A Story from Buddhist Sutra:
This is what I (ie, Ananda, Buddha's Senior Student) have heard from the teaching of the Lord Buddha:
Once upon a time, there were 500 merchants returning from a successful business trip overseas, bringing back with them lots of precious stones. On their way home they were crossing a mountainous huge forest. It was getting dark and the merchantsput up their camps for the night.
Next morning, everybody waked up and continued with their journey. But one of them slept in and was left behind. As a result he was wondering around by himself in the huge forest and got lost. Suddenly, a black cloud covered the sky and the weather turned cold. To make the matter worse, it started snowing and soon the snow covered the road completely. Facing such difficulties, the lost merchant bursted into tears and kneeled down to pray for help.
"What happened?" suddenly a voice came from above. It was the God of Forest that was sent down by Emperor Sakra. (NOTE: Emperor Sakra is the King of Gods in Buddhism).
"I got lost. How can I survive this winter in a strange huge forest?"
"Don't worry. I am the God of Forest. The Heavenly Emperor told me to help you out to survive this winter here. Come with me. See the big tree there? Use it as a shelter and it will give you warmth. In the mean time, I will bring you some food." Then, for the whole winter, the lost merchant stayed under the big tree using it as shelter.
Spring arrived and gradually the snow thawed away. It was time to say good bye. As the merchant departed, the God of Forest gave him a gold coin and said, "You follow this road, and there is a small town about ten miles away. With this coin you should have enough money for your expenses on your way back home"
"Thank you for your help," he said to the God of Forest. "Without your help and the help of this big tree, I would not have survived. By the way, this vigorous tree gives out a very good aromatic smell all year round. It is very rare. What is its name?"
"Never mind its name." replied the God of Forest.
"But, it helped me survive the winter, and I do not even know its name. How can I return some day to repay what I owe him?"
"OK. Its name is called Santalum Album." replied the God of Forest. "It is a very rare tree. Its root can cure many kinds of diseases and it gives out an aromatic smell many miles away. But you must keep the location of the tree as a secret, otherwise you may invite very bad luck and get struck by axes or by saw."
The merchant promised to keep the tree location as a top secret. Then, he said a final farewell and on his way home. Finally, after a few weeks' journey, he returned to his hometown, to the delight of his family.
One day, the King suffered from a strange migraine, and the Royal Doctor prescribed the root of Santalum Album as medicine. Nothing else seemed to work. The King gave an order to look for Santalum Album but nowhere could the species be found within the Kingdom.
The migraine became so bad that the King announced that anybody who was able to find Santalum Album would be knighted with a large piece of land, a high office in Government and in addition, he would be married to one of the Royal Princesses. The merchant was so tempted by the huge prize that he could not resist telling the King, "I know a place where Santalum Album is grown." The King was so glad that he sent his soldiers to go with the merchant to the forest where the rare tree species was found.
When the soldiers arrived and saw the tree, it was growing very vigorously, with lots of beautiful branches and leaves that gave out a very nice fragrant smell covering the whole forest. They had never seen such a rare beautiful tree before. The General who headed the mission thought, "If my soldiers cut the tree, it will be gone forever. I do not know if there is any other Santalum Album in this world. But if I leave the tree alone, I will be accused of disobeying an order. What should I do now?"
As he was walking back and forth in front of the tree trying to make a difficult decision, the God of Forest appeared above him and said, "If you need to cure the King's sickness, go ahead and cut the tree. But plant back some portion of its root using human blood as fertilizer and human flesh as dressing to the wound. The tree will grow back to its original vigor."
On hearing this, the General ordered his soldiers to cut the tree down. As the tree fell to one side, the trunk struck the merchant accidentally, killing him instantaneously. The General was terrified to see the accident, but as fate would have it, human blood was now available as fertilizer and human flesh could now be used as dressing. So he ordered the soldiers to replant the Santalum Album as directed by the God of Forest.
Almost instantaneously, new sprouts started to shoot out of the wounded roots, indicating that the planting was successful. The soldiers immediately shipped the trunk back to the Palace. After using the root as medicine, the King recovered miraculously. In addition, material from the trunk was made into medicine, available to any citizens who needed it. The King and his people were very healthy afterwards.
What did the Buddha try to teach with this story? Give some thought to it.
