Buddha who refuses to use his supernatural powers to preach!

Once, the Buddha came to the country of Magadha and lived in a mango garden on the outskirts of Nalanda. On this day, a lay Buddhist named "Ruan" came to the mango garden to visit the Buddha. After bowing to the Buddha, he suggested to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Nalanda is a prosperous and wealthy city with a large population. If the Buddha could ask a monk to show his supernatural powers in front of the public, then our Nalanda people would definitely trust the Buddha more respectfully and trust the Buddha."

The Buddha replied: "Strength! I have never taught the monks to show their supernatural powers to any layperson. I only taught them to stay away from the hustle and bustle and contemplate the Dharma quietly. If you achieve something, you should know it yourself. If you have any mistakes, you should promote yourself and repent and correct your mistakes."

However, this lay Buddhist named Jianguo repeatedly asked the Buddha to show his supernatural powers to the people, so as to win more people respect and believe in the Buddha, so as to facilitate the Buddha and his Buddhist disciples to promote Buddhism in this large-scale city and benefit more people. The Buddha repeatedly refused and explained why he was unwilling to use supernatural powers to promote Buddhism.

The Buddha said: "Strength! I can teach with three personal testimonies: one is the supernatural power of the divine feet, the second is the supernatural power of his mind, and the third is the supernatural power of teaching. What is the supernatural power of the divine feet? The supernatural power of the divine feet is the supernatural power of invisibility, can invisible, penetrate walls, enter the ground, walk on the water, fly in the air, fireworks, reach Brahma, etc. However, if a person who believes in the Dharma and takes refuge in the Three Jewels, tells another unbelieving friend: "It's so rare and magical! I have seen a monk who can show infinite magical powers, and he can reach Brahma directly. It's really great divine power and great power!" The friend who doesn't believe may answer like this: "Yes! There is indeed such a mantra that can make people have supernatural powers. That monk showed infinite magical powers based on such a mantra."

In this way, not only does the purpose of preaching the Dharma have not been achieved, is it a kind of slander? Therefore, based on my observation, I am well aware of the lack of the change of supernatural powers, so I don’t like it, don’t pay attention to it, and refuse to show supernatural powers with such a purpose. What is his mental power? That is, you can know what other people are thinking about without others’ notification. Similarly, if a person who believes in the Dharma and takes refuge in the Three Jewels, tells another unbelieving friend: “It’s so rare and magical! I have seen a monk who can show his mental powers and know what others are thinking about. It’s really a great power and great power!” The friend who doesn’t believe may answer like this: “Yes! There is indeed such a mantra that can make people have his mental powers. That monk knows what others are thinking about based on such mantras.” In this way, is it not achieved the goal, but it becomes a kind of slander!

Therefore, based on my observation, I am deeply aware of the lack of supernatural power changes, so I do not like it, do not pay attention to it, and refuse to show supernatural powers for such purposes. For this reason, I do not teach monks to show supernatural powers, but only teach them to quietly think about the Dharma; to express their own faults, but not to show their own achievements. This is the magical power of my monks and their minds. What is the teaching of supernatural powers? For example, give this teaching of monks: "You should think like this, not think like that; your thoughts should be like this, not that; you should give up these, and stay there." Preaching for him like this is pure content and pure meaning can make people complete practice. Such teachings and preachings allow parents and lay Buddhists to truly have a correct understanding of the Dharma after listening to it, so that they can arouse their faith in the Dharma, and then have the willingness to become monks and study to achieve the liberation of the Three Wisdoms. This is the teaching of supernatural powers of my monks."

The five senses gather together for good!

When the Buddha was only spreading the Lonely Garden in the Kingdom of Shravas, one day, the Buddha told the monks: "I will explain to the public what good gathering is, and you should think about it well." The monks replied: "So, World Honored One!" He received teachings from the Buddha.

The Buddha taught: "What is good gathering? It is the five roots. That is, the root of faith, the root of mind, the root of concentration and the root of wisdom. Deeply believe in the truth of Buddhism and practice diligently; because of diligence, one will keep one mind and never forget, and then one will be able to calm down and not be distracted; because of concentration, one will be able to understand the truth in reality. Practice based on these five roots, one will be able to subdue afflictions and enter the holy path. If a monk practices these five roots, one will be able to achieve the first fruit of Sotapanna. If this saint of the first fruit of the first fruit of the will, one will surely attain Nirvana and be free from birth and death in the future. If one continues to work hard based on these five roots, one will be able to achieve the first fruit of Sotapanna. The second fruit saint, the second fruit saint, will be able to eliminate all sufferings of life and death and attain Nirvana; and continue to work hard on these five senses, and then achieve Nirvana. The third fruit saint, will be reborn in the form realm and pure heaven at the end of his life, and will attain Nirvana at the place where he will not return to the desire realm to be reborn; and continue to work hard on these five senses, and will be able to lose all troubles and achieve the fourth fruit Arhat. The fourth fruit saint testifies with his body and says: Life and death have been completed, the Brahma practice has been established, and what has been done is not done, and you will know it as it is true."

