The Excerpts #41: The Excerpts: The Power of Love
King Bimbisara
Before the Buddha realized enlightenment, he met with
King Bimbisara,who ruled the kingdom of Magada. The
King invited him to stay and rule his kingdom, but the
Buddha did not accept the invitation. He said that
he wanted to find the Truth. So the King asked Buddha
to return and teach him when he found the Truth. This
event happened to the Buddha about one year before he
realized Enlightenment.
The Buddha never forgot the promise he made to King
Bimbisara. When the time was right, the Buddha
journeyed from the city of Alavaka to Rajagriha.
Outside of this royal city, there was a hill called
Vulture's Peak where the Buddha and many of his
disciples went and lived in caves.
King Bimbisara often went to Vulture's Peak (the
pointed top of a mountain where vultures lived on the
flesh of dead animals) to hear the Dhamma of the
Buddha. The people of the city also went there. Soon
the number of Buddha's followers grew very large.
After some time, the King and several other rich
people gave the Buddha and his disciples parks where
everyone could stay and listen to his teaching in
comfort. The name of the park is Veruvana, or Bamboo
Grove.
Devadata
The Buddha's cousin, Devadatta, who became a Buddhist
monk when the Buddha visited Devadattas birthplace of
Kapilavastu, became very jealous. "Buddha has so many
people following him," he thought, "and everyone shows
him so much respect. But they all ignore me, and I am
as great as he is. I must destroy him!" He knew that
he would need help in killing the Buddha, so he went
to King Bimbisara's son, Ajatasattu, and asked him
"Don't you want to be King? Why should your father
have all the wealth and power? Come, if you help me
kill the Buddha, I shall help you kill your father.
Then you can become King in his palace."
Wicked Words
The King's son listened to these wicked words and
agreed to do what Devadatta suggested. Then they tried
many ways to murder the Buddha. One day, while the
Buddha was sitting in meditation near Vulture's Peak,
they rolled a very large boulder down the hill towards
him. But just before it reached him, the rock split in
half, leaving the Buddha unharmed. Another time, the
Buddha was walking through the city with several of
his disciples. Two men brought an elephant and fed it
lots of liquor. When it was quite drunk, they beat it
with sticks until it was wild with anger. Then they
released it in the direction of the Buddha, hoping the
elephant would trample him to death.
Love All Beings
When the disciples and other people saw the enraged
elephant charging towards them they ran away in fear.
Only Ananda, the Buddha's closest companion, stayed by
his teacher's side, holding on to Buddha's robe.
Buddha, instead of being frightened or angry, felt
great love and pity for the poor beast. Even though
the elephant was drunk and crazed, it felt the power
of the Buddha's love. It stopped charging, and walked
over to the Buddha meekly, and then bowed down at the
Buddha's feet.
Buddha patted the elephant gently and said to Ananda,
"The only way to destroy hatred is with love. Hatred
cannot be defeated with more hatred. This is a very
important lesson to learn." Universal love and
compassion, therefore, should be cultivated in our
mind. Only in this way we can reach real happiness in
life. No defilement can defeat universal love and
compassion. All people, especially Buddha's followers,
should give loving kindness to every living being
without exception.
"article extracted from Buddhism for young students
by Ven. Dr. C. Phangcham"