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The fantastic story of Angulimala from the time of the Buddha is one that children across India know. I got to  know the story on my first Vipassana meditation retreat, and years later it continues to fascinate me. Angulimala's tale is all about the potential to rise out of our suffering and ignorance and into the light of wisdom. How a good, honest person, given the right circumstances, can be corrupted. And how a bloodthirsty maniac, given the right circumstances, can become one of the most compassionate liberated beings on Earth. It is both a tale of caution and deliverance... (Excerpts taken from Lives of the Disciples by Hellmuth Hecker) Angulimala's story begins on the day of his birth in the kingdom of Kosala to his parents Bhaggava Gagga and Mantani, both members of the royal court. His father consulted a jyotish or astrologer to have his chart cast and the astrologer revealed that the boy was born under the "robber-constellation" of the planets. This indicated that the boy would have within him a tendency to commit robbery and murder. Both parents were beside themselves both with grief and bewilderment over the news. What to do with this innocent newborn? They decided to protect their son from these evil tendencies by ensuring he was raised in an atmosphere of strong morality and good education. Perhaps then he would follow a good moral life and the prediction of his chart could be curtailed. They named their son "Ahimsaka" which means Harmless in the hopes that upon hearing this name countless times he would grow up to be a gentle creature of this world. As he grew up, Ahimsaka proved to be a well-mannered, strong and intelligent boy, which pleased his parents immensely and made them forget about the prediction of long ago. When he was of age, they sent him to the renowned university of Takshishila to study under a foremost teacher.  Under his guru, Ahimsaka surpassed all other students with his bright and intelligent nature, and served his teacher with the utmost humility and love. Very soon, he became his teacher's favourite student, and was even invited to their home for meals. As is true of human nature, the other students became very envious and jealous of Ahimsaka's exalted position in their Guru's eyes and hatched a devious plan to separate devoted student and teacher.  Three sets of students, all on separate occasions, went to their teacher saying that they had heard some terrible news - that his own very dear Ahimsaka was planning to plot against him to usurp his power as Guru. And would even go as far as to kill him. Their guru, at first dismissed them with severe reprimand, but as one after the other group came with the same news, the poisonous seed of doubt began to grow in his mind against his beloved Ahimsaka. The Buddha says that of the 5 enemies of a meditator (doubt, agitation, sloth, craving and aversion), it is doubt that is the most nefarious ringleader and can bring down a man. The guru began himself to hatch a plan to stop his student from killing him. While he knew that he could not overpower such a strong man, nor could he kill him for fear of losing his social reputation, he came up with a clever idea.  As Ahimsaka's studies were coming to a close, it is a common tradition in India that the student give his Guru a gift of honour in exchange for all that he has learned (dakshina). One day he called him over and asked for this very dakshina. Ahimsaka replied he would be happy to give whatever his Guru asked. The guru then said, "You must bring me a thousand human little fingers of the right hand. This will then be your concluding ceremonial homage to the science you have learned." His teacher knew that very soon, he would either be killed or jailed for even attempting this task, and he would then be free of his fear. Ahimsaka was shocked, tried to protest, but eventually conceded to his Guru's request because of his deep trust and devotion to him.  One of his motivations may have been that an unquestioning obedience to the guru appeared to him as the first duty of a pupil, this being an echo from his earlier way of life that was governed by higher principles. But the stronger factor in his decision will probably have been that his hidden dispositions had actually emerged in his mind when vistas of violence were evoked by his teacher's words. He may have felt attracted by a life of violent adventure. Tradition tells that in one of his former lives he had been a powerful spirit, a so-called yakkha, who used his superhuman strength to hurt and kill living beings to satisfy his appetite for human flesh. In all his past experiences that are reported in the Jatakas, two traits are prominent in him: his physical strength and his lack of compassion. This was the dark heritage of his past which broke into his present life, submerging the good qualities of his early years. So, in his final response to his teacher's demand, he did not even think of the alternative, to gather the fingers from corpses thrown into India's open cremation grounds. Instead he equipped himself with a set of the fivefold weaponry, among them a large sword, and went into the wild Jalini forest in his home state, Kosala. There he lived on a high cliff from where he could observe the road below. When he saw travelers approaching, he hurried down, slew them and took one finger from each of his victims. He would hang the fingers from a tree, but birds would eat the flesh and the bones would drop to the ground. He then decided to string the little fingers one by one on a garland around his neck which he wore and would count. Thus, he was given the name "Angulimala" or "one who wears a … Continue reading The Tale of Angulimala |Article