The world of Tzu Chi September-October 2021 (Vol.137)

2021 • 10 48 D uring the Buddha’s lifetime, he often taught by example. During a journey to the kingdom of Sanchi, the Buddha and his disciples heard of an old bhiksu , an ordained monk, who was sick and alone, so they decided to visit him. When they arrived, they found the old monk confined to his bed, sick and very weak. His body was filthy and foul-smelling. The Buddha could not bear to see the old bhiksu suffer like this, so he instructed his disciples to immediately cook porridge and fetch water to feed and bathe the old man. The disciples, seeing how filthy the old bhiksu was, did not want to be near him. The Buddha, however, paid no attention to any of these things and bathed the bhiksu himself. When the king of Sanchi heard this story, he was very moved by it. He asked the Buddha, “You are the most esteemed teacher of all heavenly and human beings; why did you wash the old bhiksu’s filthy body with your own hands?” The Buddha replied to the king’s question by telling him a story from the past… Eons ago, there was a cruel and evil king who enjoyed listening to the cries of people being brutally beaten. At the slightest infraction, this king would condemn people to severe whippings. The king went so far as to appoint the most ruthless prison guard he could find to carry out the punishments, knowing that this prison guard would see to it that the offenders suffered terribly. At that point in time, there was a virtuous man who, though innocent, had been imprisoned and was awaiting punishment. One day, this man said to the prison guard, “I am a spiritual practitioner who upholds the precepts and abides by the rules; I was wrongfully accused.” When the prison guard heard that he was a practitioner and noticed his graceful and dignified appearance, he felt compassion for the man. Consequently, when he had to carry out the punishment, the guard forcefully raised his whip high, but brought it down gently so that the whip fell onto the practitioner’s back softly. Although the The guard forcefully raised his whip high, but brought it down gently so that the whip fell onto the practitioner’s back softly. Although the practitioner was whipped, he suffered very little. aster Cheng Yen Tells Stories The Prison Guard Who Gave Rise to Compassion