Buddhist Stories

Buddhist Stories

 

Welcome to our little collection of Buddhist Tales and Stories from many differing Buddhist traditions.

 

If you would like to make a contribution to this page then please do contact us. We will be cheerful to hear from you.

 

 

It is said that princes, who were the sons of King Okkaka of the Mahasammata line were expelled from their home because they plotted against their stepmother. Nothing new there then!  The princes arrived at the foothills of the Himalayas and were met by a sage called Kapila. On his advice they built a city and called it Kapilavastu after the sage.

On hearing of the actions of the princes, King Okkaka  declared “Sakya vata bho, rajakumara.”  This translates to “Capable indeed are the noble princes.”  Thus the clan and the kingdom the princes originated became known by the name Sakya, or Shakya.

 

The Story Of Dona

A very interesting Buddhist ballad performed recently at the Spiritual Countdown 2008, in Singapore. Song performed by the buddhist singing group M.O.D ( Messengers of Dharma ). The song is about a brahmin named Dona who was eager to know who the Buddha really is. This song is a tribute to the late Chief Rev. Dr. K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera. The song is available for free down load at http://buddhistsound.com

 

 

One legend has it that Siddhartha, at the time a great Bodhisattva, descended from the Tusita heaven in the form of a white elephant.  He appeared to his mother in a dream, and whilst he was still fully conscious he entered her womb from her side. It is said that though the pregnancy ran a normal course, throughout the gestation period the baby was fully equipped with all its limbs and sense organs.

 

 

According to legend, Siddhartha emerged from his mother’s right side without causing her any discomfort or pain. As he emerged, four gods caught him in a net, and presented him to his mother. Streams of water poured from the sky onto Siddhartha and his mother as a token of purification. The gods then held a white parasol over Siddhartha whilst he took seven steps to the North and declared that this was his last birthplace in this world.

 

 

This story relates to a visit to a temple by Siddhattha when he was a child. He was being accompanied by his foster mother Mahaprajapati to a customary presentation of children. This ceremony may have been to seek the blessing of the gods and inviting their protection for the children. When asked to enter the temple, Siddhattha smiled and stated that he had already been acknowledged by the gods as their superior, and that he was entitled to their respect.  However, Siddhattha still agreed to enter the temple for the ceremony. As Siddhattha and his foster mother entered the temple, the images of the gods assumed animated forms and came down from their shrines to offer praise to Siddhattha.

 

 

A monk said to his Master, “Please show me the way to enlightenment.” The master said, “Do you hear the murmuring sound of the mountain stream?” The monk said, “Yes I do.” “Enter there,” said the master.

 

 

Two Buddhist monks left their hermitage at dawn to return to their teacher’s monastery. They had just completed a silent retreat, and walked together across the rugged landscape maintaining their vow of silence. At midday they came across a swollen river, where a young woman was trying to cross unsuccessfully. Observing her plight the younger monk lifted the woman up and carried her safely across the river, all this to the disdain of the elder monk.

After sunset they arrived at the monastery, where their vow of silence was broken by the teacher’s welcoming.  The elder monk said to the teacher, ‘Master, it is forbidden for us monks to touch or even raise our eyes to a woman. Yet earlier today we came across an attractive woman who was trying to cross a river, and my younger companion actually picked her up in his arms and carried her across.’

The master turned to the younger monk and asked, ‘What have you to say in answer to this accusation?’

‘I put her down at the riverside,’ replied the younger monk, ‘why does my elder brother still carry her?’

 

 

Legend has it that at the time when Gotama was living the life of an austere ascetic, Mara, the god, Devaputta, approached Gotama and said,

 

“You are lean and deformed. Near to you is death. A thousand parts of you belong to death, to life there remains but one.

 

“Live O good sir, life is better. Living you could perform merit. By leading a life of celibacy and making fire sacrifices, much merit could be acquired.

 

“What will you do with this striving? Hard is the path of striving, difficult and not easily accomplished.”

 

To this Gotama replied,

 

“O Evil One, kinsman of the heedless. You have come here for your own sake. Even an iota of merit is of no avail. To them who are in need of merit it behoves you Mara to speak thus.

 

“Confidence, self-control, energy and wisdom are mine. Why do you question me, who am thus intent, about life?”

 

 

 

One day while riding a horse, Tarma Dode fell and fatally injured himself. His father, Marpa, a Lama, knowing that Tarma had mastered the practice of transference of consciousness, began to search for a corpse into which Tarma could transfer.

