
the kind act of nursing sick people. The Buddha liked to see everyone doing
well. That is why the Buddha is regarded as the greatest person ever to be born
in this world. King Dharmashoka who ruled India around two thousand three
hundred years ago built hospitals not only for humans but also for animals.
One day, the Buddha visited the temples with
bhikkhus. While observing each room of the bhikkhus’, the Buddha heard someone
moaning in pain. He stopped and listened. Then walked to the door of the room
where the sound was coming through, and opened it. A very strong smell of badly
festered wounds came out of the room. The Buddha went inside the room. An old
bhikkhu was lying on a bed. His body was covered with blisters and most of them
had burst and pus was oozing out along with blood. The Buddha went to him and
asked kindly “Dear bhikkhu, don’t you have anyone to care for you?”
Then that bhikkhu started to cry and said
“My dear lord Buddha… I made a big mistake. I never cared for my peer bhikkhus
when they got sick. I even failed to ask how they were doing. And I never
offered any medicine to those who were ill. I lived without caring for others.
When I heard their cries in pain, I pretended not to hear. Because of that, no
one cares for me now. ”
Then the Buddha called all the bhikkhus in that
temple. “Dear bhikkhus, when one falls sick; it is a must that you take care of
him. Especially, you who have severed all your family bonds, all your
relatives, friends, and properties and have become bhikkhus, you should be very
kind to each other. Never should you be selfish or work in isolation. If
someone likes to care for me, he should care for the sick. That is what I
like.”
Thereafter, the Buddha called disciple
Ananda; “Dear Ananda, please prepare some warm water. Take these robes and wash
them well. And dry them well. Hand over the warm water to me”.
Then Buddha gently sponged the body of
that sick bhikkhu with warm water. Then He softly wiped the body. Owing to the
pus and blood that oozed out from the wounds, the wearing robe of the sick
bhikkhu was glued to his body. Once his body was cleaned, the bhikkhu felt so
much comfort, and he felt very happy and his mind became calm.”
“Mother, the name of that sick bhikkhu
was Poothigattatissa, wasn’t it?
“Oh! Do you know the story?” asked
mother.
“Yes, Mother… The little bhikkhu at the
temple told this story to us on a full moon day.”
“Very good! You must remember what you learn like that.
Then the Buddha discoursed on Dhamma to bhikkhu Pootigattatissa. The bhikkhu
Pootigattatissa listened to Dhamma with total concentration. And he started contemplating
deeply in order to understand the meaning of Dhamma. Finally, he realized
Dhamma. Just after the Buddha left the temple, the bhikkhu Pootigattatissa,
while contemplating Dhamma with a calm and happy mind, passed away.
My children what we must understand is when
someone falls sick, not only his body but his mind too gets sick. Hence, he
gets hurt quickly. And he feels sad even for little things. He feels alone and
helpless. Therefore, we must always help the sick people to get better. We
should never expect anything in return for what we do for them. Then we could
cultivate a lot of merit in this world.
Once,
the Buddha was in an assembly when a man walked in looking furious. He thought
Buddha was doing something wrong. He was a restless businessman and he had
found that his children were spending hours with Buddha when they could have
engaged themselves in business at that time, making more and more money. He
felt that spending four hours of their day seated next to someone whose eyes
were always closed was incredulous. This was what had upset the
businessman.
So,
with furiousness walked straight up to Buddha looked him the eye and spat. He
was so angry, he could not find the words to express them that he merely spat
at Buddha. Buddha simply smiled. He showed no anger, though the disciples
around him were angry. They would have liked to react but could not because
Buddha was there. So, everybody was holding their lips and fists tight. After
the businessman spat at Buddha and realized his action was not drawing a
reaction, simply walked away in a huff.
Buddha
did not react or say anything. He just smiled. And that was enough to shock the
angry man. For the first time in his life, the man had met someone who would
just smile when he spat on his face. That man could not sleep all night and his
whole body underwent such a transformation. He was shivering, shaking. He felt
as if the whole world had turned upside down. The next day he went and fell at
Buddhas feet and said, please forgive me. I did not know what I did. To which
Buddha replied, I cannot excuse you!
Everyone
including the man and Buddhas disciples was flabbergasted. Buddha then
explained the reason for his statement. He said why I should forgive you when
you have done nothing wrong.
The businessman looked a little more surprised and told Buddha that it was he who had wronged him by spitting on him. Buddha simply said, Oh! That person is not there now. If I ever meet that person whom you spat on, I will tell him to excuse you. To this person who is here, you have done no wrong. That is real compassion.
The businessman looked a little more surprised and told Buddha that it was he who had wronged him by spitting on him. Buddha simply said, Oh! That person is not there now. If I ever meet that person whom you spat on, I will tell him to excuse you. To this person who is here, you have done no wrong. That is real compassion.
