Hello and welcome back to our study of the Dhammapada.
Today we continue on with verses 119 and 120, which read as follows.
pāpo-pipasatiṁ bhadraṁ yāva-pāpaṁ na pacchatiṁ yadāca-pacchati-pāpaṁ atta-pāpo-pāpāni-pasatiṁ
bhadropi pasati pāpaṁ yāva bhadraṁ na pacati yadāca pacati bhadraṁ ata bhadro bhadrāṇi pasati which is a little bit of a tongue twister because of the alliteration which is purposeful it's a play on the Pali so if you read it you can see the words that are very similar
But it means, even an evildoer will see benefit or good things.
For as long as the evil doesn't ripen.
But
When the evil ripens, then the evil doer will see evil.
That's verse 19.
Verse 20 is the opposite.
Even a good doer sees evil for as long as, may see evil, for as long as
the good doesn't bear fruit or doesn't come to fruition, doesn't ripen.
But when the goodness ripens, then the good doer sees goodness.
This verse was taught in regards to the story, a story of Anathapindika, one of the Buddha's chief lay disciples, lay supporters.
So here was a man who, the word anatta pindika, anatta, anatta means a refuge, anatta means one who has no refuge.
It's a word that was used to refer to poor people, the helpless.
And pindika, pinda means a ball of rice or it means rice.
And Binda and Ika or Nika means one who has.
So this means one who has alms or a bowl of rice for the helpless.
So he's the giver of alms.
That's his name.
That's the name he was given.
And with good reason because not only did he support the Buddhist monks but he was kind and generous and he would give alms to poor people I guess as well.
And he was also quite generous.
So it seems that not only did he give great gifts by actually buying this forest of Prince Jeta and giving it to the Buddha as a monastery, but he also was generous with his friends and associates, it seemed.
So over time, even though he was quite rich,
Over time he lent out a lot of his money, huge amounts of it really, and people wouldn't pay him back.
And
At the same time he had, in those days they didn't have banks so they would hide their, they would bury their valuable.
And they had buried it in the ground near a river.
And the river had overflown and the bank had eroded and all of, a great deal of his family's wealth was swept out to sea.
And so Anattapindika, whenever he went to the monastery to see the Buddha, he would never go empty handed.
He would always, in the morning, he would bring food.
In the afternoon, he would bring juice.
And he would always bring with him gifts, sort of religious gifts of incense and candles and maybe not candles, incense and flowers, garlands of flowers, that kind of thing.
But even though he was starting to become actually quite impoverished, so he had lost really the bulk of his wealth, he never stopped giving.
Even if it was just a little, he never gave it up.
And so the Buddha asked him one day, are you still giving alms at your house?
And he said, yes, Venerable Sir, I'm still giving alms, but...
But it's not as refined as it once was, or not as high quality as it once was.
And the Buddha gives a quote which is actually quite... I think it's... Yeah, here we are.
...
It's a different quote, sorry.
It's a paraphrase of a different quote, which I actually think, I can't remember whether it was the Buddha who actually said it, but it's a very common quote.
There's no such thing as a gift, as a small gift.
when it's given in faith and given to one who deserves it.
So here he says, almost the same with lukkang namanat hi.
There's no such thing as a coarse gift.
When the gift is given with a pure heart, with a bright heart, and given to a suitable recipient.
And he went on and reassured Anathapindaka and said, you know, and he told a story of his past life, I think, about how he once tried to, he was very kind to people and still wasn't able to move them, but he never wavered in it.
So anyway, he reassured or gave reassurance or encouragement to Anathapindaka and appreciated the fact that
He gave, it's actually a thing in Buddhism that giving be a part of our life.
I've been talking quite a bit about giving.
You can see how many of these are giving, but it does bear mentioning that even though our focus is meditation practice, that giving is, the Buddha said,
If beings knew the true benefit of giving, no one would eat a meal without giving a portion of it or some gift or some part of it to another person who was worthy of it.
If there was someone there worthy of it, they wouldn't eat without sharing.
No one would eat a single meal if they really knew, he said, the way I know.
He said, but it's because people don't know that they don't share and they don't think to give.
