Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50
Once upon a time, King Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, in northern India. The Enlightenment Being was born as his son the prince. Being quite intelligent, he completed his entire education by the age of sixteen. So, at this early age, his father made him second in command.
In those days, most people in Benares worshipped gods. They were very superstitious. They thought gods caused things to happen to them, rather than being results of their own actions. So they would pray to these gods and ask special favours. They would ask for a lucky marriage, or the birth of a child or riches or fame.
They would promise the gods that, if their prayers were answered, they would pay them by making offerings to them. In addition to flowers and perfumes, they imagined the gods desired the sacrifice of animals. So, when they thought the gods had helped them, they killed many animals — goats, lambs, chickens, pigs and others.
The prince saw all this and thought, “These helpless animals are also subjects of the king, so I must protect them. The people commit these unwholesome acts due to ignorance and superstition. This cannot be true religion. For true religion offers life as it really is, not killing. True religion offers peace of mind, not cruelty.
“I fear these people believe in their superstitions too strongly to give them up. This is very sad. But perhaps their beliefs can at least be put to good use. Some day I will become king. So I must begin to make a plan to let their superstitions help them. If they must offer sacrifices, let them kill their own greed and hatred, instead of these helpless animals! Then the whole kingdom will benefit.”
So the prince devised a clever long term plan. Every so often, he rode in his grand chariot to a popular banyan tree just outside the city. This was a huge tree, where the people prayed and made offerings to a god they thought lived there. The prince came down from his chariot and made the same offerings as the others — incense, flowers, perfumes and water — but not animal sacrifices.
In this way he made a great show, and the news spread about his offerings. Pretty soon, all the people thought he was a true believer in the great god of the banyan tree.
In due time, King Brahmadatta died and his son became king. He ruled as a righteous king, and the people benefited. So all his subjects came to trust and respect him as a just and honourable king.
Then one day, he decided it was the right time to carry out the rest of his plan. So he called all the leading citizens of Benares to the royal assembly hall. He asked them, “Worthy ministers and loyal subjects, do you know how I was able to make sure that I would become king?” No one could answer.
He said, “Do you remember that I often gave wonderful sweet offerings to the great god of the banyan tree?” “Yes, our lord,” they said.
The king continued, “At each of those times, I made a promise to the powerful god of the tree. I prayed, ‘Oh mighty one, if you make me King of Benares, I will offer a special sacrifice to you, far greater than flowers and perfumes.’
“Since I am now the king, you all can see for yourselves that the god has answered my prayers. So now I must keep my promise and offer the special sacrifice.”
All those in the assembly hall agreed. They said, “We must prepare this sacrifice at once. What animals do you wish to kill?”
The king said, “My dear subjects, I am glad you are so willing to cooperate. I promised the great god of the banyan tree that I would sacrifice anyone who fails to practice the Five Training Steps. That is, anyone who destroys life, takes what is not given, does wrong in sexual ways, speaks falsely, or loses his mind from alcohol. I promised that, if any do these things, I will offer their guts, and their flesh and blood on the great god’s altar!”
Being so superstitious, all those in the hall agreed that this must be done, or the god would surely punish the king and the kingdom.
The king thought, “Ah, such is the power of superstition that these people have lost all common sense! They cannot see that, since the first training step is to give up killing, if I sacrificed one of my subjects, I would be next on the altar! And such is the power of superstition that I could make such a promise, and never have to carry it out!”
So, with full confidence in the power of superstition, the king said to the leading citizens, “Go into all the kingdom and announce the promise I made to the god. Then proclaim that the first one-thousand who break any of the training steps will have the honour of being sacrificed, to keep the king’s promise.”
Lo and behold, the people of Benares became famous for carefully practising the Five Training Steps. And the good king, who knew his subjects so well, sacrificed no one.
The moral is: Sacrifice your own wrong doing, not some helpless animal.
50. The Prince Who Had a Plan [The Power of Superstition]
Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that emphasizes living in harmony with the natural world and embracing simplicity. Its teachings have had a significant impact on both Eastern and Western cultures, including the field of psychology. One prominent figure in psychology who was influenced by Taoism is Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology.
Jung’s complex concept of “the Self” is one of his most significant contributions to psychology. The Self represents the totality of an individual’s psyche, including both conscious and unconscious elements. According to Jung, the Self is the goal of the individuation process, a lifelong journey of self-discovery and personal growth.
In ancient China, there were eight prominent figures in Taoism, and Lu Dongbin was the most popular one. Besides being a renowned Taoist, he was also a skilled poet and scholar. Throughout history, many legendary stories and folk tales have been told about him.
One interesting story was recorded in a Buddhist book called JiaTai Pu Deng Lu (嘉泰普灯录), which has also been documented in several other books, including XinShi Heng Yan (醒世恒言). Although there are some variations, the main points of the story remain the same. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III also told this story in his dharma discourse: Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
Once, Lu Dongbin asked his master, “Master, why did you only save me for a thousand years?”
His master replied, “It’s difficult to teach all living beings. People’s habits are deeply ingrained, and they constantly change. Most living beings find it challenging to learn our Taoism.”
Lu Dongbin countered, “Master, I disagree. We are powerful beings. Are we afraid it will be difficult to liberate them? Let me go down and liberate people for you. I will free a thousand souls every year.”
His master warned, “You may go down to Earth, but be careful not to provoke the monks. Some cannot be trifled with.”
Lu Dongbin descended from the South Gate of Heaven on an auspicious cloud and saw the golden light of Huanglong Temple in Shanghai, China. Zen Master Huanglong was teaching the Heart Sutra and explaining Prajna principles. Lu Dongbin decided to listen in and transformed himself into a fly, sticking to the door.
