Angulimala - 39

Angulimala awed by the Buddha's serenity

G.K. Ananda Kumarasiri

BUDDHISM: The Buddha transformed himself into his Enlightened Being and turned slowly around to Angulimala to meet him face to face, and uttered His immortal words:

Angulimala, I have stopped forever. I abide steadfast evermore, for I am merciful to all living beings as I abstain from causing harm to them. But you, on the other hand, are merciless to living beings. You have no restraint towards things that live. That is why I say, I have stopped and you have not.

Even as the Buddha transformed into His Enlightened Being to address him, Angulimala recognised that the ascetic who stood before him was no ordinary ascetic. It dawned in him that the majestic looking person was none other than the Buddha Himself.

As he gazed with amazement at the serenity and aura of the Buddha with wide-eyed awe, his face lit up and his weapons simply dropped from his hands.

For the first time since he became a highway bandit a radiant smile broke upon his weary face. He knew intuitively that the Enlightened One had come to the jalini Forest entirely out of compassion to save him.

The radiance of the Buddha enabled him to see in a flash, the misery and suffering in which his life had been enmeshed with, as a result of his blind obedience to fulfil his Guru Dakshina.

To be continued.

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