old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

somewhat embarrassed, he said to his mother, “It is unpleasant having a dog sitting at the table, isn’t it, but what else can I do?”
Queen Videhi answered, “You love your son and so you have allowed him to bring his dog to the table. There is nothing unusual about
that. Do you remember how your own father once swallowed pus from your hand because he loved you?”
Ajatasattu did not recall the incident and asked his mother to tell him what had happened.
The queen said, “One day your finger became red and swollen. A boil formed underneath your fingernail. It caused you so much pain,
you cried and fretted all day and night. Your father was unable to sleep out of concern for you. He lifted you onto his pillow and placed
your infected finger in his mouth. He sucked on it to help relieve the pain. He sucked on your finger throughout four days and nights until the
boil broke. He then sucked out the pus. He did not dare remove your finger from his mouth to spit out the pus for fear you would feel more
pain. And so he swallowed the pus while continuing to suck on your finger. From this story, you can see how deeply your father loved you.
You love your own son and that is why you have allowed him to bring his dog to the table. I can understand that very well.”
The king suddenly clutched his head in his two hands and ran from the room, leaving his meal uneaten. After that night, his mental state
worsened. At last, Jivaka was summoned to take a look at the king. Jivaka listened to Ajatasattu recount all his woes and how no priest or
brahman had been able to help him. Jivaka sat without saying a word. The king asked, “Jivaka, why don’t you say anything?”
Jivaka responded, “There is only thing to tell you. Teacher Gautama is the only person who can help you overcome the agony in your
heart. Go to the Buddha for guidance.”
The king did not speak for several minutes. Finally he muttered, “But I am sure Teacher Gautama hates me.”
Jivaka disagreed. “Don’t say such a thing. Teacher Gautama does not hate anyone. He was your father’s teacher and closest friend.
Going to him will be like going to your own father. See him and you will find inner peace. You will be able to restore all you have torn
asunder. My ability to heal is not worth anything compared with the Buddha’s ability to heal. He is not a medical physician but he is the king
of all physicians. Some people call him the Medicine King.”
The king agreed to think about it.
The Buddha remained at Vulture Peak for several months. He visited the sangha centers in the region and also agreed to spend a month
at Jivaka’s Mango Grove. It was there that Jivaka arranged for King Ajatasattu to meet with the Buddha. On a moonlit night, the king,
seated on an elephant, proceeded to the grove accompanied by the royal family, his concubines, palace guards, and Queen Videhi. When
they entered the grove, all was still. The king was seized with sudden panic. Jivaka had told him that the Buddha was dwelling in the grove
with a thousand bhikkhus. If that was true, how could it be so quiet? Could it be a trick? Was Jivaka leading him to be ambushed? He
turned to Jivaka and asked if this was all a plot in order for Jivaka to seek revenge. Jivaka laughed out loud. He pointed to the Dharma hall
from which light was streaming through a round window.
Jivaka said, “The Buddha and all the bhikkhus are in there this very moment.”
The king climbed down from his elephant and entered the hall, followed by his family and attendants. Jivaka pointed to a man sitting on a
platform, his back supported against a pillar, and said, “There is the Buddha.”
The king was deeply impressed by the attentive quiet. A thousand bhikkhus surrounded the Buddha in perfect silence. Not even a robe
rustled. King Ajatasattu had only seen the Buddha a few times in his life, as he had never joined his father in attending the Buddha’s regular
Dharma talks.
The Buddha invited the king and royal family to be seated. The king bowed and then spoke, “Lord, I remember hearing you speak at the
palace when I was a young boy. Tonight, I would like to ask you a question. What kinds of fruit does the spiritual life bear that hundreds,
even thousands, abandon their homes to pursue it?”
The Buddha asked the king if he had ever asked any other teacher the same question. The king responded that he had, in fact, asked
dozens of other teachers including Venerable Devadatta, but he had never received a satisfactory answer.
The Buddha said, “Your majesty, tonight the Tathagata will tell you the fruits which can be found in this teaching, fruits that can be
enjoyed in this very moment, and fruits which can be reaped in the future. You need not seek lofty answers. Simply look and see these
fruits as clearly as a mango held in your own hand.
“Your majesty, consider this example. A servant caters to all his master’s whims and commands from sunup to sundown, until one day
he asks himself, ‘As my master and I are both human beings, why should I allow myself to be abused by him?’ The servant decides to leave
his life as a servant to enter the homeless life of a bhikkhu. He pursues a chaste, diligent, and mindful life. He eats but one meal a day,
practices sitting and walking meditation, and expresses calm dignity in all his movements. He becomes a respected, virtuous monk.
Knowing that he was formerly a servant, if you met him, would you call out to him and say, ‘Here, fellow, I want you to serve me from
sunup to sundown. Obey all my commands.’”
The king said, “No, Lord, I would not address him in such a way. I would respectfully greet him. I would make food offerings to him and
assure that he received the full protection of the law afforded to monks.”