So, everything you do for others, mind you, you will bear the karma. It’s not possible that you help someone and you become karma-free. It’s not like that. Somehow, you will have to bear some.
There’s one story in India. One man learned from a Master that he should not give things to the poor people or to the bad people because he will become poor, or he will go to hell himself for those sins that the people he helps committed. Oh, that person jumped up and down, and said, “Oh, it’s so good, so good, so good. Oh, everybody can be happy and free and have what they need; I alone can go to hell. It’s a very good deal, good business.” So, it depends on who heard it and who wants to do what for whom in this world.
That’s why the Masters, They don’t mind. They know Their work is hard and They know Their suffering will be great, constant, relentless, every day, in different situations or even sometimes in hell; or sometimes in a lower level, like Astral Level, or being punished here on Earth! But They just do that because They cannot not do that.
Like, there is a story of a Master and a disciple who were on a boat to go across the river. But the Master saw a scorpion-person struggling in the water, so He stretched out His hand to take the scorpion-person up and He tried to put him in the boat so that the scorpion-person would not drown. And then the scorpion-person bit Him, and then jumped back into the river, somehow crawled back into the river and struggled again. And the Master extended the other hand to fetch him up. And then the same thing happened again: He was bitten, and the scorpion-person tried to crawl out to escape. But then when he crawled out of the boat, he fell into the river again. So, the Master extended His hand, going to pick up the scorpion-person again.
And the disciple stopped Him, held His hand and said, “Is the scorpion-person going to bite You again?” The Master said, “Yes, he will.” So, the disciple asked Him, “Why would he bite You again?” And the Master said, “That is his nature to do that.” So, the disciple asked the Master, “Then why would You continue to try to help him? You will get hurt; he will bite You again.” So the Master said, “Because it’s my nature to do that. So, if the scorpion-person cannot stop, cannot control his own nature, I also, myself, cannot control my own nature. I cannot be worse than the scorpion-person. The scorpion-person does what he has to do; I do what I have to do.”
This is very funny, but it’s very sad. That’s why many Masters suffer. Since time immemorial, They never have had a good life. Lord Jesus died brutally on the cross, and His Apostles, the twelve closest Apostles, died also brutally. My God, I don’t know how humans can do such things. Maybe they were not humans; they were possessed by demons or they themselves are demons reincarnated. It’s very possible. Just like a Saint can be reincarnated on Earth, demons can also be incarnated on Earth. In the Lower Region of the Universe, it is like that. And we’re in debt to all the Masters, since time immemorial, Who have been rescuing us time and time again, again, and again.
Now we go back to Mahākāśyapa. After Their marriage, the wife was eager to maybe run away or something to find a Master, to practice, to be liberated, to be enlightened. But Mahākāśyapa told Her, “Just wait a little longer. We can’t just leave the parents like this.” He was very filial as well and a good son. So, after some years, the parents died. And then the son, Mahākāśyapa, sold all the properties and shared it with the servants who had been working in His house in His parents’ time since He was young, and also gave it to the poor people in the vicinity, and just left a little bit, enough for survival. And then Mahākāśyapa said to the wife, “The road is long and rough outside, so You stay here. Wait for me. If I find a Master, I will come back for You.”
So Mahākāśyapa kept going, going everywhere, and He found many so-called Masters, but He didn’t feel like they were worthy enough for Him. And then one day He met Shakyamuni Buddha, and just after some conversation, He knew this was the One. He was so eager to be His disciple. He knelt down on the floor and begged for it. And so He became the Buddha’s disciple, a monk. And then He was so happy, studied with Him, went out begging and then studied and meditated. Everything was so good and peaceful; that was just the way He wanted. And He became an Arahant in no time.
But because before that He had even been going out, begging and eating only once a day already, so when He followed the Buddha, He continued the same. And Buddha praised Him. And Mahākāśyapa, when He was very old already, the Buddha even advised Him, told Him that He should eat some better food with them, with the Sangha monks, so that He would have better health, a better body. But Mahākāśyapa said no, He cannot. He was so used to eating one meal a day, used to this kind of discipline, 13 rules of discipline. So He could not change. So the Buddha said, “OK, it’s good, it’s good. You can stay that way, as long as You’re alright.” And Mahākāśyapa was alright; and He is still alright.
And I’m very indebted to Him. I want to tell Him again that I treasure the gift of Buddha’s śarīra very much, very much. I don’t know how to find words to express how much I appreciate it. And Mahākāśyapa also sent me a bowl, like an alms bowl, a begging bowl and some small pieces of yellow cloth.
“Mahākāśyapa is still sitting in samadhi in Chicken Foot Mountain waiting for Maitreya Buddha to appear in the world. At that time He will give Maitreya the bowl which the Four Heavenly Kings gave Shakyamuni Buddha and which Shakyamuni Buddha gave Him, and His work in this world will be finished.” ~ A Commentary by the Venerated Master Hsuan Hua (vegetarian) of The Assembly of Arhats Sutra (The Amitabha Sutra)
I want to thank herewith Mahākāśyapa for being so kind to me. We were friends in earlier lives, and we were good with each other, compatible. Thank You for the relics of the Buddha. Thank You for the bowl, like the alms bowl, the begging bowl for the monk. And thank You for the pieces of beautiful yellow cloth as well. But I guess I can’t use any of these things that You have brought. The relics are too precious to just use them for anything else. And the bowl, I think I’ll keep it for a souvenir. I’m worried if I use it to eat, then it might go kaput by chance, somehow. So I want to keep that for a souvenir and for revering.
And nowadays, you can’t wear jiāshā, monks’ robes, and then go around begging with the bowl. No. It’s very difficult to live like that nowadays, unless you are in some very devout Buddhist country – India, Sri Lanka, Âu Lạc (Vietnam), or Burma, etc. Over there, they understand Buddhism, and they know if you want food. But in our time, Mahākāśyapa should understand, the Buddha also understands that it’s very difficult to go out begging, especially for a woman, and I’m not that young anymore so I just eat one meal a day in the house, and I have to do so much homework inside, outside. So if I keep going out and begging and coming back, I don’t think it’d be convenient for me, even though I’d love that free life soo very, very, very much!!!
Photo Caption: Thanks God Who Grants us Beauty and Power to Heal!
