The Buddha once told his disciples about a former life, when he and another man were sent to Hell. A cruel guard was in charge of them. He had a sharply pointed trident in his hand, and would jab the two men with it, to make them work even harder. One day, the guard treated the other man so cruelly that the Buddha protested. The guard struck the Buddha with the trident. Immediately, he died and was reborn as a human being. The other man was touched by the Buddha’s actions. He turned to the guard and said, “Why did you kill him? He was only trying to help me.” The guard angrily killed him as well, and thus both the Buddha and the man escaped from Hell. The Buddha explained, “It was only through compassion and helping each other that we were both able to save ourselves.”
Moral: Always be kind to others.
