Lady covered with bed sheet-Buddha story

There was a rich family in Savatthi. The business man had a son and daughter, but due to his vast expanding business he could not devote much time to his family. The daughter was involved with the domestic servant. When she was twenty she was engaged to a worthy bachelor but on the day of marriage the daughter ran away with the servant. She got pregnant after a while and gave birth to a son.After some time she became pregnant again. She was struggling financially and after conceiving her second child she became very poor and decided to return home.

Bhikkhuni 

      On the night when she was returning home, there was a rain and thunder, nothing she had seen before.On the way she went into labour. Her husband went to search for wood to built a temporary hut but was bitten by a snake and he died immediately. The daughter of rich man was left alone to deliver her child in the jungle. She cried a lot but there was nobody else except her two sons. She decided to proceed to Savatthi. She had to cross a swelling river in the Jungle. She could not cross the river with two sons therefore she decided to first cross the river with her younger son and then bring her elder son. She crossed the river and put down her younger child. She reached midstream while she was returning to take the elder child, an eagle pounced on the younger child and carried him off. In frenzy she waved her arms frantically to frighten the bird. The elder son thought mother was waving for him to come to her, he jumped in the swelling river which engulfed him. The helpless mother was crying inconsolably. Crying she reached Savatthi. On the way ,she reached crematorium and found that all her family members had been killed the previous night when the house collapsed due to heavy rains. Hearing the news ,she went mad and tore all her clothes and became fully naked. She ran on the streets of Savatthi to be attacked by rogue people and kids with stones shouting "crazy! crazy!"

        One day when the Buddha was teaching Dhamma at jetavana vihara she passed by. Hearing the voice of Buddha ,she joined the audience and came to her senses. Realising that she was naked she felt ashamed and tried to cover her body with her hands. One follower of Buddha spread a bed sheet upon her and that is how she came to be known as "Patacara"(Lady covered with bed sheet).

        Buddha called her and taught her Dhamma. She realized the impermanance .She was ordained and admitted to the Bhikkhuni Sangha and devoted her rest of her life to suffering humanity.

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Story of Merchand with gold coins

Story of pebbles and ghee

Story of Parrot King

Merchant with gold coins-Sudatta (Anathapindika)

Sudatta was a wealthy merchant of Savatthi. He came in contact with Buddha at Rajagraha.  When Sudatta heard the discourses of Buddha, he learned that nothing happens in this world without a cause. Buddha advised him to follow the noble eight fold path of liberation. One who uses his money and property  for the welfare of his family, friends and relatives and humanity remain in peaceful state. Whatever one is doing should be done with honesty and sincerity. Sudatta realized that Dhamma taught by Buddha was universal and relevant. He realized that Four Noble truth and the noble Eight fold Path od Sila,Samadhi and Panna are real remedy for the ailing world.

Jeta Vana with gold coins

     He requested lord Buddha to come to Savatthi  where He wanted to construct a monastery. Seeing the dedication of Sudatta Buddha accepted the offer. Sudatta returned To Savatthi and started looking for a place that is calm and peaceful but is not far away from the city. He came across a pleasure park belonging to King's son Jeta.

Walk to Nibbana- Buddha story

Once Buddha was staying at Savatthi and people used to come to Buddha in great number to meditate and listen to Dhamma preached by him. A Young man named Mogallana also used to frequent the place to listen to Buddha. For years he came to listen to Buddha but never practiced what Buddha taught.
      One day this man approached Buddha and said" Sir, I have a question which I want to ask?"
"I am ready to clear your doubts. Tell me your question?" asked Buddha.

Buddha with public

"Sir, I have been coming to your meditation centre for years.I have seen people who have become fully liberated by your practices and some people have gained knowledge and are better off than when they came here. But the majority of people have not gained anything .Nothing have changed for them, they are as they were before."

Prayer for the dead-Buddha story

     One day a man came to monastery to see Buddha, he was crying uncontrollably. The Buddha asked him,"What happened ,why are you crying so much."
                                                                       
     The young man replied " Sir,my father died yesterday."
Buddha said,"If your father is dead,nothing can bring him back ,not even your crying."
"I can understand that Sir,But I have come here with a special request, please do something for my dead father."said young man.

