“Everyone, every person in the world, doesn’t matter if he’s noble or lowly, rich or poor, all of that is because of their karma in the past. You sow the good karma or wicked karma. The persons who are very humane and moral, humble, respect the superior, and tolerant to the lower subordinate, these are noble.”
Before entering that forest… They call it a garden, but it’s very big and has big trees and all that. It’s a forest. So, before he entered that forest, at the… almost like the gate of the forest, he saw a monk sitting on a stone, big stone, and mending his clothes with thread and needle, he was mending. And then on the floor at his feet, at the feet of this monk, there were 700 heavenly beings offering him flowers and prostrating to him, and then also circumambulating him. Then the king nearing him… At least the king had some wisdom eye open that he can see the heavenly beings. If Ananda was there, he would say, “Thus I have heard… Thus I have heard the king say this, the king say that,” but he would see nothing. Ananda had been with the Buddha in countless assemblies, where everybody was taken to Tusita Heaven or Trayastrimsa Heaven, everywhere. Everybody came back and enjoyed while there and came back and talked, but Ananda always sat there blind, deaf, dumb. And then, “Thus I have heard.” At least his ears… not deaf. Meaning deaf to heavenly music and whatever they talked in Heaven at that time together with the Buddha’s astral body, or heavenly body. He knew nothing. Always, “Thus I have heard.” But thank God he heard something and remembered.
So the king came near to the monk who was sitting on the stone and mending his tattered clothes. “Pray to noble being,” means to the monk, “I would like to come in to pay obeisance to the Buddha. Could you please come in and inform the Buddha first?” So the monk said, “Yes, yes, I will do that.” And then he ran inside. And then he just went through the stone and went inside. He didn’t jump down because it’s very high, so he went through the stone. He went inside the stone and came out like a gate, and then came inside, to come inside and tell the Buddha. “Prostrate to You, the World Honored One, the King Pasenadi outside at the gate, at the edge of the forest, wants to come to see You.” So the Buddha said, “OK, you use your magical power, your practicing power to go out and say first, then OK, I’ll let him come in.” So Ni Đề came out from the stone again. Like, from stone, he just appeared from inside the stone, and came out. Just like somebody comes out from the water and no… nothing obstructive. So he came out and said, “Your Majesty, I have already informed Buddha. Please come in.” So the Pasenadi, the king, was thinking to himself, “The thing I want to ask, I’ll probably just let it be. I will ask the Buddha who is this bhiksu and why has he so much power like this? And then many heavenly beings even come down and make offerings to him and pay respect to him so much like that.” So when he came in to see the Buddha, he prostrated in front of Buddha and then circumambulated three times, and then stayed in one side and asked the Buddha, “I prostrate to the Buddha,” but doesn’t mean he prostrates. It’s just it’s written like that, meaning, “Praised be the Buddha, I pray to the Buddha.”
“Please tell me, outside there is a bhiksu, he is so powerful. He goes through the stone just like people go through the water. And the stone is still intact, nothing broken. What is his name? Where does he come from, can You tell me?” Perhaps he just saw the manifestation body, the divided body of the bhiksu. Buddha already knew that the king was coming, so He probably made all this happen, not necessarily that the real physical monk, Ni Đề, was there.
So the Buddha said, “Oh, he is just the lowliest person in this country, in your country. He’s Ni Đề. Every day he takes the poo out and brings it outside, and cleans the bucket and all that. I feel sorry for him, so I let him be a monk to study with me. And he’s nothing much, just not very long, now he’s already become Arhat. He’s nothing really worth mentioning, is it? I know today you came here because you wanted to ask about this. Is that right?” So after the Buddha said that, he felt so ashamed, didn’t know what to say. The king didn’t know what to say. And then all his arrogance dropped off on the floor.
Because seeing him thus, the Buddha said to him, “Everyone, every person in the world, doesn’t matter if he’s noble or lowly, rich or poor, all of that is because of their karma in the past. You sow the good karma or wicked karma. The persons who are very humane and moral, humble, respect the superior, and tolerant to the lower subordinate, these are noble.” He means all this nobility lineage, richness and all that is not really a noble lineage. The person who is such and such is really from noble lineage, really can be called noble person, aristocrat. “Anyone who is wicked and violent, or stubborn, rude, impolite, or very arrogant, doesn’t know which is right, which is wrong, that is the lowly person, stupid, idiot.” So, the Buddha was teaching the king. Noble or not is not from the rank on this planet. Even if you’re a king but you’re not moral, you’re not humble, you’re not learned in spiritual practice, you’re not high level in spiritual level, then you’re nothing.
