The Unfaithful Wife

A Story from the Buddhist Sutra

Once upon a time, a beautiful woman was unfaithful to her husband and had an affair with another man. During those days, it is not possible to divorce one's husband by simply declaring "I don't love him any more" and remarried to someone else. So she devised a scheme to separate from her husband legally.

She had a friend who worked at the village funeral home. One day, while her husband had gone for a trip elsewhere, she created an "accident" at home and asked her friend to arrange a dead body of another woman to put in her home. Somehow the body was destroyed beyond recognition.

When the husband returned home, he was shocked to find that his house had an accident so severe that the body of his "wife" was destroyed beyond recognition. He was so mournful that, after he had cremated her body, he carried the ashes with him all the time.

The trick worked well and the unfaithful wife ran away with her lover to live together. But as time went on, problems and conflicts developed between the two. It did not have a fairy tale ending at all.

Gradually, the unfaithful wife learnt of what her husband did to "her ashes" and was moved by the love that he had for her. So one day, she decided to end the relationship with her lover and return to her husband. She found her husband on the street of the city and called out his name, thinking that he must be very glad to find that she was still alive after all.

"Who are you?" said the husband, when he saw her. "I have never met you before."

She was stung by the answer. "I am your wife." She tried to explain she was still alive.

"My wife is dead. Here are her ashes. I had been carrying it around with me after her death." replied the husband.

The beautiful woman was devastated. How came a husband who loved her so much that he carried her "ashes" around with him failed to recognize her? But no matter what she said, the husband refused to accept the fact that his wife was still alive.

To him, his wife had died. His love for her had also died when she lied to him.

THE STORY OF TWO LOVERS

This is a dramatic love story from the Buddhist Sutra.

ACT I - Magic Pearl from the Dragon King of Ocean

Once upon a time, an Indian King had two sons. One of them was very kind and compassionate, and the other was very mean and evil. For simplicity, we will call them the Good Heart Prince and the Evil Heart Prince respectively.

One day, the King summoned them to the Imperial Court and said, "The welfare of my subjects is very important, and my government had been helping the poor people of this country. But now my treasury is almost empty and so I want you to go to see the Dragon King (God of the Ocean) and ask for help. Once you went to the ocean shore, you recite a mantra given to me by a Hermit yesterday. Then the Dragon King will come out to greet you and give you a precious pearl. Bring it home and put it in my treasury because it will bring prosperity to my kingdom and my people."

The two brothers accepted the mission and off they went to the shore of the Indian Ocean. They did exactly what was told and, after reciting the mantra, the Dragon King came out of the Indian Ocean and asked what they want.

After listening to their request, the God of Indian Ocean said, "since your Royal Father had such a noble cause, I will help you out. Take this magic pearl back to your palace. It will ensure your Kingdom's prosperity as long as you take good care of your subjects." Happily the two brothers accepted the gift and left for home.

ACT II - The Fight between the Two Princes

As the two brothers traveled along a road on the way home, a greedy thought suddenly came to the mind of the Evil Heart Prince. "Why not get the magic precious pearl all for myself? After my father's death, I will be the King of the richest kingdom on earth!" So, he drew his sword and tried to kill his brother.

But, of course, the Good Heart Prince refused to give it up without resistance, and soon it developed into a big fight. Unfortunately, after a whole day's fight, the Good Heart Prince suffered serious injuries and collapsed by the road side. The Evil Heart Prince took the pearl, returned to the Palace, and reported to his father that they had encountered some rebellious gangs on the way. He told his father that his brother was killed in a battle. The King was of course very mournful upon hearing the death of his son.

ACT III - Escaped to the Neighborhood Kingdom

Back to the crime scene, some Buddhist Monks was walking by when they spotted the badly wounded Good Heart Prince laying by the road side. They took him back to their temple and tended his wounds. Several months had passed, the Good Heart Prince was getting better, except for his eye sight - his eyes were injured so badly that he was now blind.

By now, the Monks learned of his identity and decided that it was not safe for the Prince to stay here, because the Evil Heart Prince always wanted to kill him. So they took him to a Monastery in the neighbourhood Kingdom to continued to take care of him.