Buddha story

                                                                        
"What can I do for your dead father?"
      "Sir, please do something.You are such a powerful person,certainly you can do it.Look, these priests perform all sorts of rituals to help the dead. If you perform the rituals for my father he will gain entry  into heaven and may be he gets to stay there permanently.",young man pleaded.
       Buddha thought this man can't be made to understand the laws of nature so Buddha thought of a novel way to teach the young man.
Buddha said " Ok ,bring me two earthen pots and fill one of them with butter and fill other one with gravel."
       The young man became happy to see Buddha is performing the rituals for entry of his father to heaven.He ran towards the market and brought two earthen pots as described by Buddha.
Buddha took both the pots one filled with butter and another with gravel and took it to the village pond.He asked the young man to seal the mouth of both earthen pots.Buddha said"Now,you place both the pots in the pond."
        Young man happily took the pots to the pond and both the pots sank to the bottom of the pond.Buddha said" Now bring a long stick from a tree and strike open both the pots."Young man did as Buddha told him and both the pots were broken.The butter quickly came up to the surface but the gravel as they are heavier than water stayed at the bottom of pond.
        Buddha said "Well,I have done what I could do,now you call all your priest and tell them to start praying :Oh pebbles come up come up! oh butter go down ,go down! and your father will certainly go to heaven if this happens."
       "Sir, you must be joking how can butter go down it is lighter than water ,and how can pebbles come up they are heavier than water.No matter how much chanting I do ,law of nature won't change for me"young man exploded.
       "Young man,this is what I was telling you,but you did not understand if all your life your father did things that were heavy like pebbles,he is bound to go down,nothing can bring him up ? And if all his life he did actions which were light as butter he is bound to go up, who can pull him down? The sooner we incline the actions of our life with the nature of laws the better we will do in life.

Jataka Story - The king parrot

     Once upon a time there lived thousands of parrot in the jungle, near a village called 

Bamunugama, in Rajagaha. Buddha was born as a parrot, who ruled the flock of these birds

In this village there was a paddy field belonging to a brahmin called Kosiyagotta. When the

 crop was ready for harvest, the brahmin assigned a watchman to guard the paddy field.

Parrot and a brahmin

      The king parrot and his flock visited the field to eat to their heart content. The watchmen was
 helpless as the flock was too large for him to drive away. Each parrot enjoyed the meal and flied
away but the King parrot every time came and took a mouthful of corn with him as he flied away.
This was surprise for watchmen who informed the brahmin about the King parrot.

Buddha story - Five disciples

       On one occasion, five lay disciples were present while Buddha was expounding the Dhamma at the Jetavana monastery. One of them was asleep while sitting, the second was scratching the earth with his fingers, the third was shaking the tree, the fourth was looking up at the sky. The fifth was the only one who was respectfully and attentively listening to the Buddha. Venerable Ananda, who saw the different kinds of behavior of the five disciples commented, ' Venerable Sir! While you were giving the Dhamma only one out of those five people were listening attentively'. Then Ananda described the different attitudes of the other four to the Buddha and asked why they were behaving thus.

Buddha and disciples

                                                                               

     The Buddha then explained that these people could not get rid of their old habits. In their past existences, the first one was a snake. As a snake usually coils itself up and goes to sleep, so also this man had gone to sleep while listening to the Dhamma. The one who was scratching the earth with his hand had been a subterranean creature. The one who was shaking the tree was a monkey. The one who was gazing up at the sky had been an astrologer and the one who was listening attentively to the Dhamma was learned Brahmin. The Buddha said,' Ananda, you must remember that one must be attentive to be able to understand the Dhamma and that there are many people who cannot understand the Dhamma.'

      Ananda then asked, ' Venerable Sir, what are the things that prevent people from being able to realize the Dhamma?' The Buddha replied,' Ananda, passion, ill will and ignorance are the three things that prevent people from realizing the Dhamma . There is no fire like the fire of lust. Passion burns always and without any break.'

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Buddha story- Story of Angulimal

Buddha story

     Angulimal had murdered numerous people and he had vowed to kill one thousand men. Whenever people learned that Angulimal was hiding nearby they would leave that place. Even the king was afraid of Angulimal. The soldiers were unable to catch Angulimal.

Angulimal

     Buddha was through the forest and people prayed to Buddha not to go through the path as Angulimal was there. They warned Buddha," Please don't go through this path, Angulimal would kill you, he is a cruel monster."

                                                                           
     Buddha told them, "There is nothing to fear. Once I have chosen my path, I will surely go through this. I will see to it that Angulimal kills me or I kill Angulimal."

