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During the time of the Buddha, the regions of India and Nepal would commonly experience serious flooding during the rainy season. In addition, these regions would experience periods of drought which adversely impacted multitudes of lives.
Once, in a place where the Buddha had stayed to deliver his teachings, a protracted period of drought had dried up the land. Withered shrubs and trees and what were once bodies of life-giving water dotted the parched landscape. Even the lotus pond outside the Buddha’s residence, filled with water year-round, had gradually dwindled and was now almost dry.
The fishes, turtles and other small creatures which once spent their days leisurely swimming in the pond were finding it increasingly hard to survive. The fishes were forced to bury themselves in the mud as the water level dropped. But now, with the mud fast drying out, many of the fishes were dying, and birds could be seen circling above the pond or waiting by its side, eagerly anticipating a meal with their sharp beaks.
Arriving at the pond, the Buddha saw the fishes struggling to survive, and in compassion for their plight, chased the birds away. Wishing to save the lives of living beings hit by drought, he instructed his disciples to bring him his bathing robe. Ananda, his attendant, replied, “Venerable Buddha, the pond is almost dry, how are you to take a bath?” At that, the Buddha merely repeated his request and Ananda complied.
Clad in his bathing robe, the Buddha sat on the stairs at the side of the lotus pond and with earnest sincerity, awaited the coming of rain. At that moment, Indra, the lord of the heavens, suddenly felt his seat becoming very hot. After careful observation, he saw that the Buddha needed a bout of rain for his bath. He proceeded to summon the rain and thunder gods with great urgency and requested that they let forth an abundance of blessed rainfall onto the earth.
As the gods thundered forth across the sky in their heavenly chariots, drops of rain poured forth in a steady stream and by them, the mountains, rivers and vast lands were revived. The Buddha stood by the pond as the rain beat upon his back, never moving a step until the pond was filled. With gratitude, the Buddha smiled as he gazed at the sky.
This bout of “timely rain” not only saved the lives of countless living beings; in a similar manner, the vast lands were nourished. Just as the animals and plants across the land thrived and flourished once again, human beings too, were given the needed resource for survival, and their minds were refreshed and cleared.
Seeing how the Buddha had not spared a thought for himself for the sake of saving sentient beings, his disciples were pained. Some saw in the Buddha’s fearless disregard of the beating rain and howling wind, his great compassion for sentient beings, and were duly touched.
Turning to his disciples, the Buddha said, “See, the heavens are raining ‘sweet dew’ and the lands have been revived. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Raising their voices in unison, his disciples replied, “It is painful indeed to see the Buddha undertake such suffering (to save sentient beings)!”
“It is not only in this life that I have extended protection to living beings in the land. Countless aeons ago, I was a fish in a pond. Then, the land was also plagued with a drought and the fishes were struggling for survival in the drying pond. Birds from the sky descended and with their sharp beaks, snatched the fishes up. As the king of the fishes, I was desperate and earnestly prayed to the gods for rain. Moved by my sincerity, the gods answered my prayers with rain, and multitudes of lives across the land were saved.”
Continuing on, the Buddha said, “I continued to answer the prayers of sentient beings according to their circumstances, life after life!”
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The Buddha was ever willing to shoulder the suffering of all sentient beings, and even in his incarnation as a fish, he could not bear to see fellow sentient beings suffer. In learning the Dharma, we must learn from the Buddha’s spirit of great compassion and respect all life.
All across the world, disasters abound—floods, droughts, earthquakes are just to name a few. Countless people have been displaced and drift about with no place to call home. We should do our bit in the spirit of Great Love and care for our fellow living beings under the same sky. Great Love, just like the sweet dew of the Dharma, is able to clean and refresh the hearts of man, thus transforming sorrow and suffering into joyful bliss.
An excerpt from Master Cheng Yen’s speech in 1996
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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