The world of Tzu Chi January 2021 (Vol.130)

2021 • 01 44 I n Buddha’s time, there was a village by a river in Sravasti. Below a mountain near the village lived a good, righteous woman with five hundred followers who all belonged to a Brahman religious group. She realized the impermanence and the transience of life, and she especially realized that women were quite restricted in their society. She and her followers disliked this world and had only one wish: to find a way out of this world. Therefore, they lived together and studied the principles of their religion. The women climbed to the top of this mountain every day to collect a type of balm called “Heaven Balm”. They set up an altar to worship Brahma every day. They hoped that after they died, they would go to heaven and never be born as humans again. Every day, they tirelessly toiled to the top of the mountain and they also spent a lot of money on other items to worship Brahma. After a long while, Buddha learned about the zealousness of these women and decided to preach to them. They were persevering on the wrong path, so he wanted to show them the right path to Enlightenment and liberation. When Buddha and his disciples arrived at the village, the women were just performing their worship. These women saw Buddha’s grace and radiance and thought that he was Brahma, so they immediately worshipped him and asked for his blessing. At that, a god looked down from heaven. “This isn’t Brahma,” he said. “This is Sakyamuni Buddha, the instructor of the three realms and the beloved father of the world.” These women had never heard of Buddha before or known that such a saint existed. Now Buddha appeared before them and they heard his name, “Sakyamuni Buddha”, so they prostrated themselves before him. Buddha said to them kindly, “I haven’t seen you all in a long time!” The women were quite puzzled. “We have never seen him before. Why would he say that?” But they were like lost children who had wandered outdoors for a very long time and now suddenly saw their dear parents. They began weeping, asking Buddha to save them and to accept them. Buddha accepted them as his disciples and preached to them. Many of them were enlightened on the spot. Buddha’s disciples saw these women and pondered, “Why are they so fortunate that Buddha himself should arrive here to preach to them? And how is it that so many of them can understand his teachings and become enlightened? This is so incredible.” Everyone was especially puzzled by Buddha’s statement that he had not seen the aster Cheng Yen Tells Stories Five Hundred Ladies Hear Buddha Teach