The Cruel Butcher

There was once a Butcher who was a very mean and wicked man. Never in his life had he ever done any meritorious deeds. His job was slaughtering pigs and he loved it, often torturing them mercilessly before putting them to death.

One day he got very sick and finally died, but before he died he suffered such agony that he crawled around on his hands and knees for days, squealing and grunting like a pig being slaughtered.

It so happened that the butcher’s home was within ear’s reach of the monastery where the Buddha and his monks were staying. When the bhikkhus heard the desperate squeals coming from his house, they assumed that the miserable butcher was at his cruel work again and shook their heads in great disapproval.

The squeals and grunts went on for several days until, one day, they stopped just as suddenly as they had begun. The monks could not help but remark to each other how wicked and hard-hearted the butcher was for having caused his poor animals so much pain and suffering.

The Buddha overheard what they were saying and said, “Bhikkhus, the butcher was not slaughtering his pigs. He was very ill and in such great pain that he was acting like the pigs he used to enjoy inflicting pain upon.

His bad kamma had finally caught up with him. Today he died and was reborn in a woeful state of existence.” The Buddha then exhorted his disciples to be alert at
doing good, for anyone who did evil deeds would have to suffer for them. There was no way to escape from one’s evil deeds, he warned his disciples.

Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves. The evildoer grieves in both existences. He grieves and he suffers anguish when he remembers his impure deeds.

Source:

 

The Unfortunate Hunter

http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Stories/Dhammapada_Stories/Cruel_Butcher.htm

 

Early one morning, Koka was on his way out to hunt with his dogs when he saw a monk on his almsround. Not particularly fond of monks, he thought that meeting one on the way would only bring him bad luck, meaning that he would probably not catch anything at all. And, indeed, as he feared, his game bag remained empty all day.

On his way home, Koka happened to come across the same monk he had seen earlier in the day. Still sore at the monk for having spoiled his hunt, he sought revenge by setting his dogs on him. The poor innocent monk just barely made it into the branches of a nearby tree when the dogs arrived snarling and snapping wildly at him.

He sat there safely in the tree out of their reach until Koka came along
and started poking the soles of his feet with the sharp end of one of his arrows. This made the poor monk jump about to avoid injury, and while he was doing so, his robe became undone and started slipping off him.

Unable to hang on to it and keep his balance in the tree at the same time, the robe finally fell on Koka below, covering him up completely. When the dogs saw the yellow robe, they mistook their master for the monk and attacked him mercilessly, mauling him to death.

Subsequently, the monk became fraught with guilt, feeling that it was his fault that Koka got killed. He went to seek the Buddha’s advice. The Buddha assured him that it was the hunter, not he, who was at fault, for Koka had tried to bring harm to someone who had done him no wrong. For that reason, Koka came to face an unfortunate death.

Like fine dust thrown against the wind, evil falls back upon the fool who offends a harmless man, one pure and innocent,

 

Dhammapada Verse 15
Cundasukarika Vatthu

Idha socati pecca socati
papakari ubhayattha socati
so socati so vihannati
disva kammakilitthamattano.

Verse 15: Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves; the evil-doer grieves in both existences. He grieves and he suffers anguish when he sees the depravity of his own deeds.

The Story of Cundasukarika

While residing at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha, the Buddha uttered Verse (15) of this book, with reference to Cunda, the pork-butcher.

Once, in a village not far away from the Veluvana monastery, there lived a very cruel and hard-hearted pork-butcher, by the name of Cunda. Cunda was a pork-butcher for over fifty-five years; all this time he had not done a single meritorious deed. Before he died, he was in such great pain and agony that he was grunting and squealing and kept on moving about on his hands and knees like a pig for seven whole days. In fact, even before he died, he was suffering as if he were in Niraya*. On the seventh day, the pork-butcher died and was reborn in Avici Niraya. Thus, the evil-doer must always suffer for the evil deeds done by him; he suffers in this world as well as in the next.

In this connection, the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:

Verse 15: Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves; the evil-doer grieves in both existences. He grieves and he suffers anguish when he sees the depravity of his own deeds.

