12 Results of bad deeds

One day, Buddha disclosed to his bhikkus the 12 results of bad deeds he had done in his previous births for which he had to suffer in this birth. According to ‘Pubba Kamma Pilothika apadaana’ they are as follows:

1. The accusations the Buddha got for frequenting the female ascetic Sundaree’s temple. ( In a previous birth, Buddha had accused the Pase Buddha named Sarangu.)

2. The scandal because of Chinchimaanawika who impersonated herself as a pregnant woman(This is due to calling the disciple Nanada of the Buddha Sabbahingu, an epicure, in one of Buddha’s births.)

3. The accusation, that Buddha raped and killed the female ascetic Sundaree and buried her body near a flower altar was widely talked about for seven days. After seven days, the truth came out. (This happened because of scolding Saint Bheema in one of his previous births.)

4. Bikkhu Devdath pushed a huge rock on the Buddha. (This is because in a previous birth, Buddha killed his own brother with greed for wealth by pushing him down a mountain and plunging a huge rock after him.)

5. Bikkhu Devdath tried to kill Buddha by hiring archers.( This is because in a previous birth, as a child, Buddha had thrown a stone at a Pase Buddha.)

6. Intoxicated elephant named Nalagiri was sent to kill Buddha. (This is because in a previous birth, Buddha as a mahout, led his elephant towards a Pase Buddha who was walking nearby with the intention of killing him.)

7. Bhikku Devdath, pushed a huge rock from the immense ‘Gijjakuta’ on Buddha,who was walking at the foot of it. Because of Buddha’s power, another big rock sprang up and stopped it. But, in the process, a small piece of rock hit Buddha’s toe and injured it. The Doctor had to split the toe and remove the bad blood. (This is because in a previous birth, Buddha had ordered a man to be killed, as king Pruthuvishwara.)

8. Buddha suffered from a constant headache.( This is because in a previous birth, Buddha born into the fishing clan, laughed happily when he saw the large amount of fish his kin had captured.)

9. Buddha, who had disciples, followers and contributors in all three worlds had to survive on barley since he didn’t get a grain of rice during his 12th ‘Vas’ season.( This is because in a previous birth, Buddha had accused Buddha named ‘Pussa’ for eating tasteful rice asking him to eat barley instead.)

10. Buddha suffered from a constant spinal problem.(This is because in a previous birth, as a wrestling giant, Buddha had broken the spine of his opponent.)

11. Buddha suffered from acute diarrhea.( This is because in a previous birth, as a doctor, Buddha had cured a noble; when he didn’t get his fee, Buddha had given the noble an aperient which caused the noble to purge blood. The noble got scared and paid him; in return, Buddha cured him again.

12.Prince Siddhartha had to suffer immensely for six years before attaining Nirvana.( This is because in a previous birth, As the layman Jothipala, had talked against Kashyapa Buddha with a Brahmin named Ghatikara.)

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The Man Who Spit In Buddha’s Face

(Shanka Herath)

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The Buddha was sitting under a tree talking to his disciples when a man came and spat in his face. 

He wiped it off, and he asked the man, “What next? What do you want to say next?” The man was a little puzzled because he himself never expected that when you spit on somebody’s face, he will ask, “What next?” He had no such experience in his past. He had insulted people and they had become angry and they had reacted. Or if they werecowards and weaklings, they had smiled, trying to bribe the man. But Buddha was like neither, he was not angry nor in any way offended, nor in any way cowardly. But just matter-of-factly he said, “What next?” There was no reaction on his part.

But Buddha’s disciples became angry, and they reacted. His closest disciple, Ananda, said, “This is too much. We cannot tolerate it. He has to be punished for it, otherwise everybody will start doing things like this!”

Buddha said, “You keep silent. He has not offended me, but you are offending me. He is new, a stranger. He must have heard from people something about me, that this man is an atheist, a dangerous man who is throwing people off their track, a revolutionary, a corrupter. And he may have formed some idea, a notion of me. He has not spit on me, he has spit on his notion. He has spit on his idea of me because he does not know me at all, so how can he spit on me?

