Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
In April we celebrate the birth of the historical Buddha, Siddartha Gautama. In this month’s article, I would like to discuss not what the Buddha taught, but how the Buddha taught.
I think the most vivid example of how the Buddha taught can be seen in his encounter with Angulimala, the most feared mass murderer of his time.
Angulimala was a most feared and ruthless killer. He had killed numerous people and was making a necklace of human fingers from his victims. He believed that when he completed his necklace of human fingers that he would gain some kind of super power.
One day Angulimala was thought to be in the vicinity of the Buddha. The Buddha’s disciples said to the Buddha, “It is not safe for you to be out today. The murderer Angulimala is thought to be in the area. You should stay indoors and out of the public to be safe.”
The Buddha replied that he must do what he always did, to go out into the public and share the Dharma with others. He did not heed the warnings of his followers and ventured out for the day.
Sure enough, Angulimala saw the Buddha walking along the road. He shouted to the Buddha, “Stop monk! Stop!”
The Buddha continued to walk and called back to Angulimala saying, “I stopped many years ago. You, Angulimala, have not stopped.”
Angulimala immediately ran up to the Buddha, stood in front of him and confronted him saying, “What do you mean, you have stopped but I have not stopped?!”
The Buddha looked deep into Angulimala’s eyes, and with a heart of compassion said, “I the Buddha, have stopped the way of hatred and violence many years ago. But you Angulimala, you have not stopped.”
The Buddha spoke to Angulimala, not with judgemental eyes, not with condescending eyes, but with an eye and heart of wisdom and compassion. Angulimala felt something deep and profound in this encounter. Angulimala had never met someone who spoke to him sincerely, honestly, and with warmth and caring. Most people looked at Angulimala with fear and hatred, with despise. The Buddha did not look at him that way, but looked at him with eyes of compassion.
Angulimala was so moved, that he continued to listen to the Buddha. He even became one of the Buddha’s followers, and became a monk.
Some time later, a King and his soldiers were out looking for the mass murderer, Angulimala. They sought to capture and arrest him. They happened upon the Buddha and his following. The King asked the Buddha, “Have you seen the murderer Angulimala? We hear he is in the area.”
The Buddha said to the King, “What if I told you that the murderer Angulimala had given up his way of violence and had become a peaceful person. What would you say?”
The King said, “That would be a most wonderful thing.”
The Buddha then said, “This monk that is sitting here in front of you. This is the murderer Angulimala. He has become one of my followers. We now call him Ahimsaka, the non-violent one.
The King was taken aback and shocked to think that the murderer Angulimala was sitting right in front of him. But when he saw how he had changed, how peaceful he seemed, and how he was under the spiritual guidance of the Buddha, the King felt safe and allowed him to stay with the Buddha.
This episode of Angulimala and the Buddha shows us two things. First, it shows how the Buddha taught. The Buddha taught with wisdom and compassion. The Buddha embodied wisdom and compassion. That is why Angulimala felt something deep within him when he encountered the Buddha. The Buddha’s warmth, sincere caring, and compassion for the hateful and violent life that Angulimala had fallen into, really touched Angulimala to the core of his being. He had never encountered a human being like this before. He had never met such a teacher or person.
The second thing that this episode shows us is how Buddhism is a teaching that goes beyond morality and ethics. In the world of morality and ethics, Angulimala would be arrested and maybe even receive capital punishment. There is no hope for someone who has committed such heinous crimes.
However, in the world of the Dharma, even the most evil of persons can transform their life. Even a person like Angulimala, who undoubtedly had led a long life of hatred and violence, suddenly encountered the Buddha, and for the first time met the light of the Dharma.
As the sutras express, a room might be completely dark for decades, even hundreds of years. But the instant that a candle or light enters that room, the darkness is immediately obliterated. The Dharma has that kind of power to illuminate our life. Although we might be in darkness, although a person might be lost for the majority of their life, if they encounter a good teacher of the Dharma who embodies the truth of the Dharma, then that entire life of darkness is eradicated in an instant, and a person is able to live with light, with brightness, with radiance.
This is how the Buddha taught, and it is how Buddhism has been taught and transmitted over the past 2500 hundred years.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
