...a BUDDHA story...
Buddha and Angulimala
There was a man. The name that people gave to him was Angulimala. Something happened to him, he felt the society has been unfair to him, and he became an angry man. When you are young, you think everything is unfair to you. So he became very angry with the society and he took a vow. In this town which had been unfair to him, he was going to kill 101 people and cut off one of their fingers and wear it as a rosary around his neck.
He went about doing this. He was housed in a jungle, but this was the pathway to go to many other places. People were terrified to go this way. Over a few years, he killed one hundred people. He just wanted one more to satisfy his lust. One day, Gautama the Buddha came to this town. By now, because he was wearing a garland of these fingers, they called him Angulimala – that means one who wears fingers as his garland. He needed just one more finger to complete his vow. Gautama came and he was to go that way. People said, “Do not go this way. This is not a man. This is an animal. This is not someone you can go and give a teaching to or make meditative. Do not go, because he wants just one more life. We do not want yours to be that one.” Then Gautama said, “If I do not go, who will go? And he will remain unfulfilled. He just needs one more finger. Let me go.” So he went. Angulimala was sitting on a rock and he saw this monk coming quietly.
By now, he was enjoying his reputation. People were terrified of him and he liked it. People tremble at just the mention of his name. So sitting there on the rock, he roared just to make this monk know that, “I am here, and this is your end coming.” Gautama looked at him and kept walking quietly with a smile on his face. He did not like this. Usually when they saw him or heard him, people ran helter-skelter, wanting to save their lives. He liked that. This man was just walking. He jumped off the rock, came and stood in front of him and said, “Who the hell are you? And do you know who I am?” He showed his mala, all fingers. “Do you know about me?” Gautama said, “Well, I have heard a lot about you, what about it?” and he kept walking. “Where do you think you are going? You are still going when I am talking to you?” Gautama said, “My going stopped a long time ago. I have arrived. You are the one who are trying to go somewhere.”
Then Angulimala laughed. He said, “Rubbish. You are definitely an insane man. I am standing still, and you say that I am going. You are walking, and you say you are not going. What’s wrong with you?” Gautama said, “I have arrived a long time ago. I am not going anywhere. You are the one who is trying to go somewhere. But you do not know how to go there. You want my finger or you want my neck? You have already got fingers, you can hang my head and it will be a good pendant for the necklace. Because I am done, I have arrived. It does not matter whether I am physically here or not. You can do what you want.”
The pleasure of killing is only when they are terrified and do not want to die. When someone wants to die and they do not care, what is the use of killing this guy? And it looks like even if he kills this guy, his lust for 101 lives will not be fulfilled because this guy does not give him the pleasure. Then he said, “Wait, you tell me what is this about? You are moving, and you are saying that you have arrived and you are not moving. I am not moving and you say I am moving.” “You are looking for fulfillment in your own way – 101. I am fulfilled. This is the big difference. And you can take my life. If you think you are going to be fulfilled, do it, because my work is to fulfill people. If it is going to happen so easily that you are going to be fulfilled without a teaching, just by slashing my throat, just do it, what is the problem?”
Then Angulimala became his disciple. Gautama said, “You must go into the town from which you have killed a hundred people.” Gautama’s monks were called Bikkus. Bikku literally means beggar. He gave him a yellow cloth and a begging bowl. He said, “Go look for some food in the town.” In a small town, a hundred dead people means that almost every family had lost someone to this man. Angulimala came into the town as a monk. People saw this and they were terrified. They did not know why he had come. They all went and stood on their terraces because they were afraid of what he would do. Then when they saw that he had become tamed, he was not the same fierce man, they started throwing stones at him because each family had lost someone to him. So he continued, stones hit him and he was bleeding all over. Then when the stone throwing became a little excessive, Gautama came and asked the people to stop and said, “This is not the same man. This man is an extension of me. You are throwing stones at me. Just stop. There is no point in killing this man because this man has come to realization in a very hard way. You cannot waste this man now by killing him.” Angulimala became a star disciple and went all over the country spreading Buddha’s way of living and knowing. But they continued to call him Angulimala because he wore those fingers around his neck. - SADHGURU
There was a man. The name that people gave to him was Angulimala. Something happened to him, he felt the society has been unfair to him, and he became an angry man. When you are young, you think everything is unfair to you. So he became very angry with the society and he took a vow. In this town which had been unfair to him, he was going to kill 101 people and cut off one of their fingers and wear it as a rosary around his neck.
