At the age of seven, he became a monk and attained the fruit position
For a time, the Buddha was in the city of Sarvas.A great king who was born in Chang led his army to kill all the entire Shakyamuni people. The younger brothers and wife of Venerable Ananda were not spared, leaving only two orphans to live on the streets of the Acropolis of Kapila.When he was helpless and homeless, a donor from Schaeve recognized his friend's child. After asking the whole story, he told them: You will definitely be taken care of when you go to Schaeve to find your uncle Ananda.He is particularly concerned about his relatives.The two children said: My uncle is far away in Schaeve and we are not familiar with the path, how can we find it?The donor comforted: Don’t worry, I will take you there after I finish the work here.The two orphans waited patiently, and the donor completed the matter and took them to the city of Shravas, and then told them: You go to find your uncle who was practicing ascetic here, I am going back.
The two orphans searched everywhere and finally found their uncle, Venerable Ananda.The Venerable asked that the nephew from the Acropolis of Kapila wandered around after his parents were killed, and because he heard that he had come to surrender in the city of Shravas.Ananda was worried, and the monks asked: Why are the Venerable worried?The Venerable said: My sister's two orphans came to join me, but I am an ascetic monk and have no source of life. They cannot enjoy the property of the Three Treasures.It’s not OK to not raise it. If it’s difficult to raise it, I don’t know what to do.The monks said: Venerable, take good care of them.The Buddha said that if you do good deeds to monks, you can give them charity, which should be reasonable in terms of cause and effect.You can let your two children wash bowls, wash fruits, offer flowers, etc. for the monks. You can do such a thing.In this way, Venerable Ananda captured two poor orphans.[Teacher's words: Like ordinary children or lay Buddhists, if they often do things for the monks, the monks' belongings can also be enjoyed.
Therefore, every time this court offers vegetarian food and lay Buddhists to enjoy, there is a basis for teaching and evidence.When offering vegetarian food in the future, I hope that lay people will try to carry water, sweep the floor, and do things within their ability, so as to be more in terms of cause and effect.】Often, monks donated some of the remaining food to two orphans, but it was not enough to satisfy their hunger. Later, Venerable Ananda shared half of the rice he had obtained from begging for them to eat, and he only ate half of the bowl. Over time, the Venerable's Dharma body became weaker and weaker. After learning about it, the Buddha asked me why the monks were there, and the monks truthfully reported the truth.The Buddha asked Ananda: Do the two orphans you adopted want to become monks?Ananda said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, two orphans are going to become monks.The Buddha said: Ananda, if two children become monks, they can enjoy the monk’s wealth. Before they become monks, they can do some offerings to the monks, and they can also enjoy the monks’ property.After the Buddha announced his promise, their lives improved.After a while, the Buddha asked Ananda: Why have your two nephews not yet become monks?Ananda said: World Honored One, you have already stipulated that you cannot become a monk under the age of fifteen. Your two children are under the age of fifteen and have not become a monk.The Buddha asked again: Can the two children drive away the crows while the monks are drying their food?If you can do something to drive away the evil spirits, you can become a monk.It is enough to do something to drive away the black hair.If you can drive away the black hair, you can become a monk at the age of seven.The Buddha promised this way, both of them became monks and lived a good life, but they were very lazy, willing to play during the day, sleep for a long time at night, and practice without listening, thinking and practicing.
Seeing that these two children were sleeping negligently, Maudgalyayana said to Ananda: It is a pity for two children to waste their time like this, and they should be strictly disciplined.Ananda said: I have no choice but to let my two children be obedient at all and do not listen, think and practice. I might as well give it to you to manage it.Venerable Maudgalyayana agreed readily.The two children were very scared and thought that this monk must be very powerful, but he did not dare to go against his uncle's teachings, so he had to study under the seat of Venerable Maudgalyayana.Venerable Maudgalyayana began to be more strict, but gradually became very compassionate and could not discipline him strictly.Venerable Ananda asked: Why are you spoiling these two children now?Venerable Maudgalyayana said: The two children have learned that I am very compassionate, so I am not obedient at all. I really can’t do anything to them.Venerable Ananda said: You are really helpless, so please use convenient methods to make them feel disgusted and disgusted.Venerable Maudgalyayana agreed.
