Like the elephant named Dhanapāla,
With musth fluid flowing, fierce and hard to control,
Though bound, he does not eat even a little,
Thinking only of the elephant grove.
In Sāvatthī there was a wealthy old brahmin. After his wife died, he divided all his property among his four sons. At first the sons vied with one another in caring for him, but their only aim was to persuade him to hand over his last bit of private property. Once he had been drained of everything, he became worthless.
The old man first stayed in the eldest son’s house. The eldest daughter-in-law said coldly, “The eldest son did not receive a larger share, did he? Don’t you know the way to your other sons’ houses?” Heartbroken, he left and went to his second son, where the second daughter-in-law treated him the same way. It was no different in the houses of the third and fourth sons. In the end the old man was left on the street, carrying a bowl and leaning on a staff, and went to the Buddha for refuge and advice.
The Buddha taught him a verse and had him recite it at a great brahmin assembly:
“My four foolish sons are all like demons. Though they call me ‘Father! Father!’ it is only affection on their lips… These four sons are more useless than the staff in my hand!”
After the old man recited it in public, the audience was in an uproar, and according to the custom of the time the unfilial sons were to be punished. The four sons, terrified, admitted their fault, knelt and begged for forgiveness, and vowed to support their father properly from then on. Thereafter the old man regained his health, and of the four portions of food his sons offered him, he offered two to the Buddha.
Later, the eldest son invited the Buddha to his home for a meal. After the offering, the Buddha taught that caring properly for one’s parents brings merit, and then told the story of the elephant Dhanapāla.
Dhanapāla was a huge elephant in musth, wild and hard to tame. The King of Kāsi sent elephant trainers to capture him, and he was brought back and tied in the elephant stable. The ear bases of a bull elephant in musth split open and secrete a pungent fluid. At such times the elephant is at its most violent, and trainers find it hard to subdue even with hooks, spears, and goads; Dhanapāla was exceptionally fierce.
Yet after being captured, Dhanapāla refused to eat and would not touch even the various delicacies the king himself had granted him. He was placed in a beautifully decorated elephant stable with colored curtains and garlands, but no comfort could make him forget the forest.
The only thought in his heart was: “I have not fulfilled my duty as a son to support my mother. What meaning do these foods have for me?” His mother had remained in the forest, suffering greatly from separation from her son. What Dhanapāla longed for was the duty of support that a son owes his mother. Precisely because he could fulfill this duty only by returning to the elephant grove, his mind was fixed solely on that grove.
When the Buddha finished telling Dhanapāla’s story, everyone present wept, “their ears drooping from the tenderness of their hearts.” The Buddha used this to explain: If even animals know to remember their parents and fulfill the duty of filial care, how can human beings abandon their aged father? When the teaching ended, that old brahmin, together with his sons and daughters-in-law, attained the first fruit.
Verse 324 of the Dhammapada is itself a portrait of Dhanapāla:
“Like the elephant named Dhanapāla,
With musth fluid flowing, fierce and hard to control,
Though bound, he does not eat even a little,
Thinking only of the elephant grove.”
This verse later came to be often used to admonish people: one should be filial to one’s parents and not forget their kindness.
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell them that God’s gonna cut ’em down
-Johnny Cash “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” July 04, 2006
"There are two kinds of reliance in the world: [reliance on] existence and [reliance on] non-existence, due to clinging and contact. Because of clinging and contact, one relies either on existence or on non-existence. If there is no such clinging, the mind and mental states, free from the fetters of attachment, do not cling, do not abide, and do not calculate 'my suffering arises' when it arises, or 'my suffering ceases' when it ceases. Regarding that, one is free from doubt and confusion, and knows it by oneself, not through another. This is called Right View; this is called the Right View as proclaimed by the Tathagata."
Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.—Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 215
When craving is severed and the mind abides in samādhi, the cycle of rebirth comes to an end, and there is no further rebirth.
The Four Great Harmful Friends in the World
There are many kinds of harmful friends in the world, but the most harmful are none other than the following four.
The first harmful friend is the fishing friend. Fishing may seem like a leisurely pastime, but in reality it leads a person step by step onto the path of killing living beings. With a rod and a line, what is hooked is a fish, and what is harmed is a life. Today you catch one fish, tomorrow a basketful; as days accumulate, the karma of killing piles up like a mountain. You should know that all sentient beings are equal and all possess Buddha-nature. Fish swim freely in the water; why bother to pierce their mouths with sharp hooks and cut open their bellies with knives? The crime of killing living beings will inevitably lead to falling into hell in the future and enduring immeasurable suffering. When fishing friends gather, they talk about fishing techniques and compare their catches, not realizing that in this joyous atmosphere they have already planted the bitter cause of hell.
The second harmful friend is the gambling friend. At the gambling table, human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. When they win, they want to win more; when they lose, they want to win it back. Greed is like wildfire spreading across a plain, burning ever more fiercely. Gambling friends gather together, reversing day and night, losing their fortunes, and causing their wives and children to be scattered. Because of gambling, people steal, cheat, and kill; all kinds of evil karma arise from this. With blazing greed and a crooked mind, after death they will likewise find it hard to escape the karmic retribution of hell.
The third harmful friend is the smoking friend. Everyone knows smoking is harmful to health, yet some people still offer cigarettes and urge others to smoke, calling it “socializing.” Among smoking friends, puffing clouds and blowing fog may seem intimate, but in reality they are jointly creating evil causes. Moreover, the cultivation and processing of tobacco inevitably harm the lives of insects and ants, indirectly connecting to killing living beings. The suffering of lung disease is still a present-life retribution; after death, it is even harder to escape the suffering of reincarnation.