* Niraya or Naraka: a place of continuous torment sometimes compared with hell; but it is different from hell because suffering in Niraya is not everlasting like suffering in hell. Avici Niraya is the most fearful of all Nirayas.

The Sutra about the Deep Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty of Repaying It

 

This sacred text and eye-opener is also called Filial Piety Sutra. A retelling follows, and references to the whole sutra is below. - Tormod Kinnes http://oaks.nvg.org/filial-piety.html

Buddha once led his assembly of wandering monks on a walk toward the south. Suddenly they came upon a pile of bones beside the road. The Blessed One faced them and bowed respectfully.

      Buddha’s personal servant Ananda asked him, “Why?”
      Buddha told Ananda, “This pile of bones could have belonged to my ancestors. That is the reason I now bow to them.”

      Ananda said to the Buddha, “Blessed One, when men are alive in the world they adorn their bodies with robes, belts, shoes, hats and other fine attire to appear OK. When women are alive, they put on cosmetics, perfumes, powders, and elegant fragrances in order to appear better.”

      Buddha commented further, “Most women also give birth to and raise children, quite as an inborn duty. Each child relies on its mother’s milk for life and nourishment. Each child drinks a lot of its mother’s milk. It may deplete the mother unless she gets good nourishment.”

      When Ananda heard these words, he felt a pain inside and said to the Blessed One, “How can one repay one’s mother’s kindness and virtue?”

      Buddha answered, “By the ninth month the foetus is ready to assimilate the different nutrients of the foods - child’s food. There is more into it too. And during the tenth month the foetus is ready to be born.

      Now, to explain more clearly, there are ten types of kindness bestowed by the mother on the child:

 

  1. The kindness of providing protection and care while the child is in the womb.
  2. The kindness of bearing suffering during the birth.
  3. The kindness of forgetting all the pain once the child has been born.
  4. The kindness of eating the bitter herself and saving the sweet for the child.
  5. The kindness of moving the child to a dry place and lying in the wet herself.
  6. The kindness of suckling the child at her breast and nourishing and bringing up the child.
  7. The kindness of washing away the unclean.
  8. The kindness of always thinking of the child when it has travelled far.
  9. The kindness of deep care and devotion.
  10. The kindness of ultimate pity and sympathy.

To elaborate on each:

1. As the months pass, the mother’s fine clothes no longer hang properly, and so her mirror gathers dust.

2. Each morning the mother may be seriously nauseated, and also drowsy and sluggish.

3. Upon hearing that the child is healthy, the exhausted mother is overcome with joy.

4. Her love is weighty and her kindness is deep and so is her compassion. A compassionate mother doesn’t speak of her own hunger while feeding her dear child.

5. Covering the child with her sleeve, she protects it from the wind and cold. She does this happily so long as the child is comfortable.

6. The kindness of parents is such that they know no hatred or anger toward their offspring. The parents care for and protect it together until their dying days.

7. She will even forego having a beautiful face; the kind mother acts solely for the sake of her sons and daughters, and willingly allows her beauty to fade.

