"On one occasion, the Buddha traveled to the capital of the kingdom of Sasara, where he lived in the mango orchard of a Brahmin named Devaphita and His Holiness Uphamana was the Buddha's attendant.

At that time, the Buddha was suffering from a cold that caused him back pain, so he went to Venerable Upomana and said to His Holiness, "Upomana! I had a cold that caused me back pain. Put on your cloak and take your bowl and go to the house of Devapita Brahmin and ask me for some hot water. ”

"Okay! World-honored. ”

Venerable Upomana came to the house of Devaphita Brahmin and stood silently outside the door.

At this time, Devabita Brahmin was getting a haircut in the hall when he saw Venerable Upamana standing outside the door and asked, "This robed monk outside, are you standing silently outside the door, what are you begging for?" ”

"The arhat who lives in the mango orchard, the good died, suffered from the wind and cold, and his back hurt severely, do you have hot water or medicine for healing?"

Hearing this, Devapita Brahmin gave a bowl full of crisp, a bottle of oil, and a bottle of stone honey, and sent someone to carry hot water, and followed the Venerable Upomana to the residence of the World-Honored One. Venerable Upomana anointed the Buddha with oil, soaked it in hot water, and then drank it with warm water and honey. With such a disposition, the wind chill and back pain of the World Venerable were alleviated.

The next morning, Devabita Brahmin came to visit the Buddha.

After a greeting and greeting, the Buddha asked, "Brahman! How do you practice Brahmanism? For example, who can reap great results by giving to others? When and what is the time to give, what is the special blessing? ”

"Qu Tan! The most accomplished sage of our brahmins is called the sam-mina brahmins. There are three requirements to become a Sanming Brahmin: to be a good teacher who is well-read and well-informed, to have pure Brahmin blood, and to have good looks. Those who are able to give to the three brahmins will receive great retribution, and giving food and clothing at all times is the most special blessing. ”

Then, Devapita Brahmin turned to the Buddha and asked, "Qu Tan! What do you think is a real Brahmin? What is Sanming Achievement? Who can reap the great rewards of giving? What is the right time to give? What is the special blessing of charity? ”

"Brahmin! Those who are good at knowing liberation and liberating from all greed are the true brahmins. Those who have attained the clear fate of the three worlds, the heavenly eyes that can see all sentient beings, and the people who have cut off all the troubles are the sages who have achieved the three wisdoms. Being able to give to such a saint at any time has the greatest retribution and is the most special blessing. ”

Cause and effect, cause and effect again!

Now even the Buddha couldn't avoid this problem.

Even the Buddha couldn't avoid cause and effect.

Do you believe in cause and effect?

What is cause and effect? Bean Book City

The generation of any thing is caused by many conditions, and these conditions are the causes, and the things that arise from these causes are the effects.

The Buddha could not escape cause and effect, and the wind and cold caused the chronic illness of back pain, so we should realize that cause and effect are closely related to our lives.

Once, in the Bamboo Garden of Kalanda on the northern outskirts of the city of Rajasthan, the capital of Magadha, the Buddha told the monks, "Bhikkhus! What is the obvious difference between ordinary people who have feelings of happiness, suffering, and not suffering and unhappiness, and holy disciples who have cultivated and attained enlightenment, as well as feelings of happiness, suffering, and non-suffering and unhappyness? ”

"World-honored! Your teachings are the root of our study of the Fa-rectification, and they are also our guide and reliance for learning the Fa-rectification. The monks pleaded.

"Bhikkhus! When ordinary people encounter all kinds of physical pain, even fatal, they can't help but feel sadness, sorrow, pain and sigh in their hearts, and then they become angry and confused and lose their minds. At this time, there are two kinds of feelings that will grow and spread together, that is, 'physical experience' and 'mental experience'. This situation is like someone being hit by a poisoned arrow, and then immediately hit a second one, and it becomes a double suffering of suffering on top of suffering.

How so? That's because of the ignorance of ordinary people, when they are happy, they indulge in pleasures, and become slaves to lust and afflictions without knowing it; When they are in pain, they are angry and unhappy, and they become slaves to their troubles without knowing it; When there is no bitterness or happiness, it is confused and unclear, and the causes of the two feelings of suffering and happiness, the disappearance and change, and the clinging of the aftertaste, are ultimately disasters and must be abandoned, and without true and truthful knowledge, they become slaves of ignorance and troubles without knowing it. In this way, when he is happy, he is bound by happiness; When you are in pain, you are bound by it; Even when there is no bitterness or happiness, it is also bound by the lack of bitterness and happiness, which is to be deeply greedy, ignorant, and stupid; Ordinary people who are bound by birth, old age, sickness and death, sorrow and suffering.

Bhikkhus! It is different for holy disciples who have cultivated and attained certificates, because when they encounter all kinds of physical pain, even fatal risks, they do not feel sadness and sorrow, do not complain in pain, do not become angry and confused, so they do not lose their minds. At this time, he only had one feeling, that is, 'physical experience', but not 'mental experience'. This situation is like being hit by only one poisoned arrow, and not hitting the second one. When they are happy, their hearts are not stained, so they do not become slaves to lust and graving. When there is suffering, the heart is not stained, so it will not become a slave to the troubles; When there is no bitterness or happiness, one can truly and truthfully understand the causes of the two feelings of suffering and happiness, the disappearance and change, the sticking of the aftertaste, the final disaster, and the need to give up, etc., and will not become a slave to ignorance and trouble. In this way, when he is happy, he is not hindered by it; When there is suffering, do not be entangled by suffering; When you are not bitter or unhappy, you will not be bound by not being bitter or unhappy, which is to liberate greed, ignorance, and ignorance; A holy disciple who is not bound by birth, old age, sickness and death, sorrow and suffering. ”

When you are tormented by physical suffering.

Does physical ailment cause you inner pain? If a serious illness tells you that he is "in pain and happy" right now, do you think he has a mental problem? The Buddha taught us that "although the body is bitter, the mind is not bitter", the source of suffering is "physical suffering", and the focus of Buddhism is to perceive "mental suffering", subdue "mental suffering", and stop "mental suffering".

In the twenty-second parable of the "Book of Hundred Parables", there is a parable of entering the sea and taking the sinking water, which is very interesting:

In the past, there were elderly sons, who went into the sea to take the sinking water for many years, and then they had to return home with a car. Sell it in the market, because of its high cost and die without buyers, after many days can not be sold, tired and distressed, when people sell charcoal, they have to sell it quickly, so they have a thought: "It is better to burn it to make charcoal, you can sell it quickly." "That is, it is burned as charcoal. Sell it in the market, and the price of half a carcoal cannot be straight.

This is about a man who went into the sea, that is, to a country on the coast to get incense.

Because agarwood incense mostly grows in some swampy areas and large forests by the sea. After accumulating for many years, I finally got together a cart of agarwood, and when I got it back, I sold it at the market. As a result, I couldn't sell it for half a day, and I was very annoyed and anxious, so much money can't be realized, but I'm not in a hurry, what should I do?

Just look at someone next to him selling charcoal, selling very quickly, as soon as he buys dozens of catties, he said how can I have this kung fu, when will this agarwood be sold so much? I might as well burn the agarwood into charcoal, and I can sell it quickly. So I really burned all the agarwood into charcoal.

The money for a cart of agarwood is not as much as the money for half a cart of charcoal.

This is to say that ignorant people do not know the treasure and do not know the preciousness of agarwood. Of course, this thing is not easy to sell, but it is worth many, many times more than charcoal. This is a small story in the "Book of Parables", there are such stupid people in India, and the treasure obtained with great difficulty was sold as charcoal by themselves.