Chapter 2341 - 2339: [Enlightenment in Buddhist Sect Stories (3)]

Chapter 2341: Chapter 2339: [Enlightenment in Buddhist Sect Stories (3)]

The bowl flying in the air!

Long ago, in the Heavenly Realm, two hundred celestial beings wished to pursue Cultivation, but unfortunately, they all sought easy shortcuts. Influencing each other, they all feared the difficulty of the Buddhist path and were unwilling to strive in the Bodhisattva Path, even saying:

’Why work so hard to learn the Bodhisattva Path? It’s better to pursue the path of an Arhat or Pratyeka-Buddha to directly enter Nirvana!’

Manjusri Bodhisattva came to know this and thought: ’These celestial beings can actually achieve the Bodhisattva’s sacred path, but they want to retreat out of fear of hardship. I must find a way to teach them and strengthen their resolve in Cultivation.’

Thinking of this, Manjusri Bodhisattva transformed into a Jialuo Yue walker, holding a bowl full of a hundred tastes, and headed to the Brahma Heaven where the World-Honored One was speaking.

He approached the Buddha, respectfully offering the bowl of a hundred tastes to the Buddha, and with hands folded in reverence said: ’World-Honored One, you should repay this kindness.’

’What does this mean?’ Venerable Sariputra standing nearby curiously asked.

’Just watch,’ said the Buddha, and with that, he threw the bowl from Brahma Heaven, the bowl full of a hundred tastes floated over the Buddha Lands, drifting far and wide until it stopped at a place called Hui Asha Buddha Land.

The Buddha of Hui Asha Buddha Land was called Light King, and his attendants, seeing a bowl stopped in the air, asked in surprise:

’What’s going on?’

Light King Buddha replied: ’This bowl drifted from Brahma Heaven, from Shakyamuni Buddha, intending to save those who waver in learning the Bodhisattva Path and wish to retreat.’

The attendants, hearing Light King Buddha’s words, felt their faith in the Buddhist path strengthened.

After the bowl had fallen from Brahma Heaven, it vanished without a trace. After a while, the Buddha said to Sariputra:

’Go find the bowl, please!’

Sariputra used his wisdom and Divine Power to search, but couldn’t find it anywhere, returning disappointed, saying to the Buddha:

’World-Honored One, I did not find the bowl.’

The Buddha turned to Mogallana and said: ’Go seek the bowl, please!’

Mogallana immediately employed his Divine Power to fly across various Buddha Lands to search, but after some time also returned, dejected.

The World-Honored One sent five hundred Arhats, yet none found it.

Maitreya Bodhisattva saw that even though the skies were filled with Arhats, none could retrieve the bowl, so he volunteered himself, but he too returned empty-handed.

The Buddha looked at Manjusri Bodhisattva and said: ’It’s time for you to go.’

Manjusri Bodhisattva remained seated, entered the Sanmei state, and with his right hand pointed to the ground, traversed the Buddha Lands. People clearly observed that on the arm of Manjusri Bodhisattva, each hair emitted countless beams of Light and thousands of lotus flowers, each lotus flower seated a Bodhisattva, causing all to praise the merits of the Buddha and Bodhisattva.

At this moment, the World-Honored One emitted Divine Power, illuminating the entire Human World, shining upon all Ganges River Sands Buddha Lands.

All celestial beings who saw the Buddha Light achieved the Sanmei state and experienced unparalleled belief in the Buddhist path.

Then, Manjusri Bodhisattva saw the bowl, promptly grabbing it with his right hand and, with numerous Bodhisattvas together, arrived at Brahma Heaven, holding the rice bowl and presenting it to the Buddha.

The World-Honored One spoke to Sariputra: ’Sariputra, let me tell you a story from innumerable kalpas ago:

Once, Manjusri Bodhisattva was a monk named Huiwang, who followed a Buddha named Yongmo Nengsheng for Cultivation. One time, Huiwang monk carrying a bowl entered a city; after receiving a bowl of a hundred flavors, he walked out of the city.

There was a Venerable’s son named Ligou King. At that time, Ligou King’s wet nurse was holding him at the city gate, and upon seeing the monk with the bowl of a hundred flavors walking by, ran down from the nurse’s embrace, chasing the monk for the bowl of a hundred flavors.