Unable to find a human corpse, Marpa brought a pigeon’s corpse which could serve temporarily until he could find a human corpse. Tarma then transferred his mind into the body of the pigeon. Tarma’s body was now that of a pigeon, but his mind was that of a human.

One day a clairvoyant informed Marpa that a Buddhist teacher had just died in India, and that the body had been taken to a cemetery. Marpa, instructed his son, and Tarma, still with the body of a pigeon flew to India.

On arriving at where the teacher’s corpse was, Tarma transferred his mind from the body of the pigeon to the body of the teacher. The body of the pigeon immediately died, and the body of the teacher came back to life. Tarma then spent the rest of his life as an Indian teacher known as Tiwu Sangak Dongpo.

 

 

One day a monk visited Bodhidharma in search of teaching.  As proof of his earnestness the monk cut off his own left arm with a sword. Bodhidharma was impressed.

 

The student said,

 

“My soul isn’t at peace. Please pacify it master.”

 

Bodhidharma replied,

 

“Bring your soul here and I’ll pacify it.”

 

The student responded,

 

“I’ve been looking for it for years but haven’t been able to find a trace of it.”

 

Bodhidharma declared,

 

“There! It’s pacified once and for all.”

 

 

Any enlightenment which requires to be authenticated, certified recognised or congratulated is a false, or at least incomplete one.

 

 

In a previous, whilst a Bodhisattva, Buddha Sakyamuni, was a captain of a ship. He was ferrying several hundred merchants.  Using his clairvoyance he became aware that one of the merchants was planning to kill all the others. As a result of this the merchant would be reborn in hell.

So, having generated great compassion for the merchant and his potential victims, rather than allow the death of hundreds of merchants, with pure bodhichitta motivation, he took upon himself the karma of killing and killed the bad merchant.  

In this way he saved the lives of all the merchants, and saved the bad merchant from a hellish rebirth.

As a result of this killing, the Bodhisattva made spiritual progress.

 

 

One day four travelling monks came to visit Master Hogen. They asked if they might build a fire in his yard to warm themselves. While they were building the fire, Hogen heard them discussing subjectivity and objectivity.

Hogen joined them and said “Here is a big stone. Do you consider it to be inside or outside of your mind?” One of the monks replied, “The Buddhist viewpoint is that everything is an objectification of mind, so I would say the stone is inside my mind.” Hogen responded,” Your mind must feel very heavy if you are carrying around a stone like that.”  This story is intended to show that when you are enlightened, you realize there is no inside or outside of the mind.

 

 

Geshe Langri Tangpa was a Tibetan teacher. There was a woman who had lost a child early in infancy.  She was frightened as she had just given birth to another child, and was worried she would lose this one too.

When her child took ill, her mother advised her to take the child to Langri for protection. When the woman arrived, she found Langri sitting and giving a discourse to many disciples. The woman was worried that the child would die before the end of the discourse.

Knowing that Langri was a bodhisattva and would show patience, she walked up to Langri and declared, ‘Here take your baby. This is the father of my child.’ She then pleaded to Langri, ‘please don’t let my baby die.’

Langri nodded his head in acceptance and took the child. He wrapped it in robes and continued with his discourse. His disciples were amazed, and asked Langri if he really were the father of the child. In order to save the woman being ridiculed, Langri said he was the father of the child.

Langri looked after the child as if it was his own, and the child soon recovered to full health. The woman then asked if she could have the baby back. Langri complied with her request.

The disciples then questioned Langri again whether he was the father. Langri stated he was not.

By doing this, Langri had shown compassion and acted in the way meeting the needs of the time.

 

 

 

What is the way?

Ordinary mind is the way.

 

How should I pursue it?

If you move towards it, it moves away.

 

Then how can I attain knowledge of it?

The way does not belong to knowing or not knowing.

Knowing is delusion

Not-knowing is blank consciousness.

 

When you have truly reached

the true way beyond all doubt

you will find it as vast and

boundless as outer space.

 

 

 

One day a master fell down in the snow, and cried out, “Help me up, help me up!” A monk ran over and lay down beside him. The master got up and walked away.

 

 

You should pay attention to the fact that even the Buddha Sakyamuni had to practice zazen for six years. It is also said that bodhidharma had to do zazen for nine years in order to transmit the Buddha-mind. Since these ancient sages were so diligent, how can present-day trainees do without the practice of zazen?