Several years had passed and the Prince was fully recovered, except for his eyesight. However, during the time he stayed in the Monastery, he learned how to play various musical instruments and was able to play very good sensational songs. During all these year, he had hided his identity for fear of being assassinated by his brother.

One day, the King of the neighbourhood kingdom was looking for a gardener-musician for the garden inside the Royal Palace. The Monk-in-Charge thought, "this is a good place for Good Heart Prince to be in. He will be very safe inside the Royal Palace." So, he recommended the Prince to the King for the job. After an audition, the King immediately offered him the job, without knowing that he was in fact the Prince was his Neighbour

Act IV - Prince and Princess Fallen in Love

The Good Heart Prince, now just an ordinary gardener, did a very good job at the Royal Palace. He tended the plants of the Royal Palace really well and he played good music for the Royal family. But still, he hided his identity and everyone in the Palace thought that he was just an orphan grown up in a Buddhist Monastery.

One beautiful evening, the King's Daughter took a walk in the garden and heard a very beautiful song played by somebody in the garden. The Princess was so attracted to the music that she went to find out who the musician was. As soon as the two young people met, they seemed to know each other from previous lives and they immediately fell in love with each other. The Princess went to the Royal Garden every day to talk to the blind gardener and listen to his music. After a while, they fell in love so madly with each other that the young Princess went to see her father to ask permission to get married.

"What!?" the King was shook at the proposal and opposed to the marriage. "You are a Royal Princess and he is just an ordinary blind gardener from a lower class!" During ancient India, marriage across classes was unknown.

"But I love him. If you do not allow me to marry him, I will die of heartbreaking," said the Princess, crying.

"No way." replied the stubborn King. "When you were young, I had promised to marry you to the Good Heart Prince of our Neighbourhood Kingdom. You should be married to another Royal Family, not to an ordinary worker. Your proposal cannot be accepted!"

"How can I get married to Good Heart Prince?" protested the Princess. "The Prince had not been found for many years. I love him, even though he is just an ordinary blind-gardener musician. Please, father, give us permission to get married!"

Act V - A Miracle Performed by the King of Gods

By this time, the blind gardener stepped forward to reveal his identity and told them he was the Good Heart Prince and that he was escaping from his brother, the Evil Heart Prince. The Princess jumped for joy on hearing that her fiancé was right there in front of her. The King, however, was skeptical, "How can you prove that you are in fact Good Heart Prince?"

"I will swear to the King of Heaven and Gods that if I am telling the truth, my eyesight will be restored. If not, then I will be blind forever." said the gardener.

Emperor Sakra, the King of Gods, listening to the conservation, was so moved by the gardener that he appeared before the young couple. He told everybody, "You are right, young Prince. You are indeed the Good Heart Prince and you two have the same karma in your previous lives so that you are destined to be happily married couple." Then the King of Heaven performed a miracle and restored the eyesight of the young prince completely.

Act VI - A Happy Ending

The wedding ceremony was of course magnificent. The embassador from the Neighourhood Kingdom was invited. And the whole nation had a good time.

After the wedding, the couple returned to their home country with a fleet of servants and guards carried by a herd of elephants. The Evil Heart Prince - I do not know what happened to him - Some said that he was punished and served a jail sentence. Others said that after the Good Heart Prince pardoned his crime, he was so moved that he became a devout follower of the Lord Buddha.

The Blind Men and an Elephant

Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.

The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would "look" like.

The first blind man touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an elephant.

The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?"

"All of them are right," was the reply.

"Why? Because everyone can only see part of the elephant. They are not able to see the whole animal. The same applies to God and to religions. No one will see Him completely." By this parable, the Lord Buddha teaches that we should respect all other legitimate religions and their beliefs.

Two Ducks and a Turtle

The Story is from the Sutra of Parables, told by the Buddha in a sermon:

Once upon a time, there was a turtle living in a pond. Because of the very dry weather, the pond was drying up and the turtle got out of the pond to ask for help. He saw two ducks passing by and shouted out, "Help! Would you please bring me to a pond full of water?"

"How can we help you out?" asked the ducks. "We are flying in the air and you are swimming in water."