One day, when Venerable Maudgalyayana went out to play with his two children, he showed an extremely terrifying hell with his magical changes and made various loud noises.The Venerable deliberately asked these two children: Listen! What is the sound?We don’t know, it’s really scary! You guys go and see what the sound is.They followed the sound and saw that the sentient beings in hell were suffering from various pains such as burning and killing. They were terrible. They walked to a very large iron pot, which was boiling molten water in the pot, and there were no sentient beings. They felt very strange and asked the sentient beings in hell why they only boil molten water. They said: The two nephews of Venerable Ananda on earth do not listen to and practice every day but enjoy the property of the monks. When they left the world, they fell into hell and suffered in this pot of molten water.After hearing this, they were very scared and immediately returned to the side of the Venerable and said: Venerable, the suffering of hell is extremely terrible! If we do not study, think and practice diligently, we will definitely fall into hell in the future. Now we are very scared.The Venerable said: You didn’t believe me in the past, but now you have witnessed all kinds of pain in hell with your own eyes, so you can do it yourself in the future.From then on, the two children studied day and night, and before eating, they would not think about eating if they thought of the pain of hell: after eating, they would spit out all the food.In this way, if you don’t think about diligently listening, thinking and practicing, your body will gradually become weak and your face will turn yellow.When Venerable Ananda saw this, he asked Venerable Maudgalyayana the reason.Venerable Maudgalyayana truthfully told: Maybe these two children were very scared after seeing the scene of hell, so they did not dare to eat.Venerable Ananda was worried that the long-term would drag down the bodies of the two children, so he asked Venerable Maudgalyayana to give comfort with skillful means.
A few days later, Venerable Maudgalyayana planned to take his two children to the garden outside for a trip, but the two children did not dare to go. The Venerable said: Today we will not go to hell, but to another pleasant place to play.The two children followed the Venerable Maudgalyayana to the wonderful paradise transformed by the Venerable. When they heard the music and applause of the Emperor's daughter living happily, Venerable Maudgalyayana sent the two children to see the truth.They saw many emperors and celestial girls who were decorated with celestial jewelry and enjoying themselves. They felt envious. Later, they saw two Leos who were playing various instruments and offering flowers for many heavenly girls. They asked: Why are there no emperors in these two Leos?The heavenly girls told me: Now the two nephews of Ananda, the world do not diligently study, think and practice, but enjoy the property of the monks, so they will fall into hell and suffer retribution. They are also afraid of the merits of diligently practicing in heaven in the future.Two Leos are prepared for them.The two children were very happy to hear this, thinking that if they practice diligently now, they can still be reincarnated in the heavens in the future.They ran back happily and reported the truth to the Lord.The Venerable said mercifully: You have personally seen the sufferings and happiness of good and evil realms, and you must practice diligently!
After that, the two children practiced Buddhism with great diligence, and finally found that no matter whether they were born in hell, hungry ghosts, creatures, humans, Asuras or heavenly beings, there was no happiness at all. Everything was a defilement. The three realms of reincarnation was like a fire house, which was all painful in nature, and truly developed a renunciation. [The Master said: For monks, renunciation is very important, but there are two views on whether we have renunciation when we first became monks: one said that we must have renunciation when we became monks, otherwise we will not be able to obtain the precepts: the other is that as long as we can develop renunciation, it doesn’t matter whether there is a renunciation for the time being.But judging from the content of the "Hundred Karma Sutra", when you first became a monk, you may not have the courage to renunciate, but the Buddha has already promised them to become monks.Therefore, you can also obtain the precepts after you become a monk.】Study more diligently, eliminate the troubles of the three realms of reincarnation, and attain the Arhat fruit. The present state of gold and cow dung is equal, and the void is no different from the palm. The heavens praise their merits.After obtaining the fruit, the two often went to various places to collect fruits, flowers, etc. to offer to the monks.The monks felt very rare and thought they were very amazing.Some older monks saw that two children who were only seven years old had obtained such merits and realms, but those whose hair had changed three times still had no realization. If they still did not work hard, they would be ashamed! [Translator: The hair changed three times here probably means that when people were young, they were black when they were young, and they were white when they were young and old.】So he also began to work diligently, and many monks have attained the Arhat fruit.At that time, monks asked: World Honored One, what karma did the two children in the past? Now, at the age of seven, they have eliminated the afflictions of the Three Realms and achieved the Arhat fruit?