He went about doing this. He was housed in a jungle, but this was the pathway to go to many other places. People were terrified to go this way. Over a few years, he killed one hundred people. He just wanted one more to satisfy his lust. One day, Gautama the Buddha came to this town. By now, because he was wearing a garland of these fingers, they called him Angulimala – that means one who wears fingers as his garland. He needed just one more finger to complete his vow. Gautama came and he was to go that way. People said, “Do not go this way. This is not a man. This is an animal. This is not someone you can go and give a teaching to or make meditative. Do not go, because he wants just one more life. We do not want yours to be that one.” Then Gautama said, “If I do not go, who will go? And he will remain unfulfilled. He just needs one more finger. Let me go.” So he went. Angulimala was sitting on a rock and he saw this monk coming quietly.
By now, he was enjoying his reputation. People were terrified of him and he liked it. People tremble at just the mention of his name. So sitting there on the rock, he roared just to make this monk know that, “I am here, and this is your end coming.” Gautama looked at him and kept walking quietly with a smile on his face. He did not like this. Usually when they saw him or heard him, people ran helter-skelter, wanting to save their lives. He liked that. This man was just walking. He jumped off the rock, came and stood in front of him and said, “Who the hell are you? And do you know who I am?” He showed his mala, all fingers. “Do you know about me?” Gautama said, “Well, I have heard a lot about you, what about it?” and he kept walking. “Where do you think you are going? You are still going when I am talking to you?” Gautama said, “My going stopped a long time ago. I have arrived. You are the one who are trying to go somewhere.”
Then Angulimala laughed. He said, “Rubbish. You are definitely an insane man. I am standing still, and you say that I am going. You are walking, and you say you are not going. What’s wrong with you?” Gautama said, “I have arrived a long time ago. I am not going anywhere. You are the one who is trying to go somewhere. But you do not know how to go there. You want my finger or you want my neck? You have already got fingers, you can hang my head and it will be a good pendant for the necklace. Because I am done, I have arrived. It does not matter whether I am physically here or not. You can do what you want.”
The pleasure of killing is only when they are terrified and do not want to die. When someone wants to die and they do not care, what is the use of killing this guy? And it looks like even if he kills this guy, his lust for 101 lives will not be fulfilled because this guy does not give him the pleasure. Then he said, “Wait, you tell me what is this about? You are moving, and you are saying that you have arrived and you are not moving. I am not moving and you say I am moving.” “You are looking for fulfillment in your own way – 101. I am fulfilled. This is the big difference. And you can take my life. If you think you are going to be fulfilled, do it, because my work is to fulfill people. If it is going to happen so easily that you are going to be fulfilled without a teaching, just by slashing my throat, just do it, what is the problem?”
Then Angulimala became his disciple. Gautama said, “You must go into the town from which you have killed a hundred people.” Gautama’s monks were called Bikkus. Bikku literally means beggar. He gave him a yellow cloth and a begging bowl. He said, “Go look for some food in the town.” In a small town, a hundred dead people means that almost every family had lost someone to this man. Angulimala came into the town as a monk. People saw this and they were terrified. They did not know why he had come. They all went and stood on their terraces because they were afraid of what he would do. Then when they saw that he had become tamed, he was not the same fierce man, they started throwing stones at him because each family had lost someone to him. So he continued, stones hit him and he was bleeding all over. Then when the stone throwing became a little excessive, Gautama came and asked the people to stop and said, “This is not the same man. This man is an extension of me. You are throwing stones at me. Just stop. There is no point in killing this man because this man has come to realization in a very hard way. You cannot waste this man now by killing him.” Angulimala became a star disciple and went all over the country spreading Buddha’s way of living and knowing. But they continued to call him Angulimala because he wore those fingers around his neck. - SADHGURU
56-60, M