"I propose that both of you carry each ends of a piece of stick with you by your mouths, " replied the turtle. "Then I hold on to it at the middle with my mouth. You can then carry me to a pond full of water."

"That is a good idea," said the two ducks. "We will help you out. But you must remember not to open your month."

So, the duck carried the turtle across the country side toward the lake. As they passed over a village, a group of children looked at them and bursted into laughter, "Look! What a funny sight! Two ducks carrying a stick with a turtle holding onto it with his mouth!"

The turtle was angry at the remark and reply, "you guys are stupid. What do you understand?" But, once he opened his mouth, he fell from sky and crashed to death.

Dining with General

One day, an Army General invited the Buddhist Monk I-hsiu (literary, "One Rest") to his military head office for a dinner. I-hsiu was not accustomed to wearing luxurious clothings and so he just put on an old ordinary casual robe to go to the military base. To him, "form is void".

As he approached the base, two soldiers appeared before him and shouted, "Where does this beggar came from? Identify yourself! You do not have permission to be around here!"

"My name is I-hsiu Dharma Master. I am invited by your General for a supper."

The two soldiers examined the Monk closely and said, "You liar. How come my General invites such a shabby Monk to dinner. He invites the very solemn Venerable I-hsiu to our base for a great ceremony today, not you. Now, get out!"

I-hsiu was unable to convince the soldiers that he was indeed the invited guest, so he returned to the Temple and changed to a very formal solemn ceremonial robe for the dinner. And as he returned to the military base, the soldiers observed that his was such a great Buddhist Monk, let him in with honour.

At the dinner, I-hsiu sat in front of the table full of food but, instead of putting the food into his month, he picked up the food with his chopsticks and put it into his sleeves. The General was curious, and whispered to him, "This is very embarrassing. Do you want to take some food back to the Temple? I will order the cook to prepare some take out orders for you."

"No" replied the Monk. "When I came here, I was not allowed into the base by your soldiers until I wear this ceremonial robe. You do not invite me for a dinner. You invite my robe. Therefore, my robe is eating the food, not me."

The General, "......................."

The gold finger

One day, one of the eight immortals (Note 1), Lu Dongbin, came down to the Saha World (Note 2) to help people out who were in great difficulties. While he was on the way, he met a youth sitting by the road side crying heavily. He approached the youth and asked him, "Mister, why are you crying? Do you have any difficulties?"

"My mother is very sick and my father had passed away. I do not have any money to hire a doctor to see her. I want to go to work but nobody will take care of my mother while I am away?"

The immortal was very touched by the fidelity of this youth and therefore he decided to help him out by performing a miracle. He pointed his finger at a piece of stone by the road side and turned it into gold immediately. Then he gave the piece of gold to the youth. To his surprise the youth refused to accept it.

The immortal was even touched, because the youth must be a devout Buddhist, renouncing wealth. "Why don't you accept the piece of gold. It should keep your family going for a long time."

The youth replied, "If I accept it, sooner or later I will spend it all. Therefore, I do not want the piece of gold. I want your finger, because I can use it to turn everything into gold and I will be the richest man on earth."

Upon hearing this, the immortal gave a sigh at the greediness of human beings, restored the piece of gold back to stone, and returned to heaven.

The Irnoy of Samsara.

Imagine this scene: a layman sits in front of his house, eating a fish from the pond behind the house, holding his son in his lap. The dog is eating the fishbones and the man kicks the dog. Not an extraordinary scene one would think, but ven. Shariputra commented:

"He eats his father's flesh and kicks his mother away,
The enemy he killed he dandles on his lap,
The wife is gnawing at her husband's bones,
Samsara can be such a farce."

What had happened?. The man's father died and was reborn as a fish in the pool, the layman caught his father, the fish, killed it, and was now eating it. . The layman's mother was very attached to the house so she was reborn as the man's dog. The man's enemy had been killed for raping the man's wife; and because the enemy was so attached to her, he was reborn as her son. While he ate his father's meat, the dog - his mother - ate the fish bones, and so was beaten by her son. His own little son, his enemy, was sitting on his knee.