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pregnant. They found an attractive, young brahmana woman named Cinca and told her that the Buddha had caused a rapid decline in the
faith of their ancestors by luring many young men to become his disciples. Anxious to protect her faith, Cinca agreed to the plan.
Every day she went to Jetavana dressed in a beautiful sari and carrying a fresh bouquet of flowers. She did not arrive in time for the
Dharma talks, but waited outside the Dharma hall as people left to return home. At first, whenever anyone asked her where she was going
or what she was doing, she only smiled. After several days, she answered coyly, “I’m going where I’m going.” After several weeks of such
vague comments, she began to answer, “I’m going to visit Monk Gautama.” And finally, she was heard to exclaim, “Sleeping at Jetavana is
delightful!”
Such words burned the ears of many people. Some laypeople began to feel doubts and suspicions, but no one said anything. One day,
Cinca came to one of the Buddha’s Dharma talks. Her belly was noticeably round. In the middle of the Buddha’s discourse, she stood up
and loudly said, “Teacher Gautama! You speak eloquently about the Dharma. You are held in high esteem. But you care nothing for this
poor woman made pregnant by you. The child I carry is your own. Are you going to take responsibility for your own child?”
A wave of shock passed through the community. Everyone looked up at the Buddha. The Buddha only smiled calmly and replied, “Miss,
only you and I can know whether or not your claims are true.”
The Buddha’s calm smile made Cinca feel uneasy, but she retorted, “That’s right, only you and I know whether my claims are true.”
The community could no longer suppress their astonishment. Several people stood up in anger. Cinca suddenly felt afraid the people
would beat her. She looked for a way to escape, but in her panic, she ran into a post and stumbled. As she strained to stand back up, a
large round block of wood fell from where it was tied onto her abdomen, and landed on her foot. She cried out in pain and grabbed her
crushed toes. Her stomach was now perfectly flat.
A sigh of relief rose from the crowd. Several people began laughing and others derided Cinca. Bhikkhuni Khema stood up and gently
assisted Cinca out of the hall. When the two women were gone, the Buddha resumed his Dharma talk as if nothing had happened.
The Buddha spoke, “Community, the Way of Enlightenment can tear down the walls of ignorance, just as light can disperse the shadows.
The Four Noble Truths, Impermanence, Non-self, Dependent Co-arising, the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, the Seven Factors of
Awakening, the Three Gates, and the Noble Eightfold Path have all been proclaimed to the world like a lion’s roar, dispelling countless
false doctrines and narrow views. The lion is king of the beasts. When he leaves his den, he stretches and gazes out over all the directions.
Before seeking his prey, he lets forth a mighty roar that causes the other creatures to tremble and flee. Birds fly high, crocodiles dive
beneath the water, foxes slip into their holes. Even village elephants, decked in fancy belts and ornaments and shaded by golden parasols,
run away at the sound of that roar.
“Community, the proclamation of the Way of Enlightenment is like that lion’s roar! False doctrines fear and tremble. When
Impermanence, Non-self, and Dependent Co-arising are proclaimed, all those who have long sought false security in ignorance and
forgetfulness must awaken, celestial beings as well as human beings. When a person sees the dazzling truth, he exclaims, ‘We embraced
dangerous views for so long, taking the impermanent to be permanent, and believing in the existence of a separate self. We took suffering to
be pleasure and look at the temporary as if it were eternal. We mistook the false for the true. Now the time has come to tear down all the
walls of forgetfulness and false views.’
“Community, the Way of Enlightenment allows humanity to remove the thick veil of false views. When an enlightened person appears,
the Way echoes like the majestic sound of the rising tide. When the tide rises, all false views are swept away.
“Community, people are easily caught by four traps. The first is attachment to sensual desires. The second is attachment to narrow
views. The third is doubt and suspicion. The fourth is false view of self. The Way of Enlightenment helps people overcome the four great
traps.
“Community, the teaching on dependent co-arising will enable you to overcome every obstacle and trap. Contemplate the nature of
interdependence in your daily life—in your body, feelings, mind, and objects of mind.”
The next day in the main hall, Ananda repeated the Buddha’s Dharma talk. He named it Sutra of the Lion’s Roar.
That retreat season, many bhikkhus fell ill with malaria. Many grew thin and pale and no longer had the strength to go out begging for
themselves. Other bhikkhus readily shared their food with them, but much of the food contained rice and curry, which was too harsh on the
stomachs of the sick. The Buddha gave permission to lay disciples to prepare special dishes for the sick bhikkhus. They cooked food that
was easily digested, such as rice porridge with wholesome ingredients like honey, milk, cane sugar, and oil. Thanks to these foods, the
bhikkhus slowly regained their health.
One day after sitting meditation, the Buddha heard the squawking of a great number of crows. When he went to investigate, he found a
number of bhikkhus tossing the special foods prepared for the sick bhikkhus to the crows. They explained that a number of brothers had
felt too ill to eat that morning. The hour of noon had passed and the bhikkhus were not to partake of food after noon. When the Buddha
asked why they didn’t save the special foods for the following day, he was reminded that food was not to be kept overnight. The Buddha
told them that sick bhikkhus could be relieved of the precept not to eat anything after the noon hour, and if certain foods would keep, they