8. Separation is painful: When the child travels afar, the mother worries in the village. Her heart is with her child.

9. The kindness of parents is deep and difficult to repay. Some undergo suffering on their child’s behalf.

10. If a mother lives for a hundred years, she will worry about her eighty-year-old child!

Buddha said to Ananda, “Human beings don’t consider their parents’ great kindness and virtue. They are found lacking in respect for those who brought them into the world and nourished them and made them fit for living.
      Parents ought to instruct and guide their children in the ways of propriety and morality as the youngsters mature into adults. They may take this responsibility and trouble upon themselves with great zeal and toil, and never speak much about their care and kindness. How sad that all too often the children are unfilial in return! When they ought to be polite, they have no decent manners, or no sense of propriety.
      Children may be well taught, but if they are unfilial, they will not heed the instructions or obey the rules. Instead they are contrary and rebellious when interacting with their brothers. Their speech and actions get arrogant and they act on impulse without consulting others. Such children are immature and need to be looked after and protected by their elders.
      As such children grow up, they become entirely ungrateful and contrary, rejecting both family and friends. Under the influence of evil people they soon adopt bad habits. They come to take what is false to be true.
      Such children may be enticed to denounce their parents and reject their native place. They may languish in comfort and luxury. They may marry in haste and that new bond provides yet another obstruction.
      In going to live in foreign places, these children may find themselves plotted against, wrongly accused and locked up in prison. Yet no one there will really care for them. When their lives come to an end, these children will never again have a happy reunion with their relatives and kin. Even when they become ghosts, their souls still cling to a lot and are unable to let go.
      Others of these unfilial children may not aspire to learning, but instead become interested in strange and bizarre doctrines and delighting in practices that are utterly devoid of benefit. They may also drag their brothers into it.
      If such children do live at home, they may not return home at night until late. Never do they ask about the welfare of their parents. They do not inquire after their parents’ well being in the morning or the evening, every fortnight, and so on. In fact, it never occurs to these unfilial children to ever ask whether their parents have slept comfortably or rested peacefully. Such children are simply not concerned about their parents’ well being. When the parents of such children grow old and their appearance becomes more and more withered and emaciated, they are made to feel ashamed to be seen in public and are subjected to abuse and oppression.


      The widower parents of ungrateful children may be left alone in empty houses, may endure cold and hunger, but no one takes heed of their plight. They may sigh from morning to night. It is only right that children should provide for ageing parents with food and drink of delicious flavours, but irresponsible children are sure to overlook such deep duties.


      The parents’ kind thoughts for their offspring is extensive. How difficult it is to repay being unfilial!”

      On hearing Buddha speak about the depth of one’s parents’ kindness, all the monks that followed him lamented loudly, “We are all offenders who have never awakened, like those who travel in a dark night. We have just now understood our offenses. Please tell us how we can repay the deep kindness of our parents!”

      Buddha said, “It is hard to repay the deep kindness and efforts of one’s parents.”
      The weeping monks asked again, “Oh, how can we repay the deep kindness of our parents?”

      Buddha answered, “Recite this Sutra on their behalf. Repent of transgressions and offenses on their behalf. For the sake of your parents, hold the precept of pure eating, and cultivate blessings. If you are able to do these things, you are being a filial child.”

      Buddha told Ananda, “If a person is not filial, when his life ends he will fall into suffering that is difficult to take, difficult to bear.”

      To the assembly: “If you wish to repay the kindness of your parents, then print this Sutra. This is truly repaying their kindness, for as a result Buddhas can at once cause the parents of such people to be reborn in the heavens and to leave behind the sufferings of the hells.”

      At that time, Ananda and the rest of the Great Assembly wept and declared, “We will never go against the Tathagata’s sagely teachings.”

THE STORY OF THE TWELVE ANIMALS on the Chinese calendar- A Buddhist Folk Legend  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Courtyard/1652/Animals.html

NOTE: When and how did the twelve animals became designated as the animals of each consecutive years are not officially known. But the following folk legend is the most popular one.

ACT I  -  A Demand for Respect

One day the Four Celestial Generals came to see Emperor Sakra (the King of Heavens in Buddhism, some Chinese called him Jade Emperor) and reported, “Your Majesty, there is a group of animals protesting outside the Heavenly Gate demanding respect.”

“What is going on?” asked Emperor Sakra. “Bring their representatives in. I like to hear what they say.”

“Yes, your Majesty” replied the Celestial Generals and soon they returned with a mouse, an ox and a monkey.”

“Your Majesty.” said the animal representatives. “We demand respect from human beings.”

“Why?”

“Because we animals provide human beings with food, milk, clothing, transportation, work and recreation. We plow their fields, pull their carts, watch their houses, sing to them and give them companionship. Therefore, we demand recognition and respect from human beings.”

“OK. Your request is granted” said the King of Heavens. “The Lord Buddha is the teacher of all sentient beings in the Universe. Now he is sick and you should all visit Him. I now give the decree that the first ten animals that go to see Him on the coming New Year Day will be named the animals of the consecutive years. Now, you go to tell everyone in the Animal Kingdom.”