So the king said, “Pray to the Buddha, You are the great saint coming down here to help us. You save everyone, even the lowest person. You never deny anyone at all if that person has good affinity, good merit. So could You please tell us, what is the reason that he has to be born in such a lowly family, lowly class, and then what merit did he earn to meet You and even become a monk, and even attain a high level? Please be merciful and teach us.” “Your Majesty, listen. I will tell you.” And then the king said, “Please, please tell us.”
And the Buddha said, “This is a long, long time, past life, at the time of Kasyapa Buddha after He went to Nirvana,” means after He left this physical planet, “there were 100,000 monks living together in one of the pine forests. One day the chief monk of that assembly who owned the forest, the pine forest, where all the 100,000 monks stayed, he had a problem with his stomach. He had to take some, like, laxative. Because he thought, ‘I’m the owner, I’m a higher position.’ So he didn’t want to go to the toilet, the public toilet or the toilet that’s made. He bought a big pitcher, a big bucket, silver and outside lacquered with gold.” Wow! As if the poo cares what quality the bucket is. Does the poo care? No, huh? (No.) Yeah, but you’re laughing. You’re laughing. But some people are like that.
Even nowadays, we are also sometimes… It’s so funny how we do it. Like the toilet paper. OK, for example. There’s so much chemical in it, poisoning the streams and the water already, and still have to print flowers on it and perfume the toilet rolls for some royal A-S… You understand me? (Yes.) You know what, right? You know for some royal what. I wonder if the toilet seat ever cares whether the toilet paper is printed with flowers or perfume or not. You think the toilet seat will care? (No.) Or the toilet or the septic tank or whatever would care that the toilet paper is printed with flowers or perfume? Yes or no? (No.) Yeah, it’s ridic… Oh, sorry, I don’t mean to offend, but it’s really too far, too much. Not only we contaminate enough with the bleaching and everything already, the toilet (paper) has to be so white and then different kinds of colored flowers on it, and saying some words on it as if the toilet water can read. You know, some good words, whatever words printed on it. Flowers and words on the toilet paper. When you go to toilet do you read the toilet paper yourself? Or is that for the toilet seat to see what kind of noble toilet paper you have?
Now this guy, though being a monk, but you see, different level. You can’t just say 100,000 of them, they are all good. So this one was… He owned the forest and he let all the monks stay there, and this was very good, very good, charitable, very good, worthy of praise. But he still had this ego. So he bought this silver bucket, gold plated, gold lacquer outside. Silver, gold. And then he did his toilet in there. And then he asked one of the disciples to take it outside, to throw it out every day. But he didn’t know this disciple monk had already attained some high level of practice. So he shouldn’t make him do this, that’s what he meant.
This person already deserved respect from Heaven and man already. So this person, the owner of the forest, had not attained that high level, or even higher than him. So this was a very terrible thing, like offense, abuse of the sangha, abuse of the Buddha, or the saints. Remember the story, the Earth Store Bodhisattva? Or so many of the other things before.
Therefore, because this monk, the owner of the forest, had no humility, not enlightened enough to see who is low, who is high − not according to class or position, but according to the inner realization. He didn’t know. So, he treated him like that; he relied on his position and power. And just to take care of the sangha and have the forest like that and relying on this position, abusing other people, make them work for him like that. And to make that saintly saint – he was a saint already, the disciple was a saint – make a saint to do this kind of lowly job for you, because you’re lazy, because you are arrogant, haughty, thinking that you’re the boss there. Because of that reason, he had to be recycling, recycling himself in transmigration. And every time he was born as a human, he had to be born as a lowly class like that. In 500 lifetimes, he must do this job.
Just for one lifetime, one lifetime. And even that one lifetime maybe just 20, 30 years. Because when he was already the senior monk and took care of the whole monks, then he was already maybe 50, 60 already. So, he probably died before 100. So 30, 40 years only to ask a disciple to do this, to throw out the poo for him when he could go to the toilet himself. Therefore, 500 years… Talking about unfairness last night. Only maximum 50 years he asked the disciple to do that. Now he has to pay 500 years. How many times more? Ten times. 500 years he had to be born in this lowly class and do this job, taking the poo out and cleaning the bucket, return, to earn money. Up to today, never stopped. Until today, until this lifetime, before meeting the Buddha.
