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| Leaves of the Heaven Tree | ||
| 作者 | |
|---|---|
| 出版者 | Dharma Publishing |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.dharmapublishing.com/ |
| 出版地 | Berkeley, CA, US [伯克利, 加利福尼亞州, 美國] |
| 資料類型 | 書籍=Book |
| 使用語言 | 英文=English |
| 關鍵詞 | 本生=闍陀迦=Jataka; |
| 摘要 | A beautiful edition of 108 Jataka stories, with 22 color plates from a set of rare thankas. The story "Punyaprabhasa and the Karma of Desire,": The Bhagavan was abiding in Jeta's Grove when Prasenajit, king of Kosala, went before him and humbly asked, "Bhagavan, how is it that you first generated the mind of enlightenment? In what manner of birth did this first come about?" The Buddha smiled radiantly as he replied, "Long ago, in the city of Prabhavatya, I was a king called Punyaprabhasa. It was at that time that I first awakened the unexcelled mind of enlightenment. The king, along with his elephant trainer, Samyata, was riding a great elephant when they came to a forest meadow. The elephant sensed a female in the forest and, lusting after her, followed her scent and ran into a great ravine. The king and his servant both jumped free from the lust-maddened elephant by grabbing onto the branch of a tree. They then returned to the palace. Later, the elephant, his passion assuaged, returned on his own. At that time Samyata said 'Your majesty, although I have trained your elephant well, I was not able to subdue his mind. The mind, burning with the fire of attachment, aches fiercely, tormented with a heat greater than the heat of fire or even of the sun. Desire's urgings burn like the fires of hell; attempting to restrain them feels like being blind, like being left in the darkness with nothing at all. Attachment and the desires that attend it afflict one like a slow poison that has no antidote and no relief. Desire leads to a craziness worse than that induced by the strongest drink; it is an abyss that has no bottom, yet it is not an abyss. Desire is a crazy demon, but it is not a real demon. This is why the mind bent on attachment is so difficult to subdue.' The King asked, 'Well then, are there any beings in the world whose minds are subdued and free from attachment?' Samyata replied, 'Free from worldly attachments, peaceful, subdued, with compassion for all, clearing away darkness like a lamp: Such is the unexcelled Buddha.' As soon as the king heard these words, he generated the mind of enlightenment. He had gained the merit to do this in his previous life as a potter, a poor householder, when he offered molasses to the Buddha during a famine and made a wishing prayer to be reborn as Prabha, one whose virtues shine forth clearly. That prayer established the first young shoots of enlightenment. My actions are now the fruits of enlightenment." Hearing all this, King Prasenajit, joyful and with a clear heart, returned to his palace. |
| ISBN | 0898002850 (pbk); 0898003834 (hc) |
| 點閱次數 | 86 |
| 建檔日期 | 2004.07.16 |
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