104 The Story of Mittavindaka [One Who Enjoys His Friends]

At one time, the fully enlightened one who is always turning his mind to altruism was in Jetavana monastery. This story was delivered about a certain monk who was disobedient.

The present story is similar to the Mittavindaka-Jātaka that was previously spoken [No. 82; and see Nos. 41, 369, and 439]. This Jātaka story was in the time of the Buddha Kassapa. At that time one who was burning in hell and wearing an iron wheel put on his chest as an instrument of torture asked the Enlightenment Being, “Sir. What sort of an unwholesome deed was done by me to suffer like this?” Then the Enlightenment Being explained to him:

You did the following type of unwholesome deed. At one time you saw four divine damsels who were a grouping of temporary hungry ghosts [vemānika-petī-s]. Unsatisfied you thought, “Is this enough for happiness or not?” You wondered in such a fashion. You then wondered further, and looked until you saw another eight divine damsels. Without being satisfied by them even, you looked further and saw another twelve divine damsels. And even having seen such a number, you were not satisfied and looked until you saw another sixteen. You were not satisfied even then, and looked further until you saw another thirty-two. And even then you were not satisfied, and being very greedy and dissatisfied you looked even further and then came upon this iron wheel. In this way, without being satisfied with your own luck you kept expecting more and more. Now you have fallen into the trap of an iron wheel. You became enslaved to your cravings, and because of that you are now suffering the torture of the iron wheel cutting your head and giving you terrible pain.

So saying, the Enlightenment Being explained Mittavindaka’s pain due to his former deeds. The Enlightenment Being then went back to his own divine world, and the suffering Mittavindaka had to experience pain in hell for a long time until his previous deeds’ power had ended.

Buddha, the master, disclosing this particular story, explained the tale of Mittavindaka. “Mittavindaka was the disobedient monk of today at that time. The Enlightenment Being, who was born as a god at that time, is today myself.”

The moral: “Be satisfied even with small achievements. It is not good to be too greedy.” Also, “Be a gourmet, not a gourmand.”

104 The Story of Mittavindaka [One Who Enjoys His Friends]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2024/12/24/104-one-who-enjoys-his-friends/

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