The fourth harmful friend is the drinking friend, who entices people to drink, saying that if you don’t drink, you’re not a real friend. But once alcohol goes down the throat, reason is lost and one’s nature becomes confused. What one dares not do ordinarily, one dares to do when drunk; the precepts one usually keeps are all broken when drunk. Sexual misconduct, lying, fighting, and killing often all arise from alcohol. Alcohol can confuse one’s nature, ruin virtue, destroy the body, and break all precepts. That is why Buddhism lists abstaining from alcohol as a major precept, precisely because it is the door to all evils. When drinking friends gather, it may seem lively and loyal, but in reality they drag each other down and together create the cause of hell. Today you indulge in a cup, tomorrow you suffer; when you sober up you may regret, but the karma is already with you. Therefore, drinking friends are also great harmful friends; by no means draw near them.
Fishing friends harm compassion, gambling friends harm purity, smoking friends harm health, drinking friends harm wisdom; all four should be avoided. Only by drawing near good friends and staying far from evil friends can one create less karma and fall less.
Killing living beings, gambling, smoking, and drinking may seem like four things, but their root is the same—ignorance. Fishing friends take pleasure in killing, gambling friends live by greed, smoking friends find peace in numbness, drinking friends make indulgence their norm. These four so-called “friends” are pushing you onto the three evil paths. As the saying goes, “Keep good company and you become good; keep bad company and you become bad.” Associating with harmful friends is like entering a shop selling salted fish: after a long time you no longer smell the stench, and in the end you fall together with them.
In life, one must be careful in choosing friends. Staying away from harmful friends and drawing near good spiritual teachers is the true path to escape suffering and attain happiness.
All things that arise from causes and conditions—whether animate or inanimate—follow the eternal law of impermanence, suffering, and non-self. No supernatural deity can change or stop this law. All the problems and suffering of sentient beings are rooted in our clinging to momentary feelings or things, and in the uncertainty of all things. The conflict between our craving and impermanence causes mental or physical suffering. Those who clearly observe and contemplate this law can attain inner peace and contentment.
—Stories of the Dhammapada (Dhammapada Commentary)
No fire compares to greed.
No clinging compares to hatred.
No bondage compares to delusion.
No river compares to craving.
In Buddhism, giving (dāna) has an extremely profound and far-reaching significance. It is not merely “donating money to do good deeds” in the ordinary sense, but one of the core practices of spiritual cultivation. The Sanskrit word dāna means giving, generosity, and relinquishment. Its importance can be understood on several levels:
I. Counteracting Stinginess and Greed, Breaking Self-Attachment
What giving first counteracts is stinginess, attachment, and the fixation on “mine.” People suffer often because they cling to wealth, body, and views as their own. Giving is the practice of letting go of “mine,” turning from possession to sharing, from self-centeredness to all beings. As the mind of letting go grows, self-attachment diminishes.
II. Three Kinds of Giving, with Different Benefits
· Material giving: using wealth and goods to relieve poverty and emergencies, removing beings’ physical suffering.
· Dharma giving: guiding people with right Dharma, knowledge, and wisdom, leading them away from evil toward good, to understand the truth and attain liberation.
· The giving of fearlessness: giving people a sense of security and freeing them from fear and dread, such as comforting, accompanying, and protecting life.
Among these, Dharma giving is supreme, but it must be taught according to capacity; the giving of fearlessness is also extremely excellent, because beings value life and peace of mind most.
III. Accumulating Merit and Wisdom, Attaining Bodhi
Giving is the first of the six paramitas and the provision for attaining Buddhahood. Practicing giving can bring blessings, but Buddhism emphasizes even more: if one clings to merit and its rewards, it is only human and heavenly happiness; if one dedicates it to supreme bodhi, giving becomes the provision for liberation and Buddhahood. The Diamond Sutra says, “One should practice giving without dwelling anywhere,” meaning that when giving, one is not attached to the marks of the giver, the recipient, or the gift. This is called the “emptiness of the three wheels.” In this way, giving is not only a good deed, but also the cultivation of prajna wisdom.
IV. Nurturing Compassion and Widely Forming Good Connections
Giving is one of the four ways of gathering beings and can gather and benefit sentient beings. It teaches people to treat relatives and strangers, the noble and the humble, equally, to rescue those in suffering and help those in difficulty. Giving not only warms others but also softens one’s own heart, reducing anxiety, loneliness, and indifference, and increasing joy and a sense of abundance.
V. Social Significance: Promoting Mutual Aid and Harmony
From a social perspective, giving can alleviate suffering related to poverty, healthcare, education, and so on, and promote charity, mutual aid, fairness, and harmony. It is not simply a transfer of wealth, but a flow of goodwill and responsibility between people.
VI. The Proper Attitude in Practicing Giving
Giving should be done according to one’s ability and means, without forcing oneself, seeking fame, expecting reward, despising the recipient, or giving from wealth obtained through wrong livelihood. Giving is not a transaction with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, nor buying merit with money, but letting go, giving, and benefiting others with a pure mind, a reverent mind, a compassionate mind, and a wise mind.
In conclusion, the importance of giving lies in: moving from possession to giving, from attachment to relinquishment, from self to all beings, from worldly blessings and goodness to transcendental liberation. Even without material wealth, one can give through smiles, loving speech, rejoicing, knowledge, time, and comfort. The ultimate meaning of giving is not in how much is given, but in how much purer, more compassionate, and more free the mind becomes because of it.
Cultivate the contemplation of impurity to abandon greed.
Cultivate the contemplation of loving-kindness to abandon hatred.
Cultivate the contemplation of breath-counting to eliminate coarse thought.
Cultivate the contemplation of impermanence to eliminate self-conceit.
— The Four Dharmas