There's much made in the suttas about the difference between the benefit that you get in eating food or partaking of your possessions and the benefit that comes from giving and sharing your possessions with others.
It's quite a different benefit and on a different scale.
So this was really powerful.
Of course, Anantapindika was doing something that...
Though hard to do is a very typical Buddhist thing, you give according to your means, but giving is a part of one's spiritual life, especially as a lay person.
But even as monks, for monks, as I've talked about how we share and give and actually have an easier time with it because we don't need as much.
We don't have as many uncertainties in our lives in the sense that we don't have to worry about our car breaking down or someone breaking into our house or we don't have to worry about what clothes we're going to wear to work and so on.
We don't have as many requirements placed on us.
So giving for monks is actually in many ways easier.
And anyway, very much a part of our spiritual practice.
So this is the setting but the story.
There was a goddess or not goddess, you would say more like a female angel.
living in Anathapindika's house, I guess, in his mansion.
He had, I guess, a fairly large residence.
And I guess at each of the four doors, the four gates to his residence, there was an angel.
Anyway, at one of the gates, or maybe the gate,
She was sort of like the spiritual guard over the gate Had for a long time been concerned about Anattapindika's generosity because as many earth angels would be she was very enamored of the jewels and the valuables in his house
And so for a long time, she'd wanted to kind of push him towards conserving his wealth and not giving it away because every time valuables left the house, that would be it.
She'd never see them again.
And it was it felt all she ever saw was this diminishing pile of wealth.
And in late times, later times, it diminished quite a bit.
And so now it was mostly gone.
And at this point, she couldn't bear it anymore.
And so she decided to herself that she would have to do something about this.
And so in the middle of the night, she went to him
She had never felt confident or she had never dared to go to him before that because he was rich and powerful and so on.
But now he was a poor man and so she felt comfortable going to him.
She went in the middle of the night and stood by his bed or stood and floated in the air above his bed and
and maybe glowing or so on.
And Anathapindika opened his eyes and said, who is that?
And she said, it is I, great sati, which means not treasure, but just a rich person.
The goddess, I am the goddess that resides over your fourth gate.
I come to give you an admonition.
I've come to give you a teaching, to admonish you.
He said, well then, tell me, what do you have to say?
And here's her admonition.
Great treasurer, great wealthy man, without considering the future, you have dissipated your great wealth in the religion of the monk Gautama.
Now, although you have reduced yourself to poverty, you still continue to give of your wealth.
If you continue this course, in a few days you will not have enough left to provide you with clothing and food.
Of what use to you is the monk Gotama?
Abandon your lavish giving, devote your attention to business and make a fortune."
Sounds like solid advice, right?
For those of us living in the world,
Why would you waste your money on this bald-headed, shaved, this shaved recluse?
In fact, we often criticize people who give to religious causes.
And we criticize religious institutions as being money hungry because they usually just want money and they're collecting money all the time.
I mean I think Buddhism is very guilty of that and we are even our organization even does that sort of thing there's a lot of talk about money which is I guess in a way unfortunate but in another way it's important to recognize that it's a part of a part of spirituality to give of your resources to share and to let go to not cling certainly not to worry about such things but to use
and to put to use your resources for the best of causes, the best benefit.
And so Natapindika says, is that the advice you came to give me?
Yes, sir.
He says, then be gone.
Though a hundred thousand like you should try, you would not be able to move me from my course.
You have said to me what you had no right to say.
What business have you to dwell in my house?
Leave my house instantly.
He banished her from his house and because he was such a powerful person and also a Sotapanna,
She was unable to, angels are somehow sensitive in this way.
She was unable to stay there.
She just couldn't stay in the house anymore.
I mean, however, the other angels probably wouldn't have let her stay anyway.
So she left.
But after leaving, she couldn't find lodging anywhere else.
I guess even angels have difficulty.
Probably she was at that point ostracized by the other angels, by the earth angels.
And so she wandered trying to find a way and she went finally to the city angel.
There's an angel who looks after the city of Savatthi.
And she explained her problem and said, please help me to take me to the, if you can come with me to the treasurer and speak on my behalf and get him to forgive me for saying that.
