Buddhist Stories: Wish-Fulfilling Jewels, Part 4 of 10 Aug. 13, 2015

“Obeisance to the World Honored One. In the past life how did Ananda serve You? How did he know when to do what and when to give You what?” So the Buddha said, “A long, long time ago, limitless time past, at that time there was a king who ruled a very big country. In that capital city, there was a Brahmin man, Brahmin. And the king respected him like a teacher.” “So his first wife got pregnant. She gave birth to a son… I give him the name Great Charity.” “And this boy was very, very diligent and he loved to study. And he was also very intelligent already, so he learned everything by heart so quickly.” “One day, he said to his father, ‘Respected father, I’ve stayed in this palace a long, long time already. Please can I go out and have a look outside to see what the other people are doing?’” “A bunch of beggars…a group of people killing and preparing animals…farmers…hunters…the fishermen….” “Since then, since he saw all that, he saw that everyone was so ignorant and doing such terrible karma, he became very sad. And then he was thinking how to help all beings so that they had everything, not just physical contentment but also spiritually and mentally and everything.”