However, Zen Master Huanglong was a powerful monk who knew Lu Dongbin was eavesdropping. He stopped teaching and instructed his attendant to remove the “person who stole our Dharma.”
Enraged, Lu Dongbin revealed his true form, brandishing his Qingfeng sword and accusing Zen Master Huanglong of insulting him. Lu Dongbin told Zen Master: “I am the great Taoist Immortal LU Dongbin.” Huanglong found it amusing and called Lu Dongbin a “ghoul guard” who would eventually die in vain.
Lu Dongbin drew his sword, but Zen Master Huanglong remained unperturbed, blocking the sword with his sleeve. Lu Dongbin knelt before the Zen master, feeling ashamed.
Huanglong proceeded to teach Lu Dongbin sudden enlightenment dharma, explaining that “speech is cut off, and mind is silenced.” As a god, Lu Dongbin was able to grasp the teaching quickly and had an epiphany.
After his enlightenment, Lu Dongbin wrote a gatha containing the line, “Since I met Huanglong, I realized that I mistakenly used my mind in the past.”
In Buddhist teachings, it is said that even the highest Taoist practitioner can reach heaven, but still remain in the realm of the birth and death cycle. However, if one can realize and abide in the original nature, then they can break through this cycle and achieve liberation. The original nature refers to the pure dharma body of all sentient beings within the three spheres of existence (triloka), which is united with the universe. It has no form, shape, physical body, or appearance. All living beings possess this original nature equally, which is the same as the dharma body of the Tathagata or dharmakaya. It neither comes nor goes, and is neither excessive nor lacking. It is immaculate, free from any notion of cleanliness or dirtiness.
Su Shi was a prominent figure during the Song Dynasty, renowned for his literary, artistic, calligraphic, pharmaceutical, and political contributions. He was also one of the most notable poets of his era and was known by his courtesy name, Zizhan, and his pseudonym, Dongpo Jushi (東坡居士 “Resident of Dongpo”). Su Dong Po is the commonly used name to refer to him.
In the realm of Chinese literature, Su Shi is widely recognized as a highly accomplished figure, having produced some of the most well-known poems, lyrics, prose, and essays.
Su Dongpo was a close friend of an esteemed monk named Foyin, and the two often practiced Zen meditation together. There were many stories about the two.
Buddha and Cow Dung
One day, Su Shi decided to play a prank on his good friend Foyin. He asked him, “What do I look like in your eyes?”
Foyin replied, “In my eyes, you look like a Buddha.”
Su Shi then asked, “Do you know what you look like in my eyes?” Foyin replied that he did not know.
Su Shi gleefully exclaimed, “In my eyes, you look like a pile of cow dung!”
Upon returning home, Su Shi shared his victory with his younger sister, Su Xiaomei. However, she frowned upon hearing this and told her brother that he had lost the exchange. She explained that if a person has Buddha in their heart, they will see the Buddha’s qualities in everything around them. Conversely, if a person has impure thoughts and feelings, they will see everything as dirty and unpleasant. She pointed out that Foyin’s heart was pure, while Su Shi’s was not.
Eight winds and a Fart
Su Dongpo was not only a renowned literary figure but also a Buddhist disciple who regularly practiced meditation.
One day, after a particularly serene meditation session, Su Shi felt that he had made a significant realization. He decided to capture his experience in a poem, which read, “Sitting still on the lotus platform, even the eight winds cannot move me.”
Curious about the authenticity of his realization, Su Shi asked his servant to deliver the poem to Zen Master Foyin, who resided in the Jinshang Temple across the river.
Upon receiving the poem, the Zen Master smiled and wrote two large characters on a piece of paper, which he instructed the servant to take back to Su Dongpo.
Excited to receive feedback from the Zen Master, Su Dongpo eagerly unfolded the paper, hoping to see praise for his state of practice.
However, instead of receiving the expected validation, Su Dongpo was infuriated to see the two characters “fart” written on the paper. Without hesitation, he boarded a boat and crossed the river to confront Zen Master Foyin.
When Su Dongpo arrived at the Jinshan Temple, he found the Zen Master waiting for him on the shore. In a loud and accusatory tone, Su Dongpo asked, “Great monk! You and I are best friends. If you don’t appreciate my poems and my practice, it’s fine. How can you slander me?”
The Zen Master remained unperturbed and asked, “How did I slander you?”
Su Dongpo then showed him the word “fart” written in the poem.
The Zen Master burst into laughter and exclaimed, “Ah! Didn’t you say ‘Eight winds cannot move you’? How come just one fart was enough to blow you over the river?”
The “Eight Winds” refer to the eight worldly concerns: gain and loss, honor (fame) and disgrace (dishonor or infamy), praise and ridicule (censure, blame or criticism), pleasure and suffering (pain). Eight situations that normally preoccupy and sway unrealized people. To be unmoved by these Eight winds is a mark of a true buddhist practitioner.
Once upon a time, there was a rich family living in Benares, in northern India. They arranged for their son to marry a good and honest girl from a nearby village. Being very pretty as well, they were sure they could not find a better wife for their son.
The groom’s family decided on a date for the wedding. The bride’s family agreed to meet them in the village on the wedding day.
Meanwhile, the rich family also had their own special astrological priest. When he found out they had picked the wedding day, without paying him to consult the stars, he became angry. He decided to get even with them.
When the wedding day arrived, the astrological priest dressed up in his finest robes, and called the family together. He bowed to them all, and then looked at his star charts very seriously. He told them that this star was too close to the horizon, and that planet was in the middle of an unlucky constellation, and the moon was in a very dangerous phase for having a wedding. He told them that, not seeking his advice, they had picked the worst day of the year for a wedding. This could only lead to a terrible marriage.