But the angel of the city shook his head and said, you said something that you had no business to say.
It's not possible for me.
I can't help you.
I'm sorry.
So at her wit's end, she decided to go the next step up, which is the four great kings that you hear about in Chinese mythology.
It comes from Buddhism.
Buddhism talks about four gods that apparently look after the four directions.
I don't know, or four gods, four angels that look after the, I don't know, four quarters of the earth, maybe.
Maybe the four different continents or something.
And again, they said the same thing that they couldn't help her.
And so finally, she went up to the Dawa Dingsa heaven, where she really wasn't, she was very low on the angel hierarchy.
So it's like going to see the king, like a peasant going to see the king.
But she managed to get an audience with Sakka, the king of the angels of the Dawa Dingsa heavens.
And she told the story and said, I can't find I have nowhere to live.
And I've done something really reprehensible.
And now I wander about without perfect protection.
It says, ironically, or strangely, children in hand.
I mean, angels don't have children.
So it's strange.
It must mean the other angels that are in her retinue, because they don't give birth as far as I know.
Of course, who knows?
I don't really know much about angels.
And so she said, please help me to regain my privilege as gatekeeper.
And Saka replied, I can't, I'm sorry, I can't help you.
It's not possible for me to speak to the treasurer on your behalf.
However, I will tell you a way.
She said, oh, please do.
Tell me what it is.
And here was Saka.
Saka was quite a wise man and also a Sotapanna.
He said, go assume the dress of the treasurer's steward or the rich man's steward.
That's just like accountant.
And take a piece of a leaf, you know, this is what they would write on.
And list all the wealth he once possessed that he had lent out.
And then go around to all the people who owe him money and
convince them use your angelic influence to get them to return their to make good on their debts
And then go and find the huge amount of wealth that has been swept out into the ocean that used to belong to Anattapindika.
And on top of that, find an equal amount that's scattered throughout or that has no owner, wealth that is lost and has no owner, and bring that to him.
take all that wealth, deposit it in his safe house, and then go to him and ask forgiveness.
And so she did this.
And she went to the, and then she came to an Atapindika and said, knocked on his door and he said, who is it?
Or she stood in the air radiating light.
Who is that?
It is me, it is I, the blind stupid goddess that once dwelt over your gate.
Pardon me the words I once spoke to you in my blind stupidity.
In obedience to the command of Saka, king of the angels, I have recovered...
Your wealth and filled your storeroom therewith.
Thus have I atoned for my offense.
I have no place wherein to lodge myself, and therefore am I greatly wearied.
And Anattapindika didn't accept her apology.
He looked at her and thought, I know what I've got to do.
And so he took her with him and brought her to see the Buddha.
because Anathapindika would have never been really likely upset with her and wouldn't have held a grudge but his only concern really was for goodness and for righteousness and so here his only thought was to provide some goodness for this angel to give this angel make sure this angel got on the right track it wasn't about apologizing to him it was about having her understand
goodness and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness.
And so bringing her to see the Buddha was all about teaching her right from wrong.
And so they came to the Buddha.
and Anattapindika related the story to the Buddha and then the Buddha taught them both and in order to admonish them both gave these two stanzas or two verses the first in regards to evil doers who still profit until their evil comes to fruition and then the same goes with goodness so you could say that the first one was is a bit easier to see
We're more liable to see that one, I think, and understand that one, that you can do evil deeds and still be protected from them, but there's no sense that you're not going to eventually be forced to pay the consequences.
But with goodness, I think we have a little bit more trouble.
I think for many people, it's difficult to do good deeds.
And when you undertake them, I mean, for people who aren't accustomed to doing good deeds, it's difficult to do them.
And then when you've done them and don't get a result and feel like it's been for naught, you can be quite discouraged.
But this is another one of those verses that puts that to rest and reminds us that that really is the case, something that has a good result, even if good deeds do have a good result.
For many people, this isn't a certainty.
They're not sure whether it's right to do good deeds or whether good deeds can have a bad result and so on.
But even given that they do,
It's not always evident right away.
It's not always clear and apparent.
This goes for charity.
This goes for morality.
This goes for meditation.