“But because he had also the merit of renunciation, he was a monk, and he kept the precepts perfectly, therefore, today he has a chance to meet me and I can save him. Your Majesty should know, the owner of the pine forest in that lifetime is Bhiksu Ni Đề today.” So even though you do good things but you do bad things, you still have to pay for bad things and earn good things. Sometimes you earn the good thing first, good for you. Sometimes you pay the bad karma first, bad for you. See that? (Yes.) OK.
So in this life, as I told you, it’s not fair and that’s normal. Normal for this world is like that. This is a world of unfairness. It’s fair, but it’s too fair and too unfair. So, we have to just walk the line, strict like this. Cannot even look anywhere. Keep the precepts, perfectly. Because even though you practice with me, but if you do bad things, you still need to pay for it. Maybe lesser than if you are not practicing, but still you must pay. Either here or after life. And depends on how grave, you even might go to hell, just to clean up that first.
But I have to remind you, even if you have to go to hell, please remember the Five (Holy) Names. Remember your Master. If you call, then you’ll be saved, immediately. But I’m worried at that time, you don’t have enough energy to think. You’re so pained, so harassed, so molested, so punished that you could not even think. That is the only problem. So during this lifetime, better to keep your moral standard intact. Keep your precepts. And practice, remembering Master, remember the Five (Holy) Names so that in the time of trouble, emergency, you will habitually remember that. Then you can be saved. You must save yourself then, in that situation. Because in some situations, the Master can come to save you. Some situations are so grave, you have to call on the Master for help. Or the Five Holy Names. Then you’re out, immediately. Because everything is illusionary anyway.
Even hell or anything is your own making. You attract it or you repulse it. So, this is also good about this world. You can choose. After initiation, you can choose. Or, if you’re a good person, you can choose. You believe in God, Buddha, you can choose. Can choose better than other ordinary people who have no faith and don’t believe in God. Even believing in God, you have to practice daily, you pray daily. You keep the precepts, so at the time you die, you remember because it’s habit. The mind remembers, always doing this, doing this, doing this. Even emergency, you don’t forget, then it’s good. Not just say, “I know Master, I know what Master says, She always, ‘La, la, la, la.’ I remember, I know everything.” But if you don’t always remember it and practice it, reminding yourself all the time, then at the time of death, you forget. When all the (bad) karma comes and is tearing you apart, tearing you apart, making you suffer. Or in hell, suffering too much, you can’t remember. Everything you practice every day, you could sometimes forget, not to talk about the things you don’t practice. OK. Right.
And the king said, “Yes. Praised be the Buddha, I pray to You. So precious, so precious! You appearing in this world is so rare already, and You benefit countless beings like this. We are so grateful.” And then the Buddha said, “Yes, yes, it’s correct. You say it correctly. The beings transmigrate in the three suffering worlds. It’s limitless and there’s no time that they can get out. There’s no fixed time that they can get out. So it’s better you cultivate your moral standard, keep your merit, make your merit, make yourself worthy, then you will reap the good rewards. Anyone who is wicked and bad and does not care then will have to be born in a lowly position or worse.”
After the Buddha said that, the king was so happy, happy, and he suddenly released himself from his arrogance and condescending, judging people from appearance. So he stood up and then went and knelt in front of the bhiksu Ni Đề, touched his feet, and then prostrated, prostrated, and begged him to forgive his sin, his arrogance, his mistake. After that, the Buddha, for the king, He preached many things, like charity, the merit of charity, the merit of keeping the precepts, discipline, the merit of how you can be born in Heaven, how indulging in sensual pleasure, physical pleasure, is bad for you. If you can cut that off, then you will have peace. He kept preaching different kinds of merit, and different kinds of detachment for the king, especially just for the king that day. Everyone in that assembly at that time together, everyone became so glad, and they vowed to themselves they would cut off this arrogant quality and attitude, obey the Buddha’s teaching and diligently practice His teaching.
It’s done. Thank you. Clapping is for the Buddhas and Ananda. I’m just reading. So now you know. It wasn’t that scary, was it? (No.) No. It’s not too bad for a change. Not too bad.