So off they went. The mouse would inform all the household animals, the ox, all the farm animals and the monkey, all the animals in the wild, that the Lord Buddha was sick and everyone would visit Him to pay tribute, right on midnight of the coming New Year Eve.

ACT II  -  The Mouse Cheated the Cat

Time had come on New Year Eve. The cat came home from a big New Year Eve party and was very tired. He asked the mouse, “I am very tired. I like to sleep for a while before I go to see the Lord Buddha. Can I trust you to wake me up so that we can go together?”

“Sure” said the mouse. “Trust me. Otherwise, I would not tell you of this big occasion at all.”

Then the cat went to his bed and soon was sound asleep. It was now a few moments away from midnight and the mouse thought, “If I go by myself, I will have one less competitor.” So off he went without bothering waking up the cat.

ACT III  -  At the Temple

As everybody was waiting outside the Temple, the Celestial Generals arrived to make sure everything was in order and to act as referees. They would report back to Emperor Sakra the result of this competition. Buddha’s senior student Ananda was responsible for recording the winning animals. When everybody was ready, one of the Celestial Generals shouted out the order in military fashion, “ARE YOU READY? NOW!! GO!!”

Off everybody went in the race. The ox was a very strong animal because he used to plow the land for human beings, so he was leading all the way. “How can I win the race? I am no match for the ox. I have to do some trick.” thought the mouse. And he jumped onto the ox and climbed all the way to the horn. When the ox arrived, the mouse jumped down and immediately paid tribute to the Buddha. Ananda had no choice but to give the mouse a first, followed by the ox. Soon, all the other eight animals arrived in the following order: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey and rooster. And Ananda wrote down all the ten animals in his report.

“STOP!!” shouted the Celestial Generals ” We have ten animals already!”

But Ananda wrote in such a hurry and excitement that he put down DOG instead of STOP in his hand writing.

“We have enough animals! Would you stop writing PLEASE?!” shouted the Celestial Generals. But, in an excitement, Ananda put down PIG instead of PLEASE. Seeing this, the Celestial Generals rushed over to Ananda and took the report from him.

When daylight arrived, the Celestial Generals took the report and returned to the Heavenly Palace. “Oh Well” said Emperor Sakra, on reading the report. “Since there are twelve animals paying tribute to the Lord Buddha. I will decree that all of them will be named animals of each year from now onwards.” And from then onward, each of the the twelve animals is designated for each year in the Buddhist calendar.

ACT IV   -  The Mouse Deserves Punishment for his Cheating

Back home the cat asked the mouse, “When are we going to see the Lord Buddha?”

“You slept like a log.” replied the mouse. “Everyone went, and I am the winner!”

On hearing this, the cat was furious. “You cheater!” He jumped upon the mouse and killed him. From then onwards, all the cats in the world will try to catch and kill the mouse whenever possible.

NOTE: In Buddhism, the Four Celestial Generals stand guard at the gateway to Heaven (similar to the role of St. Peters in Catholic). Sometimes they are called the Four Great Diamond Generals.

Cross reference between Western and Chinese Calendar:

 

Mouse    - 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948, 1936, 1924, 1912, 1900

Ox       - 1997, 1985, 1973, 1961, 1949, 1937, 1925, 1913, 1901

Tiger    - 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, 1938, 1926, 1914, 1902

Rabbit   - 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939, 1927, 1915, 1903

Dragon   - 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940, 1928, 1916, 1904

Snake    - 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, 1929, 1917, 1905

Horse    - 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954, 1942, 1930, 1918, 1906

Sheep    - 2003, 1991, 1979, 1967, 1955, 1943, 1931, 1919, 1907

Monkey   - 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956, 1944, 1932, 1920, 1908

Rooster  - 2005, 1993, 1981, 1969, 1957, 1945, 1933, 1921, 1909

Dog      - 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, 1934, 1922, 1910

Pig      - 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959, 1947, 1935, 1923, 1911