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

Chapter Twenty
The Deer
Every day the Buddha bathed in the Neranjara River. He did walking meditation along the riverbanks and along the small forest paths his
own steps had created. He sat in meditation on the shore beside the flowing river or beneath the bodhi tree while hundreds of birds chirped
among its branches. He had realized his vow. He knew he must return to Kapilavatthu where so many awaited news of his quest. He
recalled, as well, King Bimbisara in the city of Rajagaha. He felt a special affinity for the young king and wished to visit him also. There
were also his five former companions. He knew they each possessed the ability to attain liberation quickly, and he wanted to find them. No
doubt they still dwelled nearby.
River, sky, moon and stars, mountains, forest, every blade of grass, and every mote of dust were transformed for the Buddha. He knew
that the long years he wandered in search of the Way had not been wasted. Indeed, thanks to his trials and hardships, he had finally
discovered the Way in his own heart. Every living being possessed the heart of enlightenment. The seeds of enlightenment existed in
everyone. Living beings did not need to seek enlightenment outside of themselves because all the wisdom and strength of the universe was
already present in them. This was the Buddha’s great discovery and was cause for all to rejoice.
The children came to visit him often. The Buddha was happy to see that the way of liberation could be expressed simply and naturally.
Even poor country children who had never attended school could understand his teaching. This greatly encouraged him.
One day the children arrived with a basketful of tangerines. They wanted to eat the tangerines in awareness in order to practice the very
first lesson the Buddha had taught them. Sujata bowed gracefully before the Buddha and then held the basket before him. He joined his
palms together like a lotus bud and took a tangerine. Sujata offered the basket to Svasti, who was sitting by the Buddha’s side. He too
joined his palms together and took a tangerine. She offered the basket to each child until everyone had a tangerine. She sat down and
placed her palms together before taking a tangerine for herself. All the children sat silently. The Buddha told them to follow their breath and
smile. Then he lifted his tangerine in his left hand and looked deeply at it. The children followed his example. He slowly peeled his tangerine
and the children began to peel theirs. Teacher and students enjoyed their tangerines in silent awareness. When everyone was finished eating,
Bala gathered up the peels. The children had greatly enjoyed eating their tangerines mindfully with the Buddha. The Buddha took great
pleasure in sharing such a practice with the children.
The children visited the Buddha in the afternoons. He showed them how to sit still and to follow their breath in order to calm their minds
when they felt sad or angry. He taught them walking meditation to refresh their minds and bodies. He taught them to look deeply at others
and at their own actions in order to be able to see, to understand, and to love. The children understood all he taught them.
Nandabala and Sujata spent an entire day sewing a new robe to offer the Buddha. It was the color of bricks, similar to the cloth of the
Buddha’s old robe. When Sujata learned he had to take the cemetery cloth used to cover the corpse of her former household servant,
Radha, who died of typhoid fever, she wanted to weep.
The Buddha was sitting beneath the bodhi tree when the two girls arrived to offer him the robe. They waited quietly for him to emerge
from his meditation. When they presented him with the new robe he was very happy.
“I have need of this robe,” he said. He told them he would keep the old cloth, as well, in order to have something to wear whenever he
washed his new robe. Nandabala and Sujata privately resolved to sew him another robe soon.
One day, Sujata’s twelve-year-old girlfriend, Balagupta, asked the Buddha to speak to them about friendship. Just the day before,
Balagupta had had an argument with her closest friend, Jatilika. She had not wanted to stop by Jatilika’s house on her way to see the
Buddha the following day and only did so at Sujata’s insistence. Jatilika only agreed to join them because Sujata was there. When the girls
arrived at the bodhi tree, Balagupta and Jatilika sat far apart from one another.
The Buddha told the children about the friendship shared by a deer, a bird, and a turtle. He told them that the story had taken place
several thousand years before, when he was a deer in a past life. The children looked surprised but he explained, “In previous lives, we
have all been earth, stones, dew, wind, water, and fire. We have been mosses, grasses, trees, insects, fish, turtles, birds, and mammals. I
have seen this most clearly in my meditations. Thus, in one life, I was a deer. This is quite an ordinary thing. I can still remember a life in
which I was a jagged rock upon a mountain peak and another life in which I was a plumeria tree. It is the same for all of you. The story I
am going to tell you is about a deer, a bird, a turtle, and a hunter. Perhaps one of you was the bird and another the turtle.
“We have all existed in times when there were not yet any humans, or even birds and mammals on Earth. There were only plants beneath
the seas and trees and vegetation on the Earth’s surface. In those times we may have been stones, dew, or plants. Afterwards we
experienced lives as birds, as all kinds of animals, and finally as human beings. Right now we are more than just human beings. We are rice