“If you think on it deeply,” Buddha said, “he has spit on his own mind. I am not part of it, and I can see that this poor man must have something else to say because this is a way of saying something. Spitting is a way of saying something. There are moments when you feel that language is impotent: in deep love, in intense anger, in hate, in prayer. There are intense moments when language is impotent. Then you have to do something. When you are angry, intensely angry, you hit the person, you spit on him, you are saying something. I can understand him. He must have something more to say, that’s why I’m asking, “What next?”

The man was even more puzzled! And Buddha said to hisdisciples, “I am more offended by you because you know me, and you have lived for years with me, and still you react.”

Puzzled, confused, the man returned home. He could not sleep the whole night. When you see a Buddha, it is difficult, impossible to sleep anymore the way you used to sleep before. Again and again he was haunted by the experience. He could not explain it to himself, what had happened. He was trembling all over, sweating and soaking the sheets. He had never come across such a man; the Buddha had shattered his whole mind and his whole pattern, his whole past.

The next morning he went back. He threw himself at Buddha’s feet. Buddha asked him again, “What next? This, too, is a way of saying something that cannot be said in language. When you come and touch my feet, you are saying something that cannot be said ordinarily, for which all words are too narrow; it cannot be contained in them.” Buddha said, “Look, Ananda, this man is again here, he is saying something. This man is a man of deep emotions.”

The man looked at Buddha and said, “Forgive me for what I did yesterday.”

Buddha said, “Forgive? But I am not the same man to whom you did it. The Ganges goes on flowing, it is never the same Ganges again. Every man is a river. The man you spit upon is no longer here. I look just like him, but I am not the same, much has happened in these twenty-four hours! The river has flowed so much. So I cannot forgive you because I have no grudge against you.

“And you also are new. I can see you are not the same man who came yesterday because that man was angry and he spit, whereas you are bowing at my feet, touching my feet. How can you be the same man? You are not the same man, so let us forget about it. Those two people, the man who spit and the man on whom he spit, both are no more. Come closer. Let us talk of something else.”

Credit: wisdompills.com

The Buddha is not a God. He is a Great Human Being

Those who do not know the Buddha properly, consider Him a God. The Buddha never esteemed such unnecessary glory, praise or honour. Nor did He expect such things.

“ O Bhikkhus, gains, offerings, glory, praise are all harsh and fierce. They are a danger preventing the achievement of the highest bliss of liberation. ”

The Buddha appeared among men solely to make people see their ignorance, lack of awareness, wrong views, fallacies, and wrong actions. Such a great man will never expect limitless deference, praise or honour from the people.

One day, the Buddha walked along the road from the city of Ukkattha to the city of Setavya. A Brahmin named Drona, travelling along the same road after the Buddha, saw His footprints. He looked at them and thought, “ These can never be the footprints of a human being. ” The Buddha stepped aside from the road and sat under a tree. Brahmin Drona walked up to the Buddha, whose demeanour was exceedingly calm and serene, and questioned Him thus:

Brahmin : ” Are you a God? ”

The Buddha : ” Brahmin, I am not a God. ”

Brahmin : ” Are you a Gandhabba ( divine musician )? ”

The Buddha : ” Brahmin, I am not a Gandhabba. ”

Brahmin : ” Are you a Yakkha? ”

The Buddha : ” Brahmin, I am not a Yakkha. ”

Brahmin : ” Are you a human being? ”

The Buddha : ” Brahmin, I am not a human being, either. ”

Brahmin : ” When I ask you whether you are a God, you say “ No, I am not a God. ” When I ask you whether you are a Gandhabba, a Yakkha or a human being, you say “ No. ” If that were so, who are you? ”

The Buddha : ” O Brahmin, if I am a god, I must have those sense-desires. But, I have eradicated sense-desires fully. Therefore, I am not a God. If I am a Gandhabba, I must have sense-desires. But I have eradicated those fully. Therefore, I am not a Gandhabba.

O Brahmin, if I am a Yakkha, I must have the sense-desires that a Yakkha should have. But, I eradicated all that fully. Therefore, I am not a Yakkha, either. O Brahmin, if I am an ordinary human being, I must have the sense-desires of ordinary men. But, I have totally eradicated those. Therefore, I am not a human being like other human beings.

based on

“The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived – The Supreme Buddha”

by Ven. Weragoda Sarada Maha Thero  [source]

Do You Still Get Angry?

One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”

Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”

The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha smiled and said,

“That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.”

Source: Do you still get angry?