Once, a farmer and his family lived in a village. The farmer was so old that he could not work in the fields any more. He would just sit on the porch all day. His son was very angry that his father did not help him at all. One day, the son built a wooden […]
Once, a famous monk visited a king’s palace. He made his way to where the king was sitting on his throne. The king immediately recognised the monk and said in reverence, “O holy man! what can I do for you?” “I would like a place to sleep in this inn,” replied the monk. The King
Long ago, there lived a Bodhisattva. One day, he and his disciples were practising their evening meditation. Suddenly, a cat that lived in the monastery started making a lot of noise and distracting them. The Bodhisattva then ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening meditation. Thus, every evening, the students tied up
Once, a monk had 500 followers. He meditated throughout his life. He even had supernatural powers and could fly. One day, the chief follower took 250 followers into the villages to collect alms. Meanwhile, the master was about to die. The remaining followers who were by his side realised this and asked him, “What was
Once, two merchants called Wise and Verywise took a caravan of 500 bullock carts to another country. After selling their goods, they returned to Kapilavastu with profits. Verywise said to Wise, “I should be given twice the profits as my name is Verywise. You should get only half as much as I.” Wise said, “We
Once, a monk had a pupil called Bad. Bad thought that his name was disgraceful and unlucky. So, he went to the monk asking him to change his name. The monk asked him to find a more fortunate name and return. Bad left the city and soon came across a man who had just died.
The prince, after facing the she-devils in the forest, reached Bodh Gaya. He entered a rest-house to rest for the night. A she devil had followed the prince and stood outside. The King of Bodh Gaya was passing by. He saw the she-devil and wanted to marry her. However, the she-devil said, “My husband is
The hundredth son of King Brahmadatta was advised that he could become a king only if he went to Bodh Gaya. On the way, the prince had to cross a forest full of narakas (demons). The determined prince and his five servants set out on their journey. She-devils, disguised as pretty women, followed them everywhere.
Once, the Bodhisattva was born as the Great King Clear-sighted, who was fair and honest. He had a great kingdom. Kusavati, his capital, had four magnificent gates made of gold, silver, jade and crystal respectively, while the city was surrounded by rows of palm trees. King Clear-sighted had a couch encrusted with jewels and he
Long, long ago, it was believed that the way to remove suffering was to make the body suffer. So, a Bodhisattva decided to test this theory. The Bodhisattva became a holy man and gave up everything of comfort. He left the city to go into the forest and forced himself to eat mud and dirty
Once, a rich man owned a herd of cattle. He had employed a man to look after them. The herdsman would take the cattle to the forest to graze. From there, he would bring milk, butter and cheese to the rich man in Bodh Gaya. One day, the rich man asked the herdsman, “Why have
The royal minister who was the Bodhisattva in his previous birth decided to solve the mystery of the missing necklace. He thought, ‘The necklace was lost in the royal garden. Its gates were guarded. No one from outside could have stolen it. Also, the garden is full of monkeys.’ So, he went to the king
Once, King Brahmadatta’s queen went for a swim in the pond of the royal garden. She removed her precious necklace and left it with her maid. A curious she-monkey was attracted by the necklace. It stole it and hid it in a hollow tree-trunk. When the maid realised that the necklace was missing, she raised
Once, a rich man was addicted to gambling. He used to play dice with his friend. However, his friend was a trickster. Whenever he started losing, he would secretly put the dice in his mouth and claim it was lost. Thus, the game would have to be stopped. The honest rich man had noticed his
Once, a monk and his pupil went to a village to preach. On the way back, they had to pass through a forest. The pupil started beating the drum, as he thought it would scare the narakas away. The monk stopped his pupil and said, “Don’t beat the drum continuously. Beat it to look as