There was a scholar named Wu in Ningbo who liked to hang out with prostitutes. Later, he fell in love with a fox girl and had frequent trysts, but Wu still frequently visited brothels. One day, the fox girl asked him: "I can transform. Any woman you like, I can immediately turn into her appearance at a glance. As soon as you think about her, I can transform into her appearance and appear in front of you. Isn't it better than buying a smile with a thousand gold?" When Wu tried it, the fox girl changed her shape in an instant and looked exactly like the real person. So Wu stopped going out. Wu once said to the fox girl: "Now I am sleeping in flowers and willows, and I am really happy. Unfortunately, it is still an illusion. Thinking about it, I always feel that there is a layer of separation in my heart." The fox girl said: "You are wrong. The happiness of sensuality is originally fleeting like lightning and stone fire. It's not just the women I transformed that are transformed, in fact, the one you like is also transformed. Not only are these women transformed, but I am also transformed. . Even those famous women who have been famous for thousands of years are also transformed. The poplars, green grass, loess and green mountains were all places where singing and dancing took place in ancient times. When a person is alive, there is joy and love like holding rain and clouds; when a person dies, it is like burying incense and jade, bidding farewell to cranes and luan birds, and they are so sad. These are just as short-lived as stretching out one's arms. time. Two people are together for a few minutes, a few days, a few months, or a few years, until one day they say goodbye forever. When it comes time to say goodbye, no matter whether we have been together for decades or meet by chance for a moment, it is always the same when we let go and disappear in an instant. Leaning against the green and leaning against the red, isn't it like a spring dream? Even if they have a deep relationship and stay together for life, time flies by, the beauty is no longer beautiful, gray hair gradually grows, and the same person is no longer the same person as before. So her beauty at that time can also be said to be an illusion. It is not just me becoming a certain woman. "Wu suddenly seemed to have a great enlightenment. A few years later, the fox girl left him, and Wu actually stopped going to the romantic scene. - Ji Xiaolan
Zhou Hu, a servant of the Zhou family in Xian County, Hebei Province, was bewitched by a fox spirit, and they had been like a loving couple for more than 20 years. The fox spirit once said to Zhou Hu, "I have cultivated into a human form for more than 400 years. In my past life, I still have a karmic relationship with you that should be made up. If it is not completed one day, I will not be able to ascend to heaven. When the fate is over, I should leave." One day, she looked very happy at first, but suddenly she was sad and shed tears. She said to Zhou Hu, "On the 19th of this month, our fate will be over and I should leave you. I have chosen a woman for you. You can give a betrothal gift to settle this marriage." Then she took out silver and gave it to Zhou Hu, asking him to prepare the betrothal gift. From then on, she was intimate with Zhou Hu, even more than usual, and they were often inseparable. On the 15th, she suddenly said goodbye to Zhou Hu in the morning. Zhou Hu wondered why she left early, and the fox girl cried and said, "The destined fate cannot be reduced or increased by a day, but the time of occurrence can be arranged by oneself. I will leave three days of fate as a margin for future meeting." After a few years, the fox girl came again, and left after three days of reunion. Before leaving, she sobbed and said, "From now on, we will never see each other again!" Mr. Chen Deyin said, "This fox is good at leaving margins, and people who cherish happiness should do the same." Liu Jizhen said, "After three days, we will still be separated, why stay for another three days? This fox has been refining its body for four hundred years, and it has not reached the point of letting go. This is not the way to deal with things." I think what the two gentlemen said each explained a truth, and each has its own truth.-Ji Xiaolan
When Buddha and Ananda went to the city to beg for food, they saw a group of boys playing on the roadside, piling up mud as food and palaces.
A little boy saw the Buddha coming from afar and was delighted. He wanted to offer the Buddha an offering, so he took the mud as rice and gave it to the Buddha. Buddha bowed his head and praised the boy, accepted his offering, and asked him to put the mud in the bowl.
Ananda asked curiously: "Buddha, why do you accept this offering of soil?"
The Buddha said compassionately: "Ananda, it is not the matter, but the intention. This little boy has a great intention to give, so it should not be underestimated. You can take this soil back and smear it on the floor of my room."
Ananda did as the Buddha instructed, but he was always doubtful in his heart and couldn't help asking again: "Buddha, although this little boy has a true intention to give, what merit can he get by giving this little soil?"
The Buddha smiled and said: "Because of this action, the little boy became a king one hundred years after my Nirvana, named Asoka. The other boys became his ministers, ruling many countries in Jambuvipa, promoting the Three Jewels, making extensive offerings, distributing relics, and building 84,000 stupas for me."
Later, the little boy was reborn as Ashoka in his next life. (The Sutra of the Cause and Effect of the Wise and the Foolish) Ashoka ruled most of the land of the Indian subcontinent from 269 to 232 BC. The dynasty's territory extended to present-day Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and may have reached eastern Iran, the Indian state of Assam in the east, and Kerala and northern Andhra Pradesh in the south.
According to an Ashokavadana story, Ashoka was born as Jaya in a prominent family of Rajagriha. When he was a little boy, he gave the Gautama Buddha dirt imagining it to be food. The Buddha approved of the donation, and Jaya declared that he would become a king by this act of merit. The text also state that Jaya's companion Vijaya was reborn as Ashoka's prime-minister Radhagupta.[185] In the later life, the Buddhist monk Upagupta tells Ashoka that his rough skin was caused by the impure gift of dirt in the previous life.[129] Some later texts repeat this story, without mentioning the negative implications of gifting dirt; these texts include Kumaralata's Kalpana-manditika, Aryashura's Jataka-mala, and the Maha-karma-vibhaga. The Chinese writer Pao Ch'eng's Shih chia ju lai ying hua lu asserts that an insignificant act like gifting dirt could not have been meritorious enough to cause Ashoka's future greatness. Instead, the text claims that in another past life, Ashoka commissioned a large number of Buddha statues as a king, and this act of merit caused him to become a great emperor in the next life.