The frightened family forgot all about the wonderful qualities of the intended bride, and remained home in Benares.
Meanwhile the bride’s family had arranged everything for the village wedding ceremony. When the agreed upon hour arrived, they waited and waited for the future husband and his family. Finally they realized they were not coming. So they thought, “Those city people picked the date and time, and now they didn’t show up. This is insulting! Why should we wait any longer? Let our daughter marry an honourable and hard working village man.” So they quickly arranged a new marriage and celebrated the wedding.
The next day, the astrological priest said that, suddenly, the stars and planets and moon were in perfect positions for a wedding! So the Benares family went to the village and asked for the wedding to take place. But the village people said, “You picked the date and time. Then you disgraced us by not showing up!”
The city people replied, “Our family priest told us that yesterday the stars and planets and moon were in terrible positions. It was a very unlucky day for a wedding. But he has assured us that today is a most lucky day. So please send us the bride at once!”
The village family said, “You have no honour. You have made the choice of the day more important than the choice of the bride. It’s too late now! Our daughter has married another.” Then the two families began to quarrel heatedly.
A wise man happened to come along. Seeing the two families quarrelling he tried to settle the dispute.
The city people told him that they had respected the warnings of their astrological priest. It was because of the unlucky positions of the stars and planets and moon, that they had not come to the wedding.
The wise man said, “The good fortune was in the bride, not in the stars. You fools have followed the stars and lost the bride. Without your foolishness, those far off stars can do nothing!”
The moral is: Luck comes from actions, not from stars.
On weekday mornings, I hurriedly drive my son to school. Trying to beat the traffic and catch as many green lights as possible, the drive is usually a blur. One particular morning’s drive changed my perspective. While rushing down a wide arterial road, my son exclaimed to me that the trees on the sidewalk looked very beautiful.
Glancing over to the trees, I suddenly noticed the vibrant reds and yellows of the leaves clinging onto branches or drifting onto the sidewalk as the wind blew. Despite driving down this street every morning, in my hurry I had not noticed the changing colors of the trees until now, nearly the end of fall. The bright hues of the fall foliage was absolutely beautiful. This nature beauty made me slowing down my daily past pace. I feel the healing power of nature relaxing my tense nerves, and filled my heart with joy, peace, and harmony.
As I admired the scenery on the commute, I felt how wonderful it was to be present in the moment. I realized that oftentimes we lose sight of the little elements of natural beauty that are all around us. Life can be hectic, but we must make a conscious effort to enjoy the omnipresent beauty of our world.
A poem by a ancient Zen Master came to my mind:
Blossoms in Spring, Breezes in Summer, Glorious moons in Fall, and Snow in Winter. When one is not held back by nothing, Every moment can be wonderful.
Eggs are an essential part of a good breakfast. There are countless ways to prepare them, but not all recipes are made equal. I used to cook omelettes for the family, but recently I learned that hard boiled eggs are actually a better choice. Hard boiled egg can keep more nutrients from the egg and avoid extra oil.
The only problem is, peeling a hard boiled egg is a rather arduous task. The shell and egg white absolutely refuse to be parted. Usually, the peeled egg ends up looking kind of like the moon, full of craters and lumps and whatnot. This morning, I got very frustrated trying to peel my hard boiled egg. It felt like the shell and egg white were superglued together. Even my mother’s old trick of placing the boiled eggs into cold water didn’t seem to work. After my first peeled egg ended up looking like a misshapen golf ball, I was ready to throw them all onto the floor.
Fortunately, I am a Buddhist disciple, and I remembered one of the most important things I’d learned: patience. I told myself, as a student of the Buddha who cultivates myself everyday, why am I still so easily distressed by outside events?
So I decided to let myself calm down for a while. I left the eggs in the cold water and went off to relax. After maybe fifteen minutes, I returned to give making breakfast another shot. Surprisingly, the shell peeled off easily this time. I realized that by being patient and giving the eggs more time to cool down, it was now much easier to complete my task. So when annoying things happen, we must first be patient. Let it all cool down, and things will be much easier to deal with.
Patient means embracing yourself and all things around you with gentleness and kindness, and doing so will get happy and more productive results.
Recently I have read a book titled Revealing the Truth, in which there is one chapter called A Vicious Demon and Formidable Beast. It is an unexpectedly frightening chapter, almost like a horror movie. As a buddhist disciple, I totally believe in the law of cause and effects. We need to abstain from anything that is evil, do everything that is good, and use the correct understanding and views to cultivate. Don’t violate any of the precepts, otherwise you will end in miserable retribution. After reading the book, I completely believe that the true and original Dharma transmitted by Sakyamuni Buddha and Dorje Chang Buddha III can defeat any demon or evil spirit.
There was a rinpoche brother who claimed that he was a reincarnation of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and cheated living beings everywhere he went. He deluded many people to put up everything they had as offerings for him, causing problems in many families. Since he had seriously violated the precepts, the Buddha Master sternly reprimanded him a number of times. However, he ignored all that and even dared to lie to the Buddha Master (H.H.Dorje Chang Buddha III).
Because his conduct of swindling and bluffing was so bad that it caused many living beings to suffer, eventually dharma protectors had to inform him that he was going to meet with a miserable and menacing retribution. He was then captured by order of the Yama King and died miserably. He became a blood-flashing vicious ghost. In order to lessen his sins and dark karmas, and also for the purpose of educating and transforming two persons who were masters and had the same behaviors, a group of people who were involved in the endeavor of propagating Buddha-dharma and saving living beings including dharma kings, rinpoches, dharma masters, and others were asked to confront this blood-flashing vicious ghost, evil demon Nuori, to gain practical experience. Therefore, the Buddha Master ordered dharma protectors to arraign this evil demon to the home base to be educated and transformed. After that, what had been a very auspicious backyard became a gloomy dark forest. Its horror was beyond description.