You should stop pursuing words and letters and learn to withdraw and reflect on yourself. When you do so, your body and mind will naturally fall away, and your original Buddha nature will appear.

 

 

I come alone

I die alone

In between times

I am alone day and night.

 

 

Try not to localise the mind anywhere, but let it fill up the whole body. Let it flow throughout the totality of your being. When this happens you use the hands where they are needed, you use the legs where they are needed, and no time or energy will go to waste.

 

 

 

 

You paint the branch well

And you hear the wind.

 

 

Life is thus

Death is thus

Gata or not gata

What’s the fuss?

 

 

The great way is very simple.

Just avoid picking and choosing

 

 

The Zen Master Hakuin was praised as one who lived a pure life. A beautiful girl who lived near Hakuin was found, by her parents, to be pregnant. This made them very angry. After much harassment the girl named Hakuin as the father.

The angry parents went to Hakuin. “Is that so?” was all that he would say.

By the time the child was born Hakuin had lost his reputation, but this did not trouble him. Nonetheless, he took great care of the child.

A year later, out of guilt, the girl confessed to her parents the truth that Hakuin was not the father. The real father was a market-trader.

The parents at once went to Hakuin to apologise, seek forgiveness, and to get the child back.

In giving up the child, All Hakuin said was “Is that so?”

 

 

 

A Paean of Joy

 

Thro’ many a birth in Sansara wandered I,

Seeking but not finding, the builder of this house.

Sorrowful is repeated birth.

O house-builder! Thou art seen.

Thou shalt build no house again,

All thy rafters are broken,

Thy ridge-pole is shattered.

The Mind attains the Unconditioned.

Achieved is the End of Craving.

 

- Udana Gatha

 

 

For the sixth week after attaining Enlightenment, Buddha sat under a Mucalinda tree, enjoying the Bliss of Emancipation. Legend says that rain and gloomy weather lasted for the next seven days, and Mucalinda the serpent king came out of his abode and coiled his body around Buddha, and kept his large hood over the head of Buddha.  Buddha was thus protected from the weather, flies and reptiles.

After seven days Mucalinda seeing fair weather, uncoiled himself. He then left his own guise, and took on the form of a young man. He stood in front of Buddha and they joined hands.

Buddha then uttered a paean of joy,

 

“Happy is seclusion to him who is contented, to him who has heard the Truth, and to him who sees. Happy is goodwill in this world, and so is restraint towards all beings. Happy in this world is non-attachment, the passing beyond sense-desires. The suppression of the ‘I am’ conceit is indeed the highest happiness.”

 

 

At the end of the seventh week, after Buddha’s Enlightenment, two merchants, Tapassu and Bhalluka were passing near-by. Legend has it that a Deva spoke to the two merchants saying,

 

“The Blessed One is dwelling at the foot of the Rajayatana tree, soon after his Enlightenment.

 

Go and serve the Blessed One with flour and honeycomb. It will conduce to your well-being and happiness for a long time.”

 

So the two merchants took with them flour and honeycomb to the Buddha, saying,

 

“O Lord, may the Blessed One accept this flour and honeycomb so that it may long tend to our well-being and happiness.”

 

It occurred to the Buddha that Tathagatas do not accept food with their hands. Forthwith, four Guardian Deities offered Buddha four stone bowls saying,

 

“O Lord, may the Blessed One accept in these the flour and honeycomb.”

 

Buddha accepted the four bowls, which by his wish amalgamated into one bowl, received the flour and honeycomb and ate thereof.

 

When Buddha had finished his meal the merchants prostrated in front of him and said,

 

“We, O Lord, seek refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma. May the Blessed One treat us as lay disciples who have sought refuge from today until death.”

 

These were the first disciples to take the twofold refuge. The Sangha was not in existence then.

The merchants then begged the Buddha to give them an object of worship.  It is said the Buddha touched his head and presented them with some hair. It is believed this relic exists enshrined in the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon.

 

 

 

Thirty young men and their wives had gone to a grove to amuse themselves.  One of the men who did not have a wife took along a ‘lady friend.’  While they were enjoying themselves, this woman made-off with their valuables. The young men, who went in search of her, saw the Buddha and inquired of him whether he had seen the woman.

The Buddha questioned them thus,

 

“Which do you think, young men, is better, seeking a woman or seeking oneself?”

 

The men replied,

 

“Seeking oneself is better, O Lord.”