’Monk, monk, give me a bit of that hundred-flavor food!’ Ligou King called out while chasing.

Huiwang monk immediately took out a sweet pastry for him to eat.

’So sweet, so fragrant, so delicious!’ Ligou King said while eating and continued following Huiwang monk to the presence of Yongmo Nengsheng Buddha, where he bowed to the Buddha and sat to the side.

’Child, take this bowl of food to offer to the Buddha,’ Huiwang monk said.

The Ligou King did as he was told. When the Buddha, who is beyond bravery, received the rice of a hundred flavors, he ate it. After he was full, the bowl was still filled with rice, as if untouched.

The Buddha distributed this bowl of rice of a hundred flavors to eighty-four thousand monks and twelve thousand Bodhisattvas. Each one of them ate to their fill, yet the bowl remained full.

Seeing this, Ligou King was delighted and said: "Great World-Honored One, this is truly marvelous!" Then, along with Huiwang, the monk, he received the five precepts and awakened the thought of supreme Bodhi.

Right after Ligou King followed Huiwang, the monk, while leaving, his nurse cried and chased him for half a day without catching up. She quickly returned to inform his parents. Following the path, Ligou King’s parents found the place where the Buddha was. After paying their respects, they said to the Buddha:

"Respected World-Honored One, your disciple is fortunate to witness your benevolent face, grateful for your kindness, my son is safe and sound."

Ligou King, seeing his parents, joyously exclaimed: "Father! Mother! I have now attained the Bodhisattva teachings, and I wish to follow the Buddha and become a monk."

The parents, hearing this, were full of joy and said: "Son! We also wish to follow you into the path."

When the Buddha said this, he paused for a moment, then spoke again to the assembly: "Huiwang, the monk, is the present Manjusri Bodhisattva. That child, Ligou King, is I. From time immemorial, in countless Buddha Lands, innumerable Buddhas like us have embarked on the path of cultivation due to the enlightening virtues of Manjusri Bodhisattva. Indeed, we have all benefited from Manjusri Bodhisattva’s kindness!

The karma from past lives is hard to erase, the Arhat suffers calamity!

The poem goes:

"In the previous life, Li Yue slandered the saints and sages, retribution was multiplied eight thousandfold;

With malicious heart and venomous tongue invited disaster, do not create karmic ties among the monks.

Bitter retribution in the three evil paths is hard to extinguish, come the next life to repay debts with interest;

Now, having attained the Arhat stage, past karma condemned him to twelve years."

In the past, in the Jibin Country of North India, there was a famous saint named Li Yue, who had, from a young age, seen through the impermanence of life, the suffering of emptiness and non-self, and thus became a monk to learn the path, residing in a cave deep in the mountains, diligently practicing asceticism. Soon, he attained the great Arhat path with mastery of the six spiritual powers.

After achieving the path, Li Yue continued to live in the mountains for cultivation. Consequently, many who were fond of cultivation, from near and far, came into the mountains to take him as their teacher. He used his divine skills to observe the roots of his disciples, offering remedies as needed. Hundreds of disciples, under his guidance, achieved the Arhat path one after another. Once the disciples achieved the path, they traveled to various places to spread the Buddhist Law and benefit others. Eventually, only the old Arhat remained, living alone in the mountains for cultivation.

One day, the old Arhat Li Yue used his spare time to tidy up the cave. He saw an old patchwork monk robe that had faded to a pale white color and intended to dye it gray again. He searched the mountain for roots and bark that could be used as dye and put the monk robe in a pot, then used intense fire to boil it.

When the old Arhat opened the pot and stirred it with a willow branch, he discovered that the patchwork monk robe had turned into cowhide, and the roots and bark became cow meat. Moreover, the dye water turned into blood-red, with an especially strong smell of cow meat. The old Arhat exclaimed: "My karmic hindrances have arrived! The karmic retribution of cause and effect is truly inconceivable, those who create karma with speech and malicious intent cannot escape the pursuit of cause and effect retribution; soon, the retribution will manifest."

At this moment, suddenly a rough farmer hurriedly arrived, shouting loudly: "Hey! Monk, you, a renouncer, opened the killing precept today, consuming many wild boars and wild goats from the mountain wasn’t enough, you even killed my ox. I only took the ox to graze at the edge of the mountain this morning, and it disappeared shortly after, couldn’t find it anywhere, turns out you, the monk, stole and killed it."