In the afternoon of that day, the Buddha Master was setting up an altar In the backyard. Out of curiosity, I stayed right by the Buddha Masters side. When the Buddha Master took out a photo of this vicious ghost taken after his death, I was very scared, “That is so horrible” The eyes in the photo had been closed originally but were now insidiously and ruthlessly opened into a slit. The eyes were also moving and he gave me a treacherous cunning smile, as if he were about to eat me. I hurriedly diverted my eyes away and dared not look at the photo anymore. My whole body was trembling with goose bumps swelling up all over. If you just took a look, the formidable image would immediately be imprinted into your memory and could no longer be removed.
The Buddha Master was going to tell dharma protectors to send Nuori’s spirit to the home base. I hid myself behind the Buddha Master, because that was the only safe place. The Buddha Master suddenly spoke, “Attention! He is coming!” Right after that, a round of gloomy, miserable, and terrifying ghost howling was heard from a distance of about two or three miles and then arrived with unimaginably fast speed right in front of me at the next instant. Meanwhile, a strong gloomy wind blew over, causing tree leaves to drop down all over the place. Now this vicious ghost was captured and brought back. The eyes in the photo were blinking, and I felt as if some accomplice of his had arrived as well! At this time, the temperature had a big sudden drop of more than ten degrees. This garden that had previously been filled with warmth, comfort, elegance, auspiciousness, and peace changed completely. The shadow of the ghost emitting blue light with the after-death desolation, terror, and gloom appeared in the backyard garden every night.
Only the Buddha Master could walk there freely. No one else dared to get close. From then on, we formed groups when walking in there and dared not move around alone. When the evening was about to come, we would withdraw from the backyard spontaneously. Even during daytime, no one dared stay there alone. There was a strong gloomy and pressing air that made people feel suffocated. That atmosphere tended to make people want to run away immediately without staying for even one moment. Even the dog Jie Ben who had used to love playing in the backyard garden day and night now dared not go there during the day. Additionally every time the Buddha Master called it to get in there, right after the Buddha Master finished talking, he would run back to the front living room immediately. Then he would hide his tail while his limbs trembled at a very high frequency. The photo of that vicious ghost was put on the altar set up within the gloomy dark woods. It was very startling that the horrible eyes seemed to be staring at your beating heart, as if he was ready to assault you with his claws reaching out to scoop out your heart.
The Buddha Master intended to use this reality to educate and transform venerable ones, dharma kings, rinpoches, and dharma masters into abstaining from everything that is evil, doing everything that is good, and using correct understanding and views to cultivate, learn Buddhism, and to treat cultivators. Of course, it was also for educating and transforming me. Therefore, some people were arranged to go to this altar in the evening to meet with the ghost and obtain an experience in person. The blood-flashing vicious ghost made a vow at the time of his death. He was going to find those disciples who violated the precepts like him and did not listen to the Buddha Master’s teaching to let these people know the eventual outcome of violating the precepts. This would be his way of creating merit to offset his sins.
When the Buddha Master led a disciple walking to the front of the altar, a golden leopard with a body length of more than two meters suddenly appeared from where the photo was on the altar. It opened its mouth to show its sharp teeth and put up a pose to launch a leaping assault. The Buddha Master gave an order, “Bad beast! Don’t go wild!” Immediately, a black leopard appeared by the Buddha Master’s side. It was even fiercer. The two leopards then confronted each other. Step by step, the black leopard eventually forced the golden leopard to go away. This scene was already scary enough. What happened next was even tenser because, after the Buddha Master led the disciple to the altar, the Buddha Master would leave the site. The disciple would be left there alone to practice the dharma. The Buddha Master would not be with the disciple.
When dharma assembles were held in the past, people would all try to get ahead to secure an opportunity to attend. This time, however, no one volunteered to go. People all wanted to shy away from this event and were afraid of hearing their names called to confront the ghost.
Even the phrase “rounds of merciless gloomy winds” was not sufficient to describe the atmosphere at the site. The originally calm woods now suddenly had gusty winds everywhere, blowing tree leaves with the sounds of “Shua Shua!” The photo of the the blood-flashing vicious ghost that had been laid flat there jumped up all of a sudden and stood upright. Even the sound of opening a coffin could be heard. Amid the crying and howling of ghosts under a sky without the moon and stars, a shrill yelling was heard. The next moment, the blood-flashing vicious ghost was walking out of the photo. People who had participated in this event all said that it was really very dreadful. Some were so terrified as to pee their pants wet. Some were too scared to walk and were shivering all over.
When Brother Gongla Rinpoche saw the ghost walking out of the photo and leaping toward him, he used the Vajra rice empowered by the Buddha Master to shoot at the ghost with a form called “Scattering Blooms by a Heavenly Lady” that he learned while he was still in high school. That did beat the blood-flashing vicious ghost to the ground. The brother then went forward to check if the ghost was dead. While he bowed down to look at the ghost’s face, this vicious ghost unexpectedly spit out a mouthful of poisonous corpse water that was extremely foul smelling. The brother’s facial features immediately became deformed and dislocated. Seeing his deformed and dislocated facial features, other people were also very scared.
When her turn came, Sister Huei-Chin Yang wanted to console the demonic ghost. She prepared a big piece of fried crispy pork chop to offer to him. She thought that the outcome might be a little better. As soon as the pork chop was put down, the ghost quickly rushed out of the photo and swallowed the pork chop with bone in one gulp. Sister Huel-Chin Yang was scared and trembling all over. Moreover, she was not forgiven either. The ghost blew a mouthful of poisonous corpse vapor toward her, distributing the fetid smell all over her body. She immediately started to wash herself with water from the swimming pool. However, the stinking smell could not be washed away.
