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.

Read more

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.'

Related topics

1.Buddha quotes http://www.buddhawithlove.blogspot.in/2012/03/buddha-quotes.html

2.Buddha story   http://www.buddhawithlove.blogspot.in/2012/03/buddha-story-bulid-your-nest.html

3.Buddha story   http://www.buddhawithlove.blogspot.in/2012/06/buddha-story-why-cant-i-get-salvation.html

 Kindly comment on the post.