Entries Tagged 'Gautam Buddha' ↓

Once Buddha was travelling with a few of his followers. While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from the lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

Gautam Buddha

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake.

The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own and you have clear water.

Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process!

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Treat Everyone With Politeness
Even Those Who Are Rude To You
Not Because They Are Not Nice
But Because You Are Nice!

Gautam Buddha was sitting under a banyan tree. One day, a furious Brahmin came to him and started abusing him.

The Brahmin thought that Gautam Buddha would reciprocate in the same manner, but to his utter surprise, there was not the slightest change in the expression on his face.

Now, the Brahmin became more furious. He hurled more and more abuses at Buddha. However, Gautam Buddha was completely unmoved. Actually there was a look of compassion on his face. Ultimately the Brahmin was tired of abusing him. He asked, “I have been abusing you like anything, but why are you not angry at all?”

Gautam Buddha calmly replied, “My dear brother, I have not accepted a single abuse from you.”

“But you heard all of them, didn’t you?” The Brahmin argued half-heartedly.

Buddha said, “I do not need the abuses, so why should I even hear them?”

Now the Brahmin was even more puzzled. He could not understand the calm reply from Gautam Buddha.

Looking at his disturbed face, Buddha further explained, “All those abuses remain with you.”

“It cannot be possible. I have hurled all of them at you,” the Brahmin persisted.

Buddha calmly repeated his reply, “But I have not accepted even a single abuse from you! Dear brother, suppose you give some coins to somebody, and if he does not accept them, with whom will those coins remain?”

The Brahmin replied, “If I have given the coins and not needed by someone, then naturally they would remain with me.”

With a meaningful smile on his face, Buddha said, “Now you are right. The same has happened with your abuses. You came here and hurled abuses at me, but I have not accepted a single abuse from you. Hence, all those abuses remain with you only. So there is no reason to be angry with you.”

The Brahmin remained speechless. He was ashamed of his behaviour and begged for Buddha’s forgiveness.

Moral of the story:

Inner calmness and peace are keys to contented life. Live as per your goals and ambition in life. You know who you are and what you want in life, so don’t respond to what the person has said about you in anger. Control your anger with patience and calmness. That is the biggest Strength of a Wise person.

The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares. Now it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat. The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was terrible. The crane seeing him, as he was perched on a tree looking for food, asked, “What ails thee, friend?” He told him why. “I could free thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for fear thou mightest eat me.” “Don’t be afraid, friend, I’ll not eat thee; only save my life.” “Very well,” says he, and caused him to lie down on his left side. But thinking to himself, “Who knows what this fellow will do?” he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws that he could not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth struck one end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone dropped and fell out. As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion’s mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that it fell out, and then settled on a branch. The lion gets well, and one day was eating a buffalo he had killed. The crane, thinking ‘I will sound him,” settled on a branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this first verse:

“A service have we done thee
To the best of our ability,
King of the Beasts! Your Majesty!
What return shall we get from thee?”

In reply the Lion spoke the second verse:

“As I feed on blood,
And always hunt for prey,
‘Tis much that thou art still alive
Having once been between my teeth.”

Then in reply the crane said the two other verses:

“Ungrateful, doing no good,
Not doing as he would be done by,
In him there is no gratitude,
To serve him is useless.

“His friendship is not won
By the clearest good deed.
Better softly withdraw from him,
Neither envying nor abushing.”

And having thus spoken the crane flew away.

And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he used to add: “Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but the white crane was I myself.”

Moral of the story:

Always perform good deeds, however in the event the if the other person or in this case animal is ungrateful, neither be envy or abusive and walk away.