There was also Brother Venerable Xirao Jiebu. He carried the Vajra rice empowered by the Buddha Master and entered the site by himself. The photo of the the blood-flashing vicious ghost suddenly jumped up to stand on the ghost’s platform and began to walk forward. Brother Xirao Jiebu threw the Vajra rice toward him and loudly chanted the Buddha Master’s mantra. The Buddha Master knew that the situation was dangerous and rescued Brother Xirao Jiebu right away. Then the Buddha Master drew a circle on the lawn and told Brother Xirao Jiebu not to get out of the circle. At this time, the vicious ghost transformed into a golden leopard at a distance of a little over three meters from Brother Xirao Jiebu and was getting ready to eat him. At this extremely crucial moment, Brother Xirao Jiebu sat up inside the circle and threw the Vajra rice toward the outside. As the situation was becoming extremely dangerous, the Buddha Master appeared again. Then the golden leopard got scared and fled in panic.
Dharma king brother Muya Jiongzha also gave this testimony, “The blood-flashing vicious ghost was really scary. I clearly heard his miserable howling coming from a place very, very far away. Then he came before me very quickly in just one or two seconds. Gusty winds were blowing with sands flying and rocks rolling. The picture stood up and walked. Even the image on the picture suddenly became bigger with a cunning and creepy smile. The eyes opened and blood was flowing down from the corner of his mouth. He suddenly leaped towards me. If I had not had the Vajra rice to resist him, I could definitely have been eaten alive. I can say that no one could have kept himself or herself from being extremely horrified in such a situation.” In addition to the others mentioned, Great Dharma Master XiangeQiongwa had a confrontation with the ghost as well. He and Venerable Xirao Jiebu and Dharma King Muya longha were all highly capable masters of the Nyingma Sect. However, they were all defeated.
Fellow brothers and sisters who had confronted the blood-flashing vicious ghost also included harma King Palden Lodoe, Master Long Hui, Baima Dorie Chuomu Rinpoche, Hangila Rinpoche, Luoben Rinpoche, Cacon Di Rinpoche, Layperson Weicheng, and others. They all said that the horror of the ghost could not be described in words. His demonic power was too strong and too vigorous. If not protected by the Buddha Master, I thought none of them would have been able to get out of the gloomy dark forest alive!
At one night during this period, the Buddha Master suddenly told us to bring flashlights and led us to the backyard. Using the flashlights, we unexpectedly discovered many wild beasts there. Because they were somewhat far away, the animals seemed to be mountain lions, leopards, sable wolves, and nine-tailed foxes. When they saw us coming, they all jumped out of the swimming pool to the ground. In such a situation, we had to be led by the Buddha Master. Otherwise, with a probability of eight or nine out of ten, we would have been eaten by the wild beasts. At this time, we used flashlights to illuminate the surrounding trees. Doing so made us terrified. Actually the beasts did not leave. Rather, they were not far from us and were on the trees, on the wall, on the ground, and on the roof. In different types of body profile and as fierce as tigers and wolves, they were peeking at us. We decided to set up video cameras there during the day so these animals could be videotaped at night. When we played the video recordings, what actually appeared in the videos were snow leopards and panthers. There were many of them. They were happily inhabiting and playing on the deck. However, It was strange that they were completely out of sight during the day. Where did they come from and where did they go? None of us knew.
After the arrival of the leopards, we closed the door to the backyard garden rather early before dusk every day. However, at night, we could still hear them jumping from the roof to the deck. One day, a leopard even showed up in the front yard before dark. Several brothers saw it on the roof above a room. It was a little after five o’clock in the afternoon, before the sky had turned dark, that made us very scared. Every time we went to the front yard to get something, we had to look around in all directions and were still terror stricken.
This situation, keeping us in fear, lasted a few months. Eventually, the time came when the vicious ghost was to be sent away. Before entering sleep that night in a half-dream and half-awake state, I saw large iron-fence cage drop down from above to cover him completely. At the same moment, I also heard the sound of his forceful struggling and yelling, “Buddha Master! I, the disciple, will correct myself. I will be a good ghost who does not harm people! I will definitely cultivate myself!” To this day, I am still unable to forget his voice. The next day, the Buddha Master led us to hold a ceremony for the demonic ghost, to see him off. I sensed that he was restrained with handcuffs and fetters. He was escorted onto a prison van and left. Alas! Abstain from everything that is evil and do everything that is good. Brother in the past and vicious ghost at present, I wish that you rest in peace and cultivate well after paying for your retributions.
After sending away the blood-flashing vicious ghost, mountain lions and leopards also vanished. However, they left lots of urine and feces in the backyard for us to clean up. Also, one or two of them had died there because we found their skeletons in the corners one or two years later. The home base finally returned to its prior auspiciousness. However, not long after that, we found five newborn infant leopards inside a tent in the backyard garden. Good Heavens! A female leopard gave birth to five infant leopards here. Now we would be in misery! None of us had the experience of taking care of leopards. Fortunately, this was a false alarm. They were five newborn black kittens. Since the mother cat was too weak, the kittens suffered malnutrition. In the end, only three survived. One fee it was sent to another place. The other two were named Xiao Ding Mad”and Black Rose perspectively. They were kept at the home base and became members of our family.
The dharma kings, rinpoches, and dharma masters who underwent the confrontation also wrote about their personal experiences at the site in order to bear witness to the truth of these events. Those who participated include Dharma King Palden Lodoe, Ga Chong Di Rinpoche, Great Dharma Master Xiangge Qiongwa, Venerable Xirao Jiebu, Great Master Long Hui, Baima Dorje Cuomu Rinpoche, Layper. son Yang Huei-Chin, Dharma King Muya Jongzha, Jiangjia Rinpoche, Loben Rinpoche, Layperson Weicheng, and Gongla Rinpoche. Their hand-written manuscripts are still kept. I personally read the handwritten manuscripts they wrote. What I wrote in this chapter was just a brief account. Their writings were very complete. To prove their truthfulness, they all took oaths against very severe consequences.
