Date: 11/15/2025 11/16/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Greedy Monk Who Fell into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
During the time of the Buddha, there was a very wealthy man named Yodada, who possessed countless treasures, servants, elephants, horses, cattle, and sheep. One day, he went to the Jetavana Monastery to listen to the Buddha’s teaching. Seeing the Buddha’s majestic appearance and radiant light, Yodada reverently bowed at the Buddha’s feet and sat to one side to listen to the Dharma. After hearing the teaching, he was filled with joy and decided to renounce the world and follow the Buddha.
With his family’s consent, Yodada returned to the monastery and requested ordination. The Buddha said, “Come, O monk—let your hair and beard fall away, and put on the robe.” Instantly, Yodada took on the appearance of a monk.
After ordination, because he had been a man of great wealth and status, many relatives and townspeople competed to offer him robes, bowls, and other requisites. Receiving such abundant offerings, Yodada became attached to them, unwilling to share with others.
When Yodada later passed away, the monks entered his room to prepare his body for cremation and to arrange his belongings—but they were horrified at what they saw! Before them stood a shriveled, hideous hungry ghost, guarding the monk’s robes and bowl, glaring fiercely and refusing to let anyone approach.
It turned out that because Yodada had clung greedily to his possessions and offerings, he had fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts, still obsessively guarding his former belongings. The monks reported this to the Buddha and sought guidance.
The Buddha led the assembly to Yodada’s room and said to the ghost:
“When you were a monk, you clung to offerings made by others and refused to share. Because of this greed, you have now fallen into the hungry ghost realm. Why do you still not repent and continue to guard these robes and bowls?”
The Buddha then explained the many harms of greed. Hearing the Buddha’s compassionate teaching, the ghost suddenly understood, felt deep remorse, and distributed the robes and belongings to the monks. That very night, he was released from his wretched ghostly form and was reborn as a flying spirit—radiant in appearance, emitting light, adorned with jewels, resembling a celestial being. He returned once more to Jetavana, bowed before the Buddha, and expressed profound gratitude for the Buddha’s guidance. The Buddha compassionately expounded more Dharma, and the spirit joyfully departed.
The next morning, the monks asked the Buddha:
“World-Honored One, last night Jetavana was filled with great light—was it the Four Heavenly Kings, the twenty-eight celestial spirits, or a great bodhisattva from another world who came to hear your teaching?”
The Buddha replied:
“It was Yodada, who has now been reborn as a flying hungry ghost, and he came bringing flowers as an offering.”
When the monks and laypeople heard the Buddha recount Yodada’s story, they were deeply moved. Many resolved to abandon greed and attachment, to detest the endless cycle of birth and death. Some attained the four stages of enlightenment, and others aroused the unsurpassed bodhi mind—to seek Buddhahood above and transform sentient beings below. The community rejoiced and followed the Buddha’s teaching with renewed devotion.