Aryan Adam Upāsaka
This is what I (ie, Ananda, Buddha's Senior Student) have heard from the teaching of the Lord Buddha:
Once upon a time, there were 500 merchants returning from a successful business trip overseas, bringing back with them lots of precious stones. On their way home they were crossing a mountainous huge forest. It was getting dark and the merchantsput up their camps for the night.
Next morning, everybody waked up and continued with their journey. But one of them slept in and was left behind. As a result he was wondering around by himself in the huge forest and got lost. Suddenly, a black cloud covered the sky and the weather turned cold. To make the matter worse, it started snowing and soon the snow covered the road completely. Facing such difficulties, the lost merchant bursted into tears and kneeled down to pray for help.
"What happened?" suddenly a voice came from above. It was the God of Forest that was sent down by Emperor Sakra. (NOTE: Emperor Sakra is the King of Gods in Buddhism).
"I got lost. How can I survive this winter in a strange huge forest?"
"Don't worry. I am the God of Forest. The Heavenly Emperor told me to help you out to survive this winter here. Come with me. See the big tree there? Use it as a shelter and it will give you warmth. In the mean time, I will bring you some food." Then, for the whole winter, the lost merchant stayed under the big tree using it as shelter.
Spring arrived and gradually the snow thawed away. It was time to say good bye. As the merchant departed, the God of Forest gave him a gold coin and said, "You follow this road, and there is a small town about ten miles away. With this coin you should have enough money for your expenses on your way back home"
"Thank you for your help," he said to the God of Forest. "Without your help and the help of this big tree, I would not have survived. By the way, this vigorous tree gives out a very good aromatic smell all year round. It is very rare. What is its name?"
"Never mind its name." replied the God of Forest.
"But, it helped me survive the winter, and I do not even know its name. How can I return some day to repay what I owe him?"
"OK. Its name is called Santalum Album." replied the God of Forest. "It is a very rare tree. Its root can cure many kinds of diseases and it gives out an aromatic smell many miles away. But you must keep the location of the tree as a secret, otherwise you may invite very bad luck and get struck by axes or by saw."
The merchant promised to keep the tree location as a top secret. Then, he said a final farewell and on his way home. Finally, after a few weeks' journey, he returned to his hometown, to the delight of his family.
One day, the King suffered from a strange migraine, and the Royal Doctor prescribed the root of Santalum Album as medicine. Nothing else seemed to work. The King gave an order to look for Santalum Album but nowhere could the species be found within the Kingdom.
The migraine became so bad that the King announced that anybody who was able to find Santalum Album would be knighted with a large piece of land, a high office in Government and in addition, he would be married to one of the Royal Princesses. The merchant was so tempted by the huge prize that he could not resist telling the King, "I know a place where Santalum Album is grown." The King was so glad that he sent his soldiers to go with the merchant to the forest where the rare tree species was found.
When the soldiers arrived and saw the tree, it was growing very vigorously, with lots of beautiful branches and leaves that gave out a very nice fragrant smell covering the whole forest. They had never seen such a rare beautiful tree before. The General who headed the mission thought, "If my soldiers cut the tree, it will be gone forever. I do not know if there is any other Santalum Album in this world. But if I leave the tree alone, I will be accused of disobeying an order. What should I do now?"
As he was walking back and forth in front of the tree trying to make a difficult decision, the God of Forest appeared above him and said, "If you need to cure the King's sickness, go ahead and cut the tree. But plant back some portion of its root using human blood as fertilizer and human flesh as dressing to the wound. The tree will grow back to its original vigor."
On hearing this, the General ordered his soldiers to cut the tree down. As the tree fell to one side, the trunk struck the merchant accidentally, killing him instantaneously. The General was terrified to see the accident, but as fate would have it, human blood was now available as fertilizer and human flesh could now be used as dressing. So he ordered the soldiers to replant the Santalum Album as directed by the God of Forest.
Almost instantaneously, new sprouts started to shoot out of the wounded roots, indicating that the planting was successful. The soldiers immediately shipped the trunk back to the Palace. After using the root as medicine, the King recovered miraculously. In addition, material from the trunk was made into medicine, available to any citizens who needed it. The King and his people were very healthy afterwards.
What did the Buddha try to teach with this story? Give some thought to it.
Aryan Adam Upāsaka
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