Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Nine Ordeals Part 6(九惱六)
There is never a moment when life is not changing. In dealing with people and matters, there are highs and lows. Sometimes we may face great difficulties. Sometimes circumstances are exceptional. But only when one’s mindset remains constant can one find success.
The Nine Ordeals: Sex years of ascetic practice; Slander by Sundari; Foot pierced by wooden spear; Horse fodder as food; Massacre of the Sakya; Clan by King Virudhaka; Empty bowl after begging; Slander by Cincamanavika; Boulder dropped by Devadatta; Asking for robes to block cold wind.
Before I speak about the Buddha’s Ordeals, let me share a present-day story. In His sixth Ordeal, the Buddha returned from begging with an empty bowl. When He went out and begged for alms, He found that the entire village refused to give Him food. In the mundane world, there are the poor and the rich, but do these conditions last forever? No, they do not. People who are rich now may have been poor or had difficult times in the past.
The man I speak of now is a well-known and respected medical professional, an expert in thoracic surgery. He is very old now, and has lived a life that is enviable to others. He is a great and kind doctor.
Back in the 1940s, when he was in 9th grade his family was very poor. His father was a miner. His mother was virtuous and intelligent, yet neither of his parents received schooling, so they led an extremely tough life. The mother had seven children, one after another. The family was poor, the children malnourished. All the household chores fell to the mother. She was not healthy and got sick easily. Still, she took care of the kids. They were very poor, so the father felt guilty that he could not provide a better life for them. The more remorse he felt, the harder he worked. He left the house before sunrise and did not return until very late. He spent his days and nights in the dark mines. Twenty years passed this way, and his oldest son was in middle school. The father felt his burden more with the children in middle and elementary schools, so he worked to his limit.
After more than twenty years I the mines, one day he started coughing. It continued to get worse. But they could barely afford rice, let alone a doctor. So he continued working while he was sick. Two or three years later, he thought he caught a cold. With a fever and a very bad cough, he had to go to the doctor. The doctor took an x-ray and said it looked like pneumoconiosis, which affects people who spend a lot of time I mines. They inhale dust from rocks, dirt and coal, which leads to fibrosis of the lungs. The doctor warned him to not work anymore, told him that he needed to rest.
Meanwhile, who took on the burden of supporting the family? Of course it was the mother. She was illiterate and had poor health, but she took on the burden of providing for the family. So the oldest son told his father, “I’m not going to school anymore. I’m almost done with middle school anyway, so after graduation I’ll work.” His father angrily yelled at him, “Do you know how guilty I feel not being able to provide a good life for my wife and children? And now I can’t bear to see your mother worn down by this. You must continue your schooling. No matter how difficult things are at home, I want you to study. This is my wish.”
So he began telling his story to his son. He talked about his childhood. When he was born, his mother died in childbirth. His father thought this child brought bad luck, that his wife’s death and the family’s poverty were brought on by this child. So when his father was depressed, he would get drunk and beat him. As he beat him he would say, “This is because you brought bad luck.” The father refused to let him go to school. The miner grew up like that. Unable to provide a better life for his own family, he lamented his lack of education, but did not resent his father for hitting him. He only had one wish: no matter how poor his family was and how worn out he was, he would make sure his children had and education. This explained his attitude toward his son. So the boy learned about his father’s past. His grandfather’s opinion toward his father was the source of his father’s love for his wife and children, and his determination to put his children through school. Once he undertook that, he studied even harder.
Not long after that, his father could no longer breathe and passed away. After his death, his mother had to support a poor family of eight. How would they live? Growing older and weaker each year, his mother was often sick. He could not abandon his schooling because it was his father’s wish. But he could not bear to see his mother working so hard, so he decided to both study and work. He delivered newspapers in the early morning and then went to school. He left without eating breakfast, and while he was in school he often missed meals.
After he graduated from middle school, he went to high school. He was still delivering papers right before the university entrance exams. He studied late into the night and was malnourished. One early morning in winter, he was delivering papers in front of a house. There was a gate in the fence, and on the gate was a mailbox. As he stuffed the newspaper into the mailbox, he suddenly felt dizzy and everything went black. He had to lean against the gate, with his hand on the mailbox. At this time, the other door opened. A girl stood in the doorway, dressed in the uniform of Taipei First Girls’ High School. Seeing this young newspaper boy with his eyes closed, she asked, “Are you alright? What happened?”
He opened his eyes and said, “Nothing, I’m fine.”
But the girl said, “You look awful. Are you cold? Can I help you?”
He said, “Can you give me a cup of hot water?”
The girl rushed in and came out with a cup of steaming soymilk. He cupped the cup with both hands and felt joyous. After he finished drinking, he nodded and left quickly to deliver more papers. On his way he kept thinking about it, and felt chagrined. Why did he not thank her? Then he remembered he had seen her nametag from First Girls High School. So he kept thinking if he met her while delivering the papers again, he would thank her. He felt guilty, so every day when he delivered the paper to her home, he waited for at least two minutes, but he did not see her again.
After he qualified for medical school he left home and went to Taipei. After graduation, he become a doctor. He chose thoracic surgery because his father had died from an illness of the lungs. So he had always hoped to study medical. He worked hard until he became the chief of thoracic surgery at a major hospital. One day he saw the medical record of a new patient who came into the emergency room. He thought the name looked very familiar. It was a name that had been on his mind every day, so he rushed to see her. Although much time had a passed, her face was so familiar. So he rushed to give her emergency aid. He examined her, ordered x-rays, etc. he found a pulmonary embolism; her lungs blood vessels were clotted. He immediately performed surgery and rescued her from a critical condition.
She stayed in the hospital for over a month, but she was very worried. Her family was not well off. She had undergone a major surgery, but no one asked her for payment. The doctors said to not worry and to wait until discharged. When she was about to leave, the nurse brought her the bill. She was worried about how much it was and how she would pay. It looked like the bill was very high, but at the bottom, she saw something written in red pen “Your cup of soymilk has already covered this medical bill. Thank you for the cup of soymilk. I’ve owed you thanks for over twenty years.”
This story was so touching. The poor child of the 1940s became a famous doctor. Still Grateful for the cup soymilk, he saved her life twenty years later. It is said, “The courtesy of a cup of water will be repaid with a gourmet meal. A small goodness will be repaid tenfold. This was more than tenfold.”
Everyone, this is what we need to accumulate constantly. Do not belittle small kindnesses such as a cup of water when others are cold and we give them a steaming cup of water, to drink or to warm their hands, it is more than just a bit of good. Take this story it was just a cup of soymilk, but it saved her in an emergency. This is heartwarming.
Both benevolent and unwholesome thoughts accumulate and grow. So do not commit evils thinking them trivial; do not avoid good deeds thinking them slight.
Even after He stained enlightenment, when Buddha begged for alms, He came across an entire village of Brahmins who detested Buddhism. So how could He get food? The Buddha said that in His past lives He was just as miserly. His past stinginess was the cause of His present suffering from unfulfilled needs. So even a bowl of rice was hard to come by. Thus, giving is important. Giving, beneficial conduct, loving words, and mutual effort are the Four All-embracing Virtues. Even just a bit of charity is still giving. Something that helps and benefits others is beneficial conduct. Saying a good word is loving speech. When people work together and affect each other, it is cooperative deeds. In the Buddha’s teachings, these are the Four All-embracing Virtues. They are also very important in our daily lives. Even the Buddha endured hunger when no one made offerings. So of course ordinary men endure hunger, too. It is hard to avoid difficulties, so it is important to give while we can. So everyone always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)