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About 15km from the city of Sravasti in ancient India, there lived a spiritual practitioner. Every day, he would make his way into the city to beg for alms. There was a businessman in the city who made a living from the slaughter and sale of pigs. He was very generous and charitable and was on especially friendly terms with the spiritual practitioner. Every time he saw the practitioner in the city, he would attend to his needs and sincerely make offerings to him, providing him with food and other daily necessities.
After the businessman passed away, he took rebirth as a water ghost in the Ganges River. There, his body was frequently pierced by blades and spears that rained down on him, causing him great pain all over.
Feeling resentful, the water ghost frequently wondered about the reason behind his rebirth in the ghost realm where he had to endure great suffering, considering how generously he used to give when he was a businessman. After pondering the matter deeply, he came to the conclusion that this was a result of the karma of killing.
“I used to make so many offerings to that spiritual practitioner and never denied him anything. Knowing that I was committing bad karma through the taking of animal lives and the selling of their flesh, why didn’t he warn me? I didn’t realize what I did was wrong and never knew I had to change.”
With such thoughts, the water ghost developed deep hatred against the spiritual practitioner. Biding his time in the Ganges, he waited for an opportunity to exact revenge on him.
One day, the spiritual practitioner was crossing the Ganges on a boat. When the boat reached the middle of the river, the water ghost spied him approaching and saw that his chance had come, so he immediately appeared. Tugging hard at the boat, the ghost attempted to overturn it.
A great sage who was also on board saw the fiendish apparition, and enquired of him: “Why are you pulling the boat like that?”
Glaring with ferocity, the water ghost pointed at the spiritual practitioner and spoke angrily: “It’s all because of him! In my past life, I made offerings to him with such generosity, yet knowing what I did for a living was not right, he never once gave me a word of advice. So, I’ve taken rebirth as a ghost and endured insufferable pain every day! I must drag him down with me today and let him experience the same suffering, failing which I will overturn the whole boat.”
Unruffled, the sage said to him calmly, “If slaughtering pigs and selling off their flesh could bring you such terrible misery now, just think of how much greater your negative karma would be and how much longer you would have to suffer if you do harm to a spiritual practitioner in hate. Since you know that evil deeds bring about evil consequences, why don’t you reform yourself now? If you can put aside your thoughts of hatred, you can set yourself free! As for the spiritual practitioner who did nothing to warn you, he will face the karmic consequences due to him.”
Hearing that, the water ghost realised that he should let go of his past grievances and hatred, and not seek revenge anymore. Since every action has karmic consequences, he should willingly bear the karmic retribution of his past wrongdoings and not cause hurt to others. After this realization, repentance arose in his heart, and at that moment, all his resentment and hatred disappeared. In an instant, he floated away from the banks of the Ganges and was liberated from his suffering.
As the saying goes, “Those who engage in virtuous deeds receive blessings while those who do evil suffer misfortunes”. It is imperative to understand this relationship between cause and effect, and we must be clear about what is evil and what is good.
It is not enough to just be mindful of our speech and conduct, and to engage in good deeds every day. When we see others do wrong, it is our responsibility to tactfully guide them to correct and reform themselves. Likewise, when we realise that we have erred, we must correct ourselves and not seek to blame others; only then can our lives take a turn for the better.
Source: Tzu Chi Taiwan website
Extracted from “Tan Gu Shuo Jin”《谈古说今》, a compilation of stories told by Master Cheng Yen
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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