     Gautama went ahead in the forest. Angulimal was waiting for somebody to come his way. He saw Gautama from a distance, an unarmed monk in a peaceful mood with aura around him coming towards him. Angulimal warned Buddha ," Don't come here, don't proceed further. You are a monk, I take pity on you go back and don't come back here again. I will kill you."

Buddha story-Why can't I get salvation

Buddha story
                                                                          
    Once Buddha was staying at a village.A man came to Buddha and said ," You only talk of salvation and moksha. Every man can get salvation but why doesn't he get it ?"
    Buddha smiled and said," Dear friend, I will respond to your query but first you do one thing for me.You must go to village and ask each and every member, that what is it that they want to get.What is their wish and whatever they want to get in life. Please note it down and bring it to me."

Buddha salvation

     The man followed the instruction of Buddha and asked each and every resident of village,what was his desire in his life. Everybody told their wishes and the man noted it down.He came back to Buddha and then Buddha asked him," Now you tell me,how many people are interested in salvation and nirvana?" The man was astonished as nobody wanted Nirvana or moksha.
     Buddha said," Oh my dear friend,I do say that everybody can get nirvana but I never said that everybody wants nirvana.If a person doesn't want to purse a thing, it can't be handed over to him forcefully. You have to work on your own salvation nobody else can do it for you."

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How to be happy in life

     As a follower of Buddha ,I feel being happy in life is essential to a person.The Great one has formulated some of essentials for us mortals to follow.As per The Enlightened One,The world is full of suffering.This suffering has a cause which must be eliminated before suffering can be abolished.The cause of suffering is attachment.The passion for things for relationships and passion to dream excessively.

Buddha Middle Path

     So reiterating what Buddha says is, follow the middle path of living. Don't be extremist in your approach because loads of passion causes pain and suffering. See things with a vision of detachment, do things which you are supposed to do and never be obsessed with anything.

     The five percepts are important to a Buddhist to live a happy life

1.Do not steal what is not rightfully yours.
2.Don't harm any living being.
3.Don't indulge in unchaste behavior.
4.Don't indulge in telling lies.
5.Don't indulge in intoxicating drugs or alcohol.

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Buddha story-betrayal of the saviour

    Long ago in a village called Kashigram lived a farmer.He used to work hard and work in his fields with his bulls.Once after a heavy work session on the field,he decided to rest for sometime.He freed his bulls from the plough and let them graze the grass.He rested under a tree to relax a bit. After sometime the farmer realized that his bulls had disappeared.The bulls entered the forest as they grazed the fields.

A monkey story

                                                                                  
     As the day was still bright ,the farmer thought of getting back his bulls back from the forest.The farmer walked into the forest.The forest was dense and the sun light became dim through the thick foliage of forest.The farmer kept searching is bulls but he could trace them.Soon he realized that he has lost the way to his field.He was hungry and tired.He saw a tree laden with delicious fruits ,so he climbed the tall tree .Suddenly his foot slipped and he came down to the ground with a thud from the tall tree.A fall that could kill a man but the farmer survived the fall.He kept there lying down for ten days.

Lord Buddha story- Killed by an arrow

Buddha story

                                                                               
Lord Buddha used to roam through out India and used to meet so many scholars and different teachers.He would guide them to become more happy and wiser. Sometimes they would ask him abstract questions which had no practical implications in life like what happens when the soul dies.To explain the fruitlessness of such topics Buddha would recite them a story about a Young man.
      Once a young man was struck by a poisonous arrow.He bled profusely and was lying on the ground, suffering from the extreme pain.People rushed to help him some offered him water, some offered help to remove the arrow and some wanted to apply some medicine so that bleeding could stop.But the wounded young man stopped everybody."Don't dare touch me ,first tell me who shot this arrow? From where did this arrow come?"

Buddha story-Meaning of Bhikkhu

     Once Buddha was staying at Savatti. A brahmin with the name of Panchangya-dayaka questioned Gautama, 'Oh! Gautama ,why do you call your students, Bhikkhu ?What is the meaning of Bhikku and how can one become Bhikkhu?

Buddha with Bhikkhu

     Buddha answered him, 'O brahmin, I do call my students as Bhikkhu but Bhikkhu doesn't mean beggar. The word Bhikkhu stands for him, in whom all imperfections have been conquered. The person is devoid of desire and ambition. One who doesn't wishes for money, fame, position. One who has over- powered his sense organs.

