Hello and welcome back to our study of the Dhammapada.
Today we continue on with verse number 126 which reads as follows which means
Some arise in a womb, the evildoers, papakami, papakama, the evildoers, nirayang, go to hell.
Sagang sugatino yanti, the people with good destinations, people who have gone to good, go to heaven, saga.
Those without any taints are released, go to full release So four different destinations for four different types of people The story behind this is apropos It's one of the more poignant stories in the Dhammapada Not long, but
has some quite interesting ramifications.
So the Buddha was dwelling in Jetavana and there was a monk, Tissa, which is the name of a lot of monks, so it seems to have been a common name at the time.
But he was an Arahant, it seems.
And for 12 years he had taken his meals in the house of a certain jeweler.
And they had treated him well, like mother and father, the text says.
They were good people.
They weren't enlightened people, but they were good people who were very kind and very devoted to him.
But it so happened that one day that the king, King Pasenadi, had sent a jewel worth a lot of money
to the jeweler telling him it should be cut and set in some way to do something with it, whatever they do with jewels, with precious stones.
And when the messenger brought it, the jeweler was busy cutting up meat, and so his hands were covered in blood.
But even so, he picked up the jewel, and he put it in the jewel box, in this box sitting on his desk, with his hands covered in blood, so it had this sort of blood on it.
Or at least it had the smell of blood on it.
And so then the elder came in for alms and the jeweler went into the back to prepare food for the monk.
And it so happened that there was a heron.
The jeweler had a pet bird, a heron, that lived in the house.
And so happens that the heron wandered over to the desk, smelt the blood, and saw this jewel, which was maybe a ruby or something, and mistook it for a piece of meat.
And right in front of the elder ate the jewel.
And the elder watched as this bird
popped this jewel into its mouth, swallowed it whole and then wandered away.
Now the jeweler came back and this is where it gets interesting.
The jeweler came back and found that his jewel was missing and started freaking out, you know, looked at the elder,
but didn't want to believe, of course, that the elder took it.
And so he went to his wife and to his son and asked them, did you take this jewel?
What happened to it?
No, they didn't take it.
And so, of course, he trusts them.
But then he says to his wife, it must have been the monk.
The monk must have seen it, and they can't believe it, but it must have been him.
And his wife scolded him and said, how could you?
Don't say that.
All these years he's come to see us and he's never exhibited a single flaw, let alone the evil desire that would cause him to steal someone else's belongings.
And so the jeweler accepted this and went to ask the monk and said to the monk, did you take the jewel?
Now, you might wonder,
well, why didn't he just say that the heron took it?
Why wouldn't the elder just solve the problem for him?
Because you see, the heron has swallowed the jewel, and the only way to get it out, or the most reasonable way to get it out would be to kill the heron.
And so in order to protect the heron, he didn't tell the, that was his reason for just saying, no, I didn't take it, and keeping quiet.
He didn't want to get involved because he knew the consequences of getting involved for the heron.
And so he says to him, look, there's no one else here.
My wife and sons, they say they haven't taken.
So it must have been you.
There's no one else.
And the elder just stayed quiet.
And so he went to his wife and he said, you know, it's got to have been the elder.
I'm going to torture him, torture him and get him to tell me because he's freaking out, really.
It's this whole deal with kings, you know, the king is not to be trifled with.
And of course, he's not going to buy that he lost it.
That doesn't really work.
So he knows that it's going to be on his head if the king finds out that he has lost the jewel.
And he says, so I'm going to torture him.
And the wife forbids him and says, don't ruin us.
She says, it's far better for us to become slaves than delay such a charge at the door of the elder.
And the jeweler says, were all of us to become slaves, we would still not be worth the value of the jewel.
The jewel is worth more than our slavery.
Speaking of slaves, that jewel, we're not just going to become slaves, we'll probably be executed.
And so he does something curious I don't quite understand.
He puts a rope around the elder's head, binds it really tight, and then starts hitting him on the head with a stick or something.
blood streamed from the elder's head and ears and nostrils and his eyes looked as though they would pop out of their sockets.
He really got a beating.
And he never once said that the heron ate the darn thing.
And so he overwhelmed with pain and blood coming out of his orifices.
He fell down on the ground as he was being beaten.
And the heron, smelling the blood,
came over and started to drink this this elder's blood and the jeweler saw this and he was overwhelmed with anger and just consumed with his horrible evil mind state yelled at the heron and hit it with a stick and killed it and the elder saw this you know through his bloody haze and asked him asked the laborers he said is the heron dead
And the lay person said, you're next.
You're going to be dead.
If you don't tell me where that jewel is, you're going to be dead just like it.
So taking that as a sign, as an answer that this heron was dead, the elder said, immediately said, it was the heron that swallowed the jewel.
He said, however, had the heron not died, I would sooner have died myself than have told you what became of the jewel.
And disbelieving, he pulled apart the hair and opened up its innards and sure enough found the jewel.
And yeah, you can imagine how he felt at that point.
He felt really, he kneeled down prostrate at the elder's feet, asked his forgiveness and, please, please forgive me.
This was out of ignorance.
And the elder, you know,
in the manner of enlightened beings said it wasn't your fault, it wasn't my fault.
It's the fault of the round of samsara.
So it's a part of existence to suffer like this.
This is a part of the game.
It's just how it goes.
Totally absolving the guy, right?
And so still mortified, the jeweler says, Well, then, please continue to come here really.
Don't don't please don't stop coming here just because I beat you almost to death.