Actually, their oaths were not even necessary. I myself experienced this event too. The experience of this event gave many people a good education. However, based on what I knew, two of them still did not learn from this lesson and could not correct much of their bad habits. The Buddha Master already made the greatest effort to educate and transform them and was also very concerned about the difficulties they faced for liberation and accomplishment. Actually, this fact was quite normal. Among the disciples taught and transformed by Sakyamuni Buddha at that time, some cultivated correctly but others degenerated.
This dharma assembly made me deeply understand a fact. Throughout thousands of years, only my Buddha Master, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, and Sakyamuni Buddha could be regarded as utmost supreme. Which of the dharma kings and venerable ones of esoteric Buddhism or foremost masters of exoteric Buddhism in history had such capabilities? There were no extremely great holy ones who had such truly great Buddha-dharma among them!
Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50
Once upon a time, King Brahmadatta had a very wise adviser who understood the speech of animals. He understood what they said, and he could speak to them in their languages.
One day the adviser was wandering along the riverbank with his followers. They came upon some fishermen who had cast a big net into the river. While peering into the water, they noticed a big, handsome fish following his pretty wife.
Her shining scales reflected the morning sunlight in all the colors of the rainbow. Her feather-like fins fluttered like the delicate wings of a fairy, as they sent her gliding through the water. It was clear that her husband was so entranced by the way she looked and the way she moved, that he was not paying attention to anything else!
As they came near the net, the wife fish smelled it. Then she saw it and alertly avoided it at the very last moment. But her husband was so blinded by his desire for her, that he could not turn away fast enough. Instead, he swam right into the net and was trapped!
The fishermen pulled in their net and threw the big fish onto the shore. They built a fire and carved a spit to roast him on.
Lying on the ground, the fish was flopping around and groaning in agony. Since the wise adviser understood fish talk, he translated for the others. He said, “This poor fish is madly repeating over and over again:
“My wife! My wife! I must be with my wife! I care for her much more than for my life!
‘My wife! My wife! I must be with my wife! I care for her much more than for my life!”
The adviser thought, “Truly this fish has gone crazy. He is in this terrible state because he became a slave to his own desire. And it is clear that he has learned nothing from the results of his actions. If he dies keeping such agony, and the desire that caused it, in his mind, he will surely continue to suffer by being reborn in some hell world. Therefore, I must save him!”
So this kind man went over to the fishermen and said, “Oh my friends, loyal subjects of our king, you have never given me and my followers a fish for our curry. Won’t you give us one today?”
They replied, “Oh royal minister, please accept from us any fish you wish!” “This big one on the riverbank looks delicious,” said the adviser. “Please take him, sir,” they said.
Then he sat down on the bank. He took the fish, who was still groaning, into his hands. He spoke to him in the language only fish can understand, saying, “You foolish fish! If I had not seen you today, you would have gotten yourself killed. Your blind desire was leading you to continued suffering. From now on, do not let yourself be trapped by your own desires!”
Then the fish realized how fortunate he was to have found such a friend. He thanked him for his wise advice. The minister released the lucky fish back into the river and went on his way.
The moral is: Fools are trapped by their own desires.
GuanShiYin (Avalokiteshvara) Bodhisattva is a well-known Buddhism figure in China and southeastern Asian. There are many different kinds of status and portraits of Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva in the world. The most legendary one is one thousand-armed and one thousand-eyed form.
The Bodhisattva is personified as the symbol of compassion, and is frequently mentioned as the god of mercy who will help anybody who finds himself in trouble mentally or physically. He can infallibly eradicate all mundale sufferings. In order to achieve his ends, he can assume various forms, According to the text Karandavyuha Sutra he manifests all possible forms of life for the sake of ignorant and to bring liberation to living. It says: “As different people belonged to different faiths, this compassionate Bodhisattva was obliged to assume the shape of all gods of all faiths.”
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, in front of Buddha Amitabha made to commitment to intentionally manifest into the three realms of Samsara in order to harrow the depths; that is to say, in order to stir from depths and completely liberate all sentient beings from samsara, and to be their supreme guide. Thus in the presence of Buddha Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara made this promise. Also he vowed that if by chance his compassion and his courageous mind of mercy for sentient beings were to decrease, then may his head and his body just completely crack and fall into one thousand pieces.
When Buddha was residing at the Veluvana garden he was surrounded by Arahats. There were five different divine rays coming out of his circle of hair between the eyebrows in the middle of the forehead and gradually it formed itself into a rainbow. Thereafter it went to the north in the direction of the Himalaya country of Tibet. At that time Buddha looked and smiled, then immediately Bodhisattva Sarvanivarana Viskambhi asked Buddha, What is the reason of your smiling, Lord? Buddha answered, “Noble boy! In the future there will be a pure Dharma through which one can be delivered to the path of liberation in the barbarian country of Tibet where there has never been a single Buddha for three junctions of time and there are uncountable demons and ghosts yet to time. “Therefore, Avalokiteshvara will tame those wild men, because once upon a time when he was a Bodhisattva he prayed to One thousand Buddhas Saying,” May all the transcendent bless me to be able to time those beings who are into barbarian country. May you bless that barbarian country through my taming, May you bless me to become the parent of those ghosts and demons;. May you bless me to free all those beings.