Lord Buddha - Story of rice pudding of Sujata

                                                                                     
         In search of the true self Siddhartha reached village of Sena in the Uruvela region. Near the banks of river Niranjana he found five monks who were practicing hard meditation. In the dense forest of Uruvela the monks were performing austerities. Siddhartha was amazed to see their mind control and breathing practices. They were leading a very disciplined life living on barely nothing and making their body suffer the hardships to attain various powers.

        Siddhartha too joined them and trained himself in the hard rituals and practices. He meditated on austerities and gave intense pain to his body. For six long years Buddha kept practicing the hard training. Demon Mara came to know of Buddha's advancement in search of truth. He came to Buddha and coaxed him to leave his meditation .He warned him that he would die of hunger and he should go back to his Kingdom.

LordBuddha - Story of Dhamma to Kashyapa

   There were three Kashyapa brothers in Uruvela who were great worshippers of fire and were involved in detailed rituals in their daily life. Everybody respected them for their knowledge and rituals they performed. It was not easy to teach them Dhamma but Buddha was determined to share his wisdom with everybody.

Buddha and a snake

   He arrived at Kashyapa's house and met with the elder brother. Buddha asked him if he could let him spend the night at their place. Kashyapa was amazed by the aura and brilliance on the face of Buddha and agreed to offer his hospitality.

Buddha story -Build your nest

     Once in the dark forest of Himalaya lived a beautiful couple of two birds who perched on the high branch of a tree. They would play and eat all day and were happily leading their lives. As the winters approached the female bird was worried about the coldness in the weather at night. The male bird said "Darling I would build a cosy and warm nest tomorrow so that you don't have to suffer in future".

Buddha Story- Birds

     As the sun rose in the morning the birds forgot about the nest and kept playing in the sky and eating insects enjoying the warmth of the sun. At night the female bird complained of the cold and the male assured her that in the morning he would bring the cosy grass and build their nest. In the morning again they played all day long and enjoyed the pleasures of life.
     Again at night the female bird was suffering from cold and shivered like anything but the male bird again promised her that nest would be build in the day.The female bird struggled throughout the night but she could not bear anymore and passed away.The nest was never built and the male bird kept seeing his dead partner.
    The female bird could have lived longer if they had built their nest at the right time. The Buddha told his story to his disciples to make them realise that those who spend their life enjoying only material pleasures cant help themselves or others.

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Story Of angulimal

Story Of Arrow

Lord Buddha - buddhist story

                                                                             
       Once in Savatthi, there were five friends who became Bhikkhu at old age. These five Bhikkhus were in the habit of going together to their old homes for almfood. One lady who was former wife of Bhikkhu was a good cook and she looked after them well. Thus ,the five bhikkhu went mostly to her house. But one day she fell ill and died suddenly. The old bhikkhus felt their loss very deeply and they together cried praising her virtues and lamenting their loss.
      The Buddha admonished them, "Bhikkhus! you are all feeling pain and sorrow because you are not free of greed, hatred and ignorance which are like great forest. Cut down this forest and you will be freed from these mental impurities."

Buddha story - Medicine for death

    Gotami was beautiful woman married to a rich man. Together they had a son but her son died one day . Gotami was grief stricken seeing her toddler son die so young. Carrying her dead son, she ran through the streets asking for help and medicine to restore the life in her son. People thought she had gone mad. Seeing her pitiful state villagers decided to send her to Buddha. They advised her, "Buddha is the only person who can help you and provide your son with everything he needs". Thus Gotami went to Buddha and asked him to give her the medicine that would restore the life in her son.

Buddha story

   The Buddha knowing her disturbed mental condition told her to get some mustard seeds from a home where no death has taken place. Overjoyed with the prospect of having her son restored to life, Gotami ran from house to house begging for mustard seeds. Everyone was willing to help but she could not find a single home where death had not occurred. The people were willing to give her the mustard seeds but they could not claim that no one had died in their family. As the day dragged on, she realised that hers was not the family that faced death and that there were more people dead than living. As soon as she realised this, her attitude towards her dead son changed, she no longer attached to the dead body of her son and she realised how simply the Buddha had taught her a most important lesson: that everything that is born must eventually die.
    She buried her dead son and told the Buddha that she could find no family where death had not occurred. Then the Buddha said, "Gotami, you should not think that you are the only one who has lost a son. As you have now realised, death comes to all beings. Before their desires are satiated death takes them away."

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Buddha Story- Rice Bowl

Buddha story- Angulimal

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