Sometimes meditation can appear to be fruitless.
You practice, practice, practice, and you still get angry.
You still get greedy.
You still have all these problems inside.
It's in fact not even as clear as just taking time.
It's also the mix of good and evil.
If you've done many things that are unwholesome, then they're going to play a part and they're going to mitigate the benefit of the good deeds.
And the same goes with evil.
When a person does evil, if they've also done many good deeds, which most human beings have in order to be born as human beings, they're going to be protected from their evil, can be for quite some time, maybe even for their whole life, until they die and they're forced to feel the weight and the full force of the evil deeds, in which case it leads to unpleasantness in the future lives and so on.
But a reminder for us, karma is not so simple as you do a good deed and then an angel shows up and gives you a reward.
But these are the sorts of things that Anathapindika would have been aware of as a Sotapanna because having practiced Insight Meditation he was able to see cause and effect and understand what's really going on behind the scenes because we obviously can't know what the cause of our deeds is going to be.
You will do good deeds, you can't know what the fruit is going to be.
How can you know then that evil is going to lead to evil?
Because through meditation you can see what's going on behind the scenes.
You see the underlying framework and you can watch as your mind changes and as the universe changes based on your deeds.
If you do good deeds, how it changes for the better.
If you do evil deeds, how it changes you.
changes your attitude and it has direct consequences on the world around you.
You can see all of this moment to moment.
And as you see this more and more and clearer and clearer, you have less and less doubt or concern about the results of your actions.
What is it going to be?
What's it going to bring?
Because you know that you're planting seeds of happiness, seeds of greatness and goodness.
You don't have to worry about what is the result because you know it's going to be positive.
That's the great, really the greatness of the law of karma, is the certainty of it.
You don't have to be certain what's going to happen.
You just have to be certain the nature of that what's going to happen.
And it's never sure what exactly is going to come of your deeds.
But it is sure the nature of the effect of certain deeds.
Awesome deeds have pleasant results, peaceful, happy and good results.
Unawesome deeds have unpleasant, evil results.
So it does have quite a bit to do with our meditation practice in terms of really understanding this.
And in terms of being patient with our practice, be patient with good deeds that you do for others.
Don't concern yourself with what, you know, I don't see any benefit from this.
Never think like that, because you're very hard to see, very hard to come back later and say, oh, that's because of that.
There's so many different factors involved.
Look more on the actual deed and the immediate results, what you're sending out into the universe, the energy that you're creating.
So very important that when you do a good deed, you let it go.
You do the good deed and when they say don't think about the results, it's almost true.
It's just not quite true because you are very much focused on the immediate results.
You're doing it because of the energy that it's putting out, positive energy.
Don't concern yourself with actual results.
And the same goes with meditation and things like morality and so on.
Don't concern yourself, why don't I feel better?
Why do I still feel bad at times?
And so why do I still have suffering?
There's so many different factors involved.
Some of them are even out of your control.
You'll still feel physical pain, for example, and that kind of thing.
But what we should look at is how the meditation is changing us at the moment that we perform it.
Let that go and do it and cultivate it and then let it go.
And don't worry about how it's going to change your brain or your mind or your thoughts or the world around you.
You should never think like that.
Never be concerned with the more abstract results.
Except kind of in the back of your head or as a, oh gee, I'm a nicer person now, that kind of thing.
But that should never be your focus.
In meditation, the results should be the immediate results.
What happens when you're mindful in that moment and be content with that?
That's how you know you're doing good.
It's very important.
Because otherwise you're constantly judging and wondering and everything is about expecting.
I do a good deed because I expect some result.
And you see how troublesome that is, how problematic that is.
Because it becomes no longer a good deed, it becomes more of a desire for good things to come to you, right?
And meditation is the same.
We don't meditate as a good deed anymore.
Sometimes we meditate wanting good things to come to us, which can be an unwholesome thing.
Instead, we should focus on the act and the moment, the benefit that comes from it.
Because that will become real.
That is real.
That is here and that is now.
That's the Dhammapada for tonight.
Thank you all for tuning in.
Wishing you all good practice.
and peace, happiness and freedom from suffering.
Thank you.