Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Nine Ordeals Part 1(九惱四)
How many times in life do we experience spring? When things go as we wish, it is like spring. When we are growing up, it is the springtime of life. But how many springtimes do we experience?
In a book published by Tzu Chi, there is a story about a bowl of white rice. The story takes place in the vibrant city of Taipei. Several decades ago, before the development of Taipei’s economy and the reorganization of the city, it was an old city. There was a street vendor whose business would pick up every day around duck. One day, a young man appeared and told the vendor, “I’m sorry, sir, all I need is a bowl of rice. Can I just buy a bowl of rice?” The vendor was happy to do business, even if it was only rice. So the vendor and his wife scooped up a bowl of rice for him. Before leaving with the rice, the man saw someone’s leftover soup on a table. So he asked the vendor, “Sir, can I pour this leftover soup over my rice?” The vendor’s wife said, “Yes, sure!” So he poured the leftover soup over his rice, and then he left.
At the same time on the next day, the young student came again and bought another bowl of rice. The vendor asked, “Do you want some soup with it?” “Yes, please.” So he gave the young man some soup as well. The same thing happened the following day. From then on, the young man would come around at the same time to buy a bowl of rice.
Four years passed. Every day, around the same time, the vendor would prepare this student’s food. Sometimes he would add an egg, or vegetables to the bowl of rice. Four years passed like this. Before graduation, the student said to the vendor and his wife, “I’m grateful for what you’ve done over the last four years. Whatever I do in the future, I will always remember your kindness.”
After a few years, the couple gradually forgot about the young man. As the greater Taipei metropolitan area continued to develop, roads were widened and the old neighborhoods were demolished. Besides widening the roads, the city also planned to build parks. The busy area where this vendor worked was to be torn down. The vendor was very worried. Over the last few decades, they had made a living and raised their family there. Their eldest son was in the U.S., and their younger son was still in college. Without this place, what would they do? It was distressing.
One day, while they were setting up their booth, a man in a suit came and asked, “Are you the owner?”
“Yes, can I help you? Who are you?”
So the man took out his business card. He worked for a major corporation, and was the assistant of the general manager. He said, “Our manager asked me to talk to you. He knows this place is going to be torn down. There are many employees in our company, and we always have to worry about what to eat. Since our company needs a cafeteria, we would like for you to come and open a buffet.” The vendor and his wife were very happy, but they were suspicious of such a huge company wanting them to open a cafeteria. Later, the couple decided that they needed to go to the office building to meet with the manager.
When they arrived, the assistant and the manager were waiting for them at the entrance. They bowed politely and invited them in. The vendor thought the manager looked familiar. The manager greeted him and said, “Sir, don’t you recognize me?”
“I thought you looked familiar.” The vendor’s wife then recognized him.
The assistant quickly told them, “This is the manager I spoke of. He was the one who knew about you.” And just like that, this roadside vendor became the owner of the cafeteria for this large company.
So how many spring times do we really have? We must remain true to our resolve, just like the successful manager of this major company. He was once poor, but he kept his resolve and stayed true. He studied, worked hard, and endured hardships. The young man paid for two bowls of rice each day. The vendor, not wanting to hurt the young man’s self-esteem, slipped extra food into the rice. The young man remembered the help he had received. He forever etched the memory in his heart, and often remembered their kindness. He found the right time to return the favor.
A poor young man kept his resolve and stayed true. Forever etching kindness in his heart. He found the right time to repay the kindness.
On their side, although they had given to him, they did not see it as charity. It just happened naturally. They young man needed help, so the vendor showed kindness. It was natural for him. Giving should be done without expectations. Everyone, in our daily lives, we should help each other. If we can joyfully help others without asking for anything in return, it will create a cause, and a reward will follow.
That is the concept of cause and effect. With a seed born of love and unconditional giving, they received repayment, the fruition of love. The karmic retribution manifested in this lifetime. Life is truly wondrous.