Once Amitabha Buddha placed his hand on the head of Avalokiteshvara and commanded that noble son, “Now you be the one who can tame the animated beings of the barbarian snow land whereas not a singly Buddha of the Three times has been there. This is the fruit of your sincere prayer for the purpose you have wished. Those suffering beings will be emancipated from the three lower realms as soon as they see your young holy body and hear the sound of the six mystic syllables, Om mani padme Hum. May your Bodhimind be manifested to the minds of ghosts, demons, evil spirits and hobgoblins and may they be striving with their minds for the benefit of others like Bodhisattvas, instead, of harming others. May all carnivorous animals-such as tigers, leopards, bears and snow bears abandon the mind of eating others and turn into the love of parents for each other, seeing your holy body and hearing the sound of the six syllables.
After making such commitments and blessings from Buddha Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara went by way of international manifestations into the three realms of samsara to be the supreme guide for all sentient beings.
Thereby he went to Hell and emancipated them from both the hot and cold hells by teaching the On mani padme hum. Then he went to ghost realms and emancipated from hunger and thirst after giving a discourse on the same. After that he went to the animal realms and emancipated them from hardship in labour. Then he came to the human realms and emancipated them from the intense suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death by a discourse on the same, Thus he also went to Asura realm and Deva realm to free them from their respective sufferings.
So Avalokiteshvara went into of these realms of Samsara, and he absolutely emptied the ocean of sufferings. Following which he went back to Buddha Amitabha and he declared that the liberation had been affected.
Buddha Amitabha said to him,” You should look back again into world!” And as he did, there he saw that once again sentient beings were in samsara and in sorrow, he became so discouraged as he saw that his “awakening mind (Bodhicitta) decreased in the moment he lost his courage. When he became discouraged, in that moment, the promise that he had made earlier declined.
The three realms of Samsara are Kamadhatu, the desire realm, the Rupa dhatu, the Form realm and the Arupya dhaty, the formless realm,. These three reams are so vast and so are the different types of suffering that sentient beings must experience in these realms. When Avalokiteshvara beheld that still sentient beings were in this type of suffering condition in these three realms respectively, he become overcome with sorrow, he become discouraged in the very presence of Buddha Amitabha. He felt how could the time come to ever liberate all sentient beings from this type of promise that he had made before, his head and body just cracked and fell apart into one thousand prices, and he fainted.
Avalokiteshvara, thus fainted, and Buddha Amitabha said to his “My son, where has your courage, your mental strength gone? He picked up all the pieces of his head and the body. At the same time he said,” this happened because of your prayer. You deserve the praise of all Buddhas since your prayer was efficacious. However, Noble son Don’t worry! Thereby he blessed his broken head into eleven faces and he sat upon those heads, and his broken body into one thousand hands like one thousand petals. Thereafter he said,” I bow to you because your one thousand hands are the hands of the thousand universal emperors and those eyes in each of the hand palms are eyes of one thousand Buddhas who will appear in this fortunate aeon.
Once upon a time, there was a very rich man living in Benares, in northern India. When his father died, he inherited even more wealth. He thought, “Why should I use this treasure for myself alone? Let my fellow beings also benefit from these riches.”
So he built dining halls at the four gates of the city — North, East, South and West. In these halls he gave food freely to all who wished it. He became famous for his generosity. It also became known that he and his followers were practicers of the Five Training Steps.
In those days, there was a Silent Buddha meditating in the forest near Benares. He was called Buddha because he was enlightened. This means that he no longer experienced himself, the one called ‘I’ or ‘me’, as being in any way different from all life living itself. So he was able to experience life as it really is, in every present moment.
Being one with all life, he was filled with compassion and sympathy for the unhappiness of all beings. So he wished to teach and help them to be enlightened just as he was. But the time of our story was a most unfortunate time, a very sad time. It was a time when no one else was able to understand the Truth, and experience life as it really is. And since this Buddha knew this, that was why he was Silent.
While meditating in the forest, the Silent Buddha entered into a very high mental state. His concentration was so great that he remained in one position for seven days and nights, without eating or drinking.
When he returned to the ordinary state, he was in danger of dying from starvation. At the usual time of day, he went to collect alms food at the mansion of the rich man of Benares.
When the rich man had just sat down to have lunch, he saw the Silent Buddha coming with his alms bowl. He rose from his seat respectfully. He told his servant to go and give alms to him.
Meanwhile, Mara, the god of death, had been watching. Mara is the one who is filled with greed for power over all beings. He can only have this power because of the fear of death.
Since a Buddha lives life fully in each moment, he has no desire for future life, and no fear of future death. Therefore, since Mara could have no power over the Silent Buddha, he wished to destroy him. When he saw that he was near death from starvation, he knew that he had a good chance of succeeding.
Before the servant could place the food in the Silent Buddha’s alms bowl, Mara caused a deep pit of red hot burning coals to appear between them. It seemed like the entrance to a hell world.
When he saw this, the servant was frightened to death. He ran back to his master. The rich man asked him why he returned without giving the alms food. He replied, “My lord, there is a deep pit full of red hot burning coals just in front of the Silent Buddha.”
The rich man thought, “This man must be seeing things!” So he sent another servant with alms food. He also was frightened by the same pit of fiery coals. Several servants were sent, but all returned frightened to death.
Then the master thought, “There is no doubt that Mara, the god of death, must be trying to prevent my wholesome deed of giving alms food to the Silent Buddha. Because wholesome deeds are the beginning of the path to enlightenment, this Mara wishes to stop me at all costs. But he does not understand my confidence in the Silent Buddha and my determination to give.”
So he himself took the alms food to the Silent Buddha. He too saw the flames rising from the fiery pit. Then he looked up and saw the terrible god of death, floating above in the sky. He asked, “Who are you.?” Mara replied, I am the god of death!”