"The so-called good gathering refers to the five senses. Why are the five senses called good gathering? The meaning of roots is that they can produce all good deeds and gather countless good deeds. It is the most wonderful and supreme method among all dharmas. If you cannot practice the five senses, you will not be able to achieve the fruit of the two vehicles such as Sotapanna, Stahan, Anagas, Arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas, or even the Buddhahood of the supreme enlightenment. If you can practice the five senses, you can gradually attain the path of liberation of the fourth fruit and the three vehicles. All monks should work hard to cultivate the root of faith, advance the root, recite the root, concentration, and wisdom."

After listening to the Buddha's teachings, the monks all followed them happily.

One day, the Buddha told the monks: "I will explain to the public what is a bad gathering, and you should think about it well." The monks replied: "Yes, the World Honored One!" and followed the World Honored One's teachings and practiced according to it.

The Buddha taught: "What is the gathering of bad things? It is the five hindrances. What are the five hindrances? That is, the cover of greed, anger, sleep, regret and doubt. It includes greed, attachment to the joy of the five worldly desires, encountering the situation that does not follow one's own will, and the mind becomes angry, or drowsy and restless, and restless in the body and mind, worry and regret what you do; not only can you not distinguish right from wrong, but also have some doubts about the truth and cannot understand it, these five afflictions will hinder the original mind. Why are the five hindrances called the gathering of bad things? Monks should know that these five afflictions cover the pure mind that is originally possessed, hinders meditation, and more bad things arise from these five hindrances, and will fall into the three evil paths such as animals, hungry ghosts, and hell, and suffer countless sufferings and will not be able to escape. Monks! They should diligently seek convenience, eliminate the cover of greed, anger, sleep, regret and doubt."

After listening to the Buddha's teachings, the monks all followed them happily.

King Ajatatru killed his father and usurped the throne

When the Buddha was alive, he led his disciples to practice. One of the disciples was named Devadatta, who was the cousin of the Buddha's lay family. After Devadatta studied Buddhism, he not only did not reduce his desire, but instead enhanced his desires, developed disrespect to the Buddha, and even betrayed the Buddha's teachings, inciting the disciples in the monastic community to lead 500 monks to rebel against Buddhism. This was caused by desire. He also incited King Ajatatru, asking him to rebel against family affection, and said to him: "You are the new king, and I am the new Buddha." King Ajatatru was incited by him and imprisoned his father in prison, cutting off food and drinking water.

During his time in charge of national affairs, King Ajatatru's father, King Bimbisara, respected the Buddha very much. He deeply realized that the Buddha's teachings were very good. The Buddha repeatedly emphasized that the love and love of sentient beings is impermanent, and desires will destroy the family affection between people. Despite this, he did not personally suffer any suffering in the world, so he had doubts about this and believed that the most trustworthy thing in the world is family affection.

It was not until his son, King Ajatatru, that he deeply realized that the Buddha was truly a great wise man who tolerated the world! He also understood human nature and family affection - it turned out that human nature was covered by this desire, and family affection was no match for desire!

So he sighed and was very distressed. He suffered from hunger and cold in prison. When he was in power, he did not feel any suffering in the world at all. When he was the lord of a country, he suffered from hunger and cold, and then he deeply realized that this was cause and effect? ​​Although the country still exists, he suffered from torture due to the betrayal of a son...

People all have a heart to love themselves. This kind of love for themselves usually leads to relatives, but is this kind of family affection very strong? It is not necessarily true! Family affection is easily overturned by private material desires, and King Ajatatru is an example.

Is this an obstacle? What hinders him? Desire! This is hindered by desire. His father is so old. If King Ajatatru can keep his foundation at peace, he can inherit the throne after his father passed away. However, he could not bear the long wait and was eager to be king and gain fame and fortune, so he locked his father in a locked-up position. King Ajatatru did everything and committed a great deed, causing karma, and ended up falling into hell in this world.

The same is true for Devadatta. His bright nature was obscured and hindered, and he created heavy karma - killing Buddha, harming Buddha, and rebelling against Buddha. He could have achieved the right result of wisdom, but because of this desire, he caused this sin obstacle.

Be grateful and not attached to appearances

Although King Bimbisara believed in Buddhism, he did not realize it personally and did not know the suffering of human nature. Only after he experienced it personally did he truly realize the depth of the Buddha's wisdom.

Devadatta and King Ajatatru can represent that people's innocent Buddha nature is obscured by desires, and has produced shadows and shakes their faith. Because of the wavering of faith, they create major sins, not only fail to achieve Buddhahood, but also create the cause of going to hell.
Chapter completed!