 

To which the Buddha said,

 

“Well then, sit down. I shall preach the teaching to you.”

 

They listened to the Buddha, and the ‘Eye of Truth’ arose in them. They all entered the Order and received Higher Ordination.

 

 

 

On one of Buddha’s journeys, a Brahmin called Dona joined the Buddha’s travelling party. While walking behind the Buddha, Dona noticed that the Buddha’s footprints left the clear mark of a wheel with 1000 spokes.

Later, when they rested, Dona approached the Buddha and asked him if he was a god or a spirit. The Buddha informed him his was neither.  So Dona inquired if the Buddha was a human being. Buddha replied thus,

 

“Indeed not am I human. Just as a lotus is born and grows in the water and mud, but is unspoiled by it, just so is a Buddha.”

 

 

 

One of the Buddha’s converts was, in the 20th year after attaining Buddhahood, Angulimala, whose original name was Ahimsaka. The legend behind Angulimala states that he was from a distinguished family, and was a leading pupil. However, his fellow students were jealous of him, and concocted a story to turn the teacher against him. The teacher, having become enraged at Angulimala, ordered him to fetch a thousand fingers as a present.  Some texts put this figure at a hundred fingers. With great reluctance, Angulimala retired to the woods and started murdering those he came into contact with so that he could collect the requisite number of fingers.  To be certain of the number of fingers collected, Angulimala made a garland of them, which he wore around his neck.

When Angulimala had collected 999 fingers, he set-off to kill his mother to add the final finger to his collection. This was in spite of the fact that it was his mother who was continuing to care for him. At this time the Buddha was near the woods, and was warned not to travel through them. However, the Buddha, unafraid, entered the woods. It was not long before the Buddha was seen by Angulimala.  Angulimala then decided to kill the Buddha instead of his mother. Though some interpretations say Angulimala had 998 fingers and was intending to kill both his mother and the Buddha. Nonetheless, in the woods Angulimala tried to sneak-up on the Buddha. Though the Buddha remained walking at a steady pace, no matter how fast Angulimala travelled, he was unable to catch up with the Buddha. Angulimala’s attempt to kill the Buddha was in vain, and he was eventually converted to the Dhamma and admitted to the Order.

 

 

It is said that in a previous life, at Sarnath, the Buddha, then the Bodhisattva Saranga Natha, Protector of the Deer, sacrificed his life to save a helpless doe and her unborn. The locality takes it name from Saranga Natha.

 

 

Pure is the water that flows

Pure is the monk that goes

 

 

 

On day Kisa Gotami turned up with a dead child in her arms.  She pleaded to the Buddha for medicine to bring the child back to life.  The Buddha realised that she was unable to accept her child’s death. So the Buddha said to her,

 

“Yes, I can help. First you must bring me a mustard seed. But this mustard seed must come from a home that has never seen death.”

 

 

Kisa Gotami searched all day but could not find such a house. In the evening she returned to the Buddha knowing now that she was not alone in her grief and that death is common to all people.

 

 

The Buddha told a story about a one-eyed turtle swimming in an ocean. The turtle comes up for air once every hundred years. Floating on the surface of the ocean there is a board with a hole in it.

The possibility of achieving a human birth after having fallen into the lower destinations is statistically less than that of the turtle rising to the surface of the ocean and putting its neck cleanly through the hole in the board.

 

 

A man had aroused a demon. This demon plagued him and told him that he would only leave him in peace if the man consented to break one of the Five Precepts.

Now the man was a sincere lay Buddhist who had kept his precepts pure. He thought; ‘I cannot break the First for to kill a Being is a most terrible thing. As to the Second, it is a crime and I have never stolen anything. I am happy with my wife and have always been faithful to her, so I can’t break the Third. If I break the Fourth, it will make someone unhappy and bring me a bad name.  What about the Fifth…?’ The man decided that one little drop of alcohol would not do any harm and would satisfy the demon.

The man had never before tasted alcohol and he was intrigued by its taste. The man thought, ‘This tastes good, a little more won’t harm me.’ And so, a little more, and more … until he was drunk.

Passing a tinker on his way home the man snatched some trinkets. Upon reaching his house he found his wife absent and noticed how pretty his neighbour’s wife looked. Going to her, he gave her the ornaments and they entered her house. After some intimacy together she proposed some food, so he took an axe and killed a goat. Finally, the tinker arrived with some officials to accuse the man of theft. The man denied the theft declaring his innocence.

And so all Five Precepts were broken!