The Buddha told the monks: This is due to their vows in their previous lives.[Master's words: From the beginning to the end of the "Hundred Karma Sutra" it shows the importance of making vows. Therefore, when we recite the "Samuhara Practice and Vows", we must make pure good wishes and never make evil wishes.】When the life of the virtuous kalpa is 20,000 years old, the teacher of humans and gods, Tathagata, and Kasyapa Buddha of the Equal Enlightenment are born.Kashyapa Buddha led all the monks to travel to Deer Ancestor. Five hundred young people who were playing and playing in the garden had a great joy when they saw the Tathagata's trip. They felt that the opportunity for Tathagata to be born was very rare and wanted to become a monk. However, some people said that they should enjoy themselves when they are in their prime and wait until they are old. [Teacher said: Most people in society now think that they are reluctant to become monks when they are young, and they will become monks when they are old, or when they are arranged for everything at home before becoming monks, etc. This is completely wrong.To become a monk, you should become a monk immediately. Don’t hesitate and ask others.】【Translator: Since we talked about the "Hundred Karma Sutra", more than 100 of our Han disciples have become monks immediately, and now they have studied diligently and become real Buddhist disciples.
No matter what others say, I think this choice is very good and everyone should rejoice in the merits.】Some people think that they should wait until they have children before becoming a monk.Later, most of them were busy making a living at home, and died after giving birth to a child, and had no chance to become a monk. [Shi Yan: Some people said that they came to the college for a permanent residence in the year and the year after, but they died before they could come to the college.】【Translator: In the first two months, some elderly people among the Han disciples. Although Yixi Pengcuo and I repeatedly advised him to become a monk, we still refused to become a monk, and we died on the way back.】In the end, only two survived.The two old men only realized when they saw their friends die one after another: We were determined to become monks when we were twenty-five years old, and now we are old and weak. If we don’t become monks, we may never have another chance in this life.They offered their property to the top and bottom and then became monks before Kashyapa.Because the Buddha stipulated that new monks must serve as the first monks, the two old men are over 70 years old but still have to do a lot of things.
Some people often bully the two old men, calling them old and confused, telling them about their faults, etc.One of the old men felt angry and felt that he would suffer such insults when doing things for others every day.Another old man was very open-minded and persuaded him: Don’t be angry, it’s not their fault but our own fault. If we became monks earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.The old man repented sincerely and did not receive any retribution.[The Master said: Some evil karma is like a feeling of hatred, etc. If you repent immediately like this old man, you will not be punished in the future.】They made a vow at the end of their lives: We will become monks under the Buddha's teachings throughout our lives, so that the Buddha will feel happy. With this merit, we wish that we can enter the Tao with virginity when Shakyamuni Buddha was born. [Translator: These two old people are very scared and feel that it is difficult to become monks in old age.The old people among you should also pay attention to that if you have not attained enlightenment in this life, you should also vow that Maitreya Buddha will become a little novice when he is born in the next life.People who become monks may not be able to master the academic principles of precepts. They can often see that some elderly people have bad behaviors because they do not understand the precepts.】Eliminate all troubles and attain the Arhat fruit: If you are not old enough to become a monk, may the Buddha give us a special promise.What do you think, monks, the two old men who became monks under the Buddhist teachings of Kashyapa, were these two children. Because their vows were mature, I was given a special offer to become a monk at the age of seven in this life under my teachings.