The farmer took away the evidence from the entire pot and angrily forced the old Arhat Li Yue to see the King. In ancient simple societies, there were no courts or judges; if the people encountered an incident, they sought the King’s judgment. The King of Jibin asked the farmer about the matter, and the farmer presented the situation to the King. The King asked Li Yue what he had to say. The old Arhat reported to the King: "Your Majesty! This is my karmic retribution, I have nothing to say."

The King said: "Since the defendant does not plead, and there is solid evidence, the crime of theft is undeniable. A renouncer breaking the precept of killing, committing the crime of theft, and violating the fundamental precepts of Buddhism, both the precepts and the law allow no forgiveness!" Therefore, Li Yue the Arhat was sentenced to twelve years of imprisonment.

The twelve years, totaling four thousand three hundred and eighty days, the old Arhat Li Yue, while in prison, devoted each day to practicing Buddha Law, also taking on tasks of cleaning the environment, such as sweeping toilets. At night, he sat upright without lying down. His compassion and patient endurance deeply impressed and earned the praise of prison officials and prison guards.

When the term finally ended, the disciples who once cultivated in the mountains under him, having attained the path, simultaneously thought of their master. Hundreds of Arhats utilized their divine skills to observe, knowing that their benevolent teacher was wrongfully imprisoned for twelve years, all soared by divine skill to the palace, beating celestial drums in the air, professing the master’s innocence, reprimanding the King for his oversight, being misled by the farmer’s slander, unjustly imprisoning the revered master for twelve years.

The King was greatly terrified, personally went to the prison to release Li Yue, and repented for his momentary oversight. The old Arhat Li Yue walked out of the prison gates, immediately soared into the air, radiating great light, performing various divine transformations. Once he incarnated infinitely, then merged into a great form filling the void; suddenly turned the void into a vast ocean, then into a great fire, entering deep meditation amidst the flames; he effortlessly moved through mountains and rocks, demonstrating divine powers without hindrance.

At this time, hundreds of Arhats wanted to admonish the King for his lack of discernment. The old Arhat intervened, saying: "Do not be disrespectful to the King. This is my karmic retribution, and I cannot blame others." The old Arhat, Li Yue Venerable, then revealed to everyone the causes and conditions he had accumulated in past lives: "In a previous life, I was born as a farmer. One day, I lost an ox, searched the mountains, and saw a renunciant meditator in a cave. Confused, I mistakenly thought the ox was hidden by him since there was no one else in the mountains then. With ill intent and sharp tongue, I disturbed him for twelve hours a day, determined to drive him out of the mountain and hand him over to the King to be imprisoned. At that time, I committed karma for twelve hours, now I repay with twelve years of unjust imprisonment. It’s like borrowing money with interest; the longer the period, the more the interest accrues. In this life, I repay the added interest, which is over eight thousand times the karma created back then. Sincerely cultivating and performing kind deeds all lead to manifold blessings for a single act; similarly, the karma created by malicious speech is also rewarded manifold a single act. Even a slight mistake can lead to endless and boundless suffering!"

The poem goes:

"The karma of speech is hard to eliminate, the interest ever-increasing, from one cause, myriad results endure eternally;

Foolish ordinary beings with inverted minds, delaying remorse for debt repayment won’t succeed."

Additional notes:

(1) Creating karma of speech by slandering renunciants, uttering even a single word or writing an accusation against monks and nuns will undoubtedly incur intense suffering in the future. Such an act creates a single karma of speech, resulting in an immense "interest" of pain. We must be careful not to owe such debts to others.

(2) The easiest offense to commit is with the mouth. The mouth can create karma as vast as a mountain, yet foolish beings among ordinary people treat the severe karma of speech as a joke. Even those who believe in and learn Buddhism are like this, isn’t that the utmost folly!

(3) The karma of speech is the greatest evil amongst the ten evils, a sin of extreme evil with no surpassing it. Many Buddhist Sutras speak of the severe consequences of the karma of speech. Those who have committed such karma against the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha should swiftly and sincerely repent to the Three Jewels, or else, face endless suffering from karmic retribution in the future.