Date: 01/11/2025 01/12/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Monk Strengthened His Resolve Upon Hearing the Lotus Metaphor
One day, while the Buddha was residing at Vulture Peak in Rajagaha, fifty young noblemen from the city came to pay homage to him. After bowing respectfully, they requested the Buddha to deliver a teaching. Out of compassion, the Buddha agreed and expounded the principles of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self.
The Buddha said:”Even the most loving couples, who share a lifetime together, cannot escape the inevitability of separation by death. Even those enjoying wealth and power cannot avoid grief and suffering, nor attain true freedom. You must understand that worldly suffering should be abandoned urgently. Only the pure bliss of Nirvana can completely end the cycle of birth and death; only by eradicating all evils can one attain eternal peace.”
The noblemen, inspired by the Dharma, resolved to renounce worldly life and requested ordination to follow the Buddha’s path. The Buddha responded:”The virtuous monk,let your hair fall by itself, and let your robes appear complete.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the fifty young noblemen were instantly transformed into monks with shaven heads and donned robes, embodying the pure appearance of bhikkhus.
News of this event spread throughout the city, and relatives and friends of the new monks gathered to offer their praises and support. They invited the Buddha and the monks to accept alms at a grand meal the next day. The following day, the Buddha led the monks into the city to receive offerings. After the meal, the Buddha gave another profound teaching, filling the listeners with joy and inspiration.
However, upon returning to the city, the newly ordained monks, seeing their families and loved ones, felt a subtle longing for their past lives. The Buddha, perceiving their thoughts, sought to guide them.
On the way back, they passed a ditch filled with foul-smelling mud and manure. Growing amidst this filth was a lotus flower radiating five colors, exuding a fragrance so pure that it masked the surrounding stench. The Buddha stopped and recited a verse with profound meaning:
“Just as from the ditch by the roadside,
Near the main path,
A lotus arises, fragrant and pure,
So too, though ordinary beings dwell in the midst of the burning fires of birth and death,
The wise aspire to transcend
And become disciples of the Buddha.”
After reciting this verse, the Buddha continued back to Vulture Peak with the monks.
Upon their return to the monastery, Venerable Ananda approached the Buddha and respectfully asked:”World-Honored One, the verse you spoke by the ditch—its meaning remains unclear to me. I humbly request your compassionate explanation.”
The Buddha replied:”Ananda, did you see the lotus blooming amidst the foul mud and manure?”
Ananda answered, “Yes, I did.”
The Buddha continued:”Living beings in this world are caught in the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. Their lives, whether lasting a hundred years or less, are filled with both suffering and fleeting joys, alternating between hunger and thirst, cold and heat. They are constantly afflicted by the fires of suffering, never finding true freedom, much like the putrid mud and manure in the ditch.However, if one awakens to the truth of impermanence, resolves to follow the path, renounces deluded thoughts, and practices pure conduct, they are like a lotus blooming from the mud, radiant and fragrant.Through diligent practice, not only can one achieve liberation and enjoy the bliss of freedom, but they can also inspire and save their family, relatives, and even all sentient beings. Just as the fragrance of the lotus spreads far and wide, dispelling the surrounding stench, so too does the light of awakening purify the world.”
Hearing the Buddha’s teaching, the fifty monks immediately abandoned their lingering attachments and defilements, strengthening their resolve and dedicating themselves to diligent practice. Before long, all fifty attained the state of Arhatship, realizing ultimate liberation.