And the elder gave a really sort of moving
moving speech, he said, it was because I came into someone's, because of going into people's houses.
Like this is actually a thing.
Some monks will not go into people's houses.
They'll only take what's given at the door because this sort of thing happens.
You get in trouble when you go into people's houses.
The rules are really, monastic rules are really interesting and you really start to get a feel for wanting to keep them for reasons like, not this, but
This sort of thing that happens.
Being a monk is kind of like that.
Anyway, he says, henceforth I shall never receive alms under anyone's house.
But the interesting thing is whether he was trying to just spare the man's feelings, but it seems like he may have known that he was dying because actually he died as a result of the injury.
But before, so what he said is, he actually spoke a stanza that isn't part of the Dhammapada, but it's in the commentary.
He said, food is cooked for the sage, a little here and a little there, in one house after another.
I will journey about on my round for alms, a good stout leg is mine.
Those are the last words, maybe, of the elder.
Not long after he spoke them, he passed into Nibbana.
The heron was born, if you're interested, as the story goes, was born in the mother's womb.
The wife, as her son or daughter.
The husband, when he passed away, was born in hell.
And the wife was born in heaven, as a result of never doubting the elder and trying to stop her husband from being such a jerk.
So.
The monks asked the Buddha about these four people, these four beings, the heron, the wife, the husband, and the monk.
Or they maybe just asked about the monk.
So the Buddha said, Monks, living beings here in this world, some re-enter the womb.
Others who are evildoers go to hell.
Others who have done good deeds go to the world of the gods, the world of the angels.
While they that have rid themselves of the taints pass to Nibbana.
And so he taught this verse.
So the most interesting part is the part of the story where the elder doesn't give up the heron, doesn't save himself by condemning the heron to death, which is typical of enlightened beings.
I mean, it's really an understatement.
It's one of the most profound beauties of an enlightened being.
It's a purity that surprises.
I mean, you think, okay, they're pure, but surely they're not going to give up themselves.
They're not going to allow themselves to be tortured.
But yes, actually, they're that pure.
Their minds are so pure that being beaten to death doesn't bother them.
It's that much strength.
It really is an invincibleness.
It's an example for all of us.
Ask yourself, if I was being beaten to death, how would I feel?
And then curious is what he said, I mean, the corollary is that because
To be upset, even when being beaten to death, is to misunderstand.
I mean, being beaten to death is just part of reality.
There's no person being beaten.
It's just an experience.
The body is being altered.
And there's experiences of pain arising.
But they're still just experiences.
There's nothing good or bad about them.
And so he had no problem forgiving this guy or even telling him that there was nothing to forgive because in the eyes of an enlightened being there really is nothing to forgive.
It's just part of samsara.
There's mind states arise and the mind states lead to body states.
The body states arise lead to mind states.
And so on.
So body is a cause for mind.
Mind is a cause for body.
It's just how things go.
There's no good and no bad.
in the end.
But for those of us living in samsara and concerned, it's worth noting that not every path leads to the same destination.
I mean, they all still lead to samsara.
Actually, going to heaven is part of samsara.
Going to hell is also part of samsara.
Being born in a womb, also part of samsara.
The only thing that's not is how enlightened beings go to nibbana.
and asawa, those without asawa, those without taints.
So how this relates to our practice, I think the most important point is this example that the Arahant sets for us, this purity, not being concerned for one's own welfare, not even taking that into account.
Now, you could argue that in most cases an Arahant, and it seems, they would be concerned in the sense of concern for the other person's welfare.
Obviously, it's a tragedy.
The tragedy is not that the Arahant was beaten, although it's a tragedy that he had to die.
Because Arahants are, of course, the greatest of beings.
But the great tragedy, or a great tragedy, is for the jeweler.
He's the one you should feel sad for, feel sorry for.
There's a sense that Arahants are perfectly fine with death.
It leads to freedom.
For an Arahant, death is freedom.
So there's no problem there.
But for this jeweler,
It's a big problem.
I mean, it's the concept of how suffering doesn't lead to suffering.
Happiness doesn't lead to happiness.
It's not the case that suffering is bad.
Suffering is not bad because it doesn't lead to suffering.
Which is an interesting thing.
But evil is bad.
Because evil leads to suffering.
I mean, this is still conventional.
Because again, good and evil are just part of samsara in the end.
True goodness is rising above them.
Freeing yourself from attachment to
to good deeds in the sense of I must do more good deeds or wanting to do more good deeds, right?
Even attachment to that will lead you to be reborn in heaven, in nice places, in places that are conducive to meditation.
But in the end, it can't be a goal in itself.
But still, for your information, good and evil, two different things.
The righteousness and unrighteousness don't have the same result.
So some were born in heaven, some were born in hell.
For those of us who practice meditation, it's the example of purifying our minds, seeing things clearly and observing and really taking this into account.
You know, if this Arahant could do that, well, we ask ourselves how far we are, how much pain, how much suffering are we able to tolerate?
When do we start complaining?
When do we start getting upset?
How patient can we be?
And what are we able to be patient with in our practice?
So this kind of example, the Dhammapada is full of these kind of things that give us good examples in our practice and so it's a good lesson for that reason.
It's also a curious thing because I think many people wouldn't have that sense of the
sort of the conscientiousness of an enlightened being to not betray someone else, to not save themselves at the expense of another.
So, that's the Dhammapada for tonight.
Thank you all for tuning in.
Keep practicing.
Be well.