The good roots planted by some people cannot be separated from the external appearance, do not explore the true wisdom, and are deeply tainted with the happiness and blessings of the world. Although some people accumulate merit and hope to receive rewards in the human and heavenly realms, when they receive these blessings, they feel satisfied with everything, so they cannot transcend the constraints of the three realms, just like they cannot leave a prison. Even if relatives want to help this person, because he does not have the correct view and cannot give up his desires, he continues to be reincarnated and cannot feel at ease. How can people without wisdom, who do not sow good roots and constantly increase evil thoughts with worldly wisdom and worldly insights, escape from the endless cycle of life and death? There are also some people who, although they have sown good roots and accumulated great merit, have a discriminating mind, their state of mind depends on external appearances, and they are deeply attached to lust. Like this, it is ultimately impossible to escape from reincarnation. If you study Buddhism with a non-selective mind, plant a wide field of blessings, have a pure body and mind, and have no discrimination, you will be reborn in the world of Buddha and achieve eternal liberation. - "The Buddha Speaks of the Mahayana Sutra of Infinite Life, Dignity, Purity, Equality and Awakening"
Greed. When faced with favorable situations, one becomes greedy and never satisfied.
Anger. When faced with unfavorable situations, one becomes angry and does not restrain oneself. Body view. One regards name and form, the five aggregates, the twelve sense organs, and the eighteen realms as the body.
Non-Precepts. One regards non-precepts as precepts.
Doubt. One is lost in the truth and pursues delusion. One turns away from enlightenment and joins with dust.
The above are the "five fetters". The Sutra says: "If one fetter is not broken, one will be reborn in this world again." That is to say: if any of the above five fetters still exists, one will be reborn in this world (desire realm) again.
The teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha: Although there is only one Buddha, Sakyamuni, before his birth, there were Buddhas born in this world, and there will be Buddhas born in the future, and there are also many Buddhas in the world now. Therefore, Buddhism does not believe that Buddha is unique. Buddhism recognizes that there are countless Buddhas in the past, present and future, and believes that all people, all sentient beings (mainly animals), whether they believe in Buddhism or not, have the possibility of becoming Buddhas in the future. Buddhism believes that Buddha is an enlightened being, and sentient beings are Buddhas who have not yet awakened. Although mortals and saints are different in realm, they are all equal in Buddha nature. Therefore, Buddhism does not worship Buddha as the only god, nor does it recognize the existence of another creator of the universe. Therefore, Buddha and Buddhists are atheists.
Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta, a disciple of the Buddha, was going to the West to preach (march in the world) to a place called Suruna. Before he left, he came to see the Buddha and asked the Buddha to teach him the method of liberation.
The Buddha told Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta: "When a person's eyes see something that makes people like, be happy, miss, like, and arouse greed, if they feel joy, admiration, and fascination, they will feel happy, and be willing to be clingy. When people are happy and willing to be attached, they will have craving. Once it develops to the level of craving, there will be all kinds of obstacles. In this way, people are far, far away from Nirvana and liberation.
However, if people's eyes can restrain themselves from being pleased, admired, or fascinated when they see things that make them like, joy, miss, like, or arouse greed, then they will not feel happy and will not be willing to be With attachment, people will no longer have craving and all kinds of obstacles. In this way, people gradually approach Nirvana and liberation."
Then, the Buddha reminded Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta: "The Suruna people are vicious, irritable, violent, and prone to scolding. If you encounter harsh words, irritable words, violent words, scolding words, and insults, , what should you do?”
Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta said: "I would think this way: they just scolded me, but they didn't take action or hit me with stones."
Buddha said: "What if they hit you?"
Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta said: "I would think like this: They only hit me with their hands or stones, but they did not use knives or sticks to chop or beat me."
The Buddha also said: "What if they use a knife or a staff to chop you or beat you?"
Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta said: "I would think like this: They just used knives or a staff to chop and beat me, but they didn't take my life."
The Buddha asked again: "What if they want to take your life?"
Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta replied: "I would think like this: "There are many Buddhist disciples who feel the various disasters caused by their own bodies and are disgusted and commit suicide. If they kill me, they just save me trouble, allowing me to escape all the troubles caused by the body.”
The Buddha therefore praised Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta's spirit of forbearing humiliation and said that he was worthy enough to go to the West to teach at Suruna. The Buddha also encouraged him to save the Suruna people, so that those who were restless could be at peace, and those who had not yet reached Nirvana could enter Nirvana.
With the Buddha's blessings and expectations, Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta went to Suruna in the west and taught widely. During the summer retreat period of that year, he preached sermons to 500 lay people at home and built a place large enough for 500 people to become monks and practice Buddhism.
Three months later, Venerable Puṇṇa Mantānīputta attained the fruit of Arahantship, possessing the vision of heaven, destiny, and the knowledge of cessation of taints. He gave up the world there and entered Nirvana without any residue.
——————"Twenty Selections from Saṃyukta Āgama" Selection 17: Enduring Humiliation without Retaliation
The Buddha said in Volume 7 of the "Upasaka's Sutra on Precepts": There are five factors that lead to forbearance and forgiveness: first, not repaying evil; second, observing impermanence; third, cultivating compassion; fourth, not letting go of mind; fifth, eliminate anger. If a person can achieve these five things, you should know that he can cultivate forbearance and forgiveness.