“Did you create this pit of fire?” asked the man. “I did,” said the god. “Why did you do so?” “To keep you from giving alms food, and in this way to cause the Silent Buddha to die! Also to prevent your wholesome deed from helping you on the path to enlightenment, so you will remain in my power!”
The rich man of Benares said, “Oh Mara, god of death, the evil one, you cannot kill the Silent Buddha, and you cannot prevent my wholesome giving! Let us see whose determination is stronger!”
Then he looked across the raging pit of fire, and said to the calm and gentle Enlightened One, “Oh Silent Buddha, let the light of Truth continue to shine as an example to us. Accept this gift of life!”
So saying, he forgot himself entirely, and in that moment there was no fear of death. As he stepped into the burning pit, he felt himself being lifted up by a beautiful cool lotus blossom. The pollen from this miraculous flower spread into the air, and covered him with the glowing colour of gold. While standing in the heart of the lotus, the Great Being poured the alms food into the bowl of the Silent Buddha. Mara, god of death, was defeated!
In appreciation for this wonderful gift, the Silent Buddha raised his hand in blessing. The rich man bowed in homage, joining his hands above his head. Then the Silent Buddha departed from Benares, and went to the Himalayan forests.
Still standing on the wonderful lotus, glowing with the color of gold, the generous master taught his followers. He told them that practising the Five Training Steps is necessary to purify the mind. He told them that with such a pure mind, there is great merit in giving alms — indeed it is truly the gift of life!
When he had finished teaching, the fiery pit and the lovely cool lotus completely disappeared.
The moral is: Have no fear when doing wholesome deeds.
Buddhist Tales for Young and Old, volume 1, Prince Goodspeaker, Stories 1-50
Once upon a time, an important adviser to a certain king was on his way to a meeting with the king and other advisers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dead mouse by the roadside. He said to those who were with him. “Even from such small beginnings as this dead mouse, an energetic young fellow could build a fortune. If he worked hard and used his intelligence, he could start a business and support a wife and family.”
A passerby heard the remark. He knew this was a famous adviser to the king, so he decided to follow his words. He picked up the dead mouse by the tail and went off with it. As luck would have it, before he had gone even a block, a shopkeeper stopped him. He said, “My cat has been pestering me all morning. I’ll give you two copper coins for that mouse.” So it was done.
With the two copper coins, he bought sweet cakes, and waited by the side of the road with them and some water. As he expected, some people who picked flowers for making garlands were returning from work. Since they were all hungry and thirsty, they agreed to buy sweet cakes and water for the price of a bunch of flowers from each of them. In the evening, the man sold the flowers in the city. With some of the money he bought more sweet cakes and returned the next day to sell to the flower pickers.
This went on for a while, until one day there was a terrible storm, with heavy rains and high winds. While walking by the king’s pleasure garden, he saw that many branches had been blown off the trees and were lying all around. So he offered to the king’s gardener that he would clear it all away for him, if he could keep the branches. The lazy gardener quickly agreed.
The man found some children playing in a park across the street. They were glad to collect all the branches and brush at the entrance to the pleasure garden, for the price of just one sweet cake for each child.
Along came the king’s potter, who was always on the lookout for firewood for his glazing oven. When he saw the piles of wood the children had just collected, he paid the man a handsome price for it. He even threw into the bargain some of his pots.
With his profits from selling the flowers and the firewood, the man opened up a refreshment shop. One day all the local grass mowers, who were on their way into town, stopped in his shop. He gave them free sweet cakes and drinks. They were surprised at his generosity and asked, “What can we do for you?” He said there was nothing for them to do now, but he would let them know in the future.
A week later, he heard that a horse dealer was coming to the city with 500 horses to sell. So he got in touch with the grass mowers and told each of them to give him a bundle of grass. He told them not to sell any grass to the horse dealer until he had sold his. In this way he got a very good price.
Time passed until one day, in his refreshment shop, some customers told him that a new ship from a foreign country had just anchored in the port. He saw this to be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He thought and thought until he came up with a good business plan.
First, he went to a jeweler friend of his and paid a low price for a very valuable gold ring, with a beautiful red ruby in it. He knew that the foreign ship was from a country that had no rubies of its own, where gold too was expensive. So he gave the wonderful ring to the captain of the ship as an advance on his commission. To earn this commission, the captain agreed to send all his passengers to him as a broker. He would then lead them to the best shops in the city. In turn, the man got the merchants to pay him a commission for sending customers to them.
Acting as a middle man in this way, after several ships came into port, the man became very rich. Being pleased with his success, he also remembered that it had all started with the words of the king’s wise adviser. So he decided to give him a gift of 100,000 gold coins. This was half his entire wealth. After making the proper arrangements, he met with the king’s adviser and gave him the gift, along with his humble thanks.
The adviser was amazed, and he asked, “How did you earn so much wealth to afford such a generous gift?” The man told him it had all started with the adviser’s own words not so long ago. They had led him to a dead mouse, a hungry cat, sweet cakes, bunches of flowers, storm damaged tree branches, children in the park, the king’s potter, a refreshment shop, grass for 500 horses, a golden ruby ring, good business contacts, and finally a large fortune.
Hearing all this, the royal adviser thought to himself, “It would not be good to lose the talents of such an energetic man. I too have much wealth, as well as my beloved only daughter. As this man is single, he deserves to marry her. Then he can inherit my wealth in addition to his own, and my daughter will be well cared for.”
This all came to pass, and after the wise adviser died, the one who had followed his advice became the richest man in the city. The king appointed him to the adviser’s position. Throughout his remaining life, he generously gave his money for the happiness and well being of many people.
The moral is: With energy and ability, great wealth comes even from small beginnings.
Peace LiLy 