The Karmic Law of Cause and Effect: As are the causes, so are the effects. When a virtuous seed is planted, there will be fruition of love in return.
The fourth Ordeal: Horse fodder as food. At the City of Viran, the Buddha ate horse fodder for three months. A Brahmacarin, the king’s teacher, asked about the causes that led to this. “The Sutra on Causes and Conditions.”
Buddha’s personal stories on the Law of Cause and Effect have been my topics for the past few days. The Law of Cause and Effect still affected the Buddha even after He had attained Buddhahood. Once, He took a group of bhiksus on His travels. He had just arrived in the area around Viran and wanted to teach and spread the Dharma there. When they arrived, they needed to beg for alms. However, no one there was willing to give, so the Buddha decided to stay and transform these people. What kind of life did the Buddha and the monks lead here? They had to go to the stables to eat the leftover oats, the horse feed. For how long? Ninety days. What causes and conditions had trapped them there for three months? The Buddha said, “This is because of unexhausted karma from causes created in the past.”
What kind of karma? He started telling a story from His past. A long time ago, there was a Buddha named Bipoye. Bipoye Tathagata also led a group of monks to educate and transform others. During their travels, they came to Pandumava City. The ruler of this city, a king, had great respect for the Buddha-Dharma. So when King Pandu learned that Bipoye Buddha and His monks came to his city, he was happy. He invited Bipoye Buddha and the monks to his palace to receive offerings. Bipoye Buddha happily and tacitly agreed. When Bipoye Buddha accepted, the king returned to his palace and prepared an abundant feast as an offering to Bipoye Buddha and His monks. He did this with great sincerity. Not only was the feast abundant, the decorations were also beautiful. They washed the floor with perfumed water and lit incense to demonstrate their utmost respect.
When Bipoye Buddha and the monks arrived, everyone made offerings with propriety. Bipoye Buddha then spoke the Dharma for the king. After the meal, before they left, they said there was an ill monk who could not come, so they asked the king for some food to take back with them. The king sincerely prepared some extra food for the sick monk.
During this time, there was a group of Brahman practitioners, about 500 youths who followed and practiced with a Brahman professor. The professor saw how well Bipoye Buddha and His monks were treated by the king, and how abundant the king’s offering was. Seeing them bring back such great food, the professor was jealous and began to speak evil of them. He said to his disciples, the youths that followed the Brahmin path, “These people do not deserve to eat such great food. They only deserve to eat leftover horse feed.” He also said, “In the future, you and your families should not give them anything good at all, give them only the most unrefined food.” This happened innumerable Kalpas ago.
The Buddha was that Brahman professor. Innumerable Kalpas ago, he was a Brahman cultivator whose mind was unenlightened, so he still had ignorance and envy. When he saw Bipoye Buddha and His monks, he was not joyful, he was jealous. The Buddha said, “Do you know? I was that Brahman practitioners. This happened in one of my past lives. Those 500 youths are the 500 Arhats who accompany me now. Because everyone heard my words and had the same thoughts, together we created this karma. That is why you have followed me to this city, and why no one was willing to give alms when we begged. You and I share this karma. The cause originated from what we did in our past lives, and this is our retribution. So now we are eating horse feed and facing these difficulties. Although I’ve attained Buddhahood and your spiritual cultivation is going well, we must still joyful accept this retribution.” This remnant of karma is an unpaid debt. That is why the Buddha was trapped for 90 days in Viran without food, disparaged, and unable to get offerings.
Everyone, cause and effect is distressing. Sometimes retribution happens in this life, like the college student and the food vendor. In this lifetime, the vendor joyfully gave without asking for anything in return and the young man studied hard, not tempted by the extravagant surroundings. The student’s hard work was rewarded by later success. It took self-control and discipline. I often say, “abide by your resolve, follow the Way, and your Path will be wide.” Learning Buddha-Dharma is the same. We must really study hard and take care of our minds. In our daily live, facing various conditions, people and matters, we must take careful our minds.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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