A Lotus In The Mud

Reading Sunita"s mind through his timid gestures and pensive eyes, the Buddha walked quickly toward him. However, He fled in panic seeing the Buddha because he was ashamed of his dirty body and partly because he was afraid of being caught.

That morning, the Sravasti was bustling with noise\r\nand excitement.  The horse-drawn carriages and group of\r\npeople in colorful clothes crammed the\r\nstreet. The stores were crowded with buyers. The sound\r\nof footsteps made by noble passers-by caused excitement around the\r\nplace. But going into the alley, the image of joyful\r\nprosperous life of the two classes Brahmin and\r\nKshastriya disappeared. Contrary to that image, it is the destitute\r\nlife of the two lower classes of the Sudra and Matanga:\r\nrows of narrow thatched cottages with extremely low\r\npitches had seemed to close since early morning. The sight\r\nof the kids playing around, teasing each other on the road;\r\nthe impoverished disabled people in\r\ndroves wandering from one place to another to beg\r\nfor alms could be easily seen around here.

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As usual, that morning The Honored One\r\nentered the citadel to give a sermon. Being open to the idea of equality and\r\nnon-discrimination on social status, classes, he went around all over\r\nthe places delivering dharma lectures.

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Sunita, a young man of Matanga caste, the\r\nlowest caste in India, was taking double-quick steps on the\r\npath carrying two buckets of manure hanging from a rod\r\non his shoulders when he saw the\r\nBuddha.  He looked confused, frightened, making\r\na quick turn to another direction. Then he was complaining about his\r\nlot. He thought that It was unfortunate for him to be not only a\r\nman of humble origin but also supposed to do such an ignoble\r\njob.  People literally trample each other in an effort to get comfort\r\nin life, dont they? In spite of turning to another way, he\r\nstill gazed at the Buddhas solemn face which radiated\r\nnimbus around his head. Then he was motivated by a deep desire to see the\r\nBuddha, a man of wisdom in person and wonder when he was able to fulfill his\r\nwish. The more he watched the Buddha, the more he admired him. Although he had\r\nnever met the Buddha before, he was told stories about the Buddhas moral\r\nvirtues. Reading Sunitas mind through his\r\ntimid gestures and pensive eyes, the\r\nBuddha walked quickly toward him. However, He fled in\r\npanic seeing the Buddha because he was ashamed of his dirty\r\nbody and partly because he was afraid of being caught.

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"Come here, my dear. Im here with you now. Why do you\r\ntry to avoid seeing me?" The Buddha said to him in clear and sweet voice\r\nin the distance.

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Putting the buckets down on the ground, Sunita politely\r\nsaid:

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"Dear sir, I dare not come closer. If you want me to do\r\nsomething, please tell me and not to approach me."

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Despite his pleas, the Buddha came closer to him. Sunita\r\nbent down and his face turned pale with terror. With a smile of \r\nlove the Buddha said:

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"My dear!  No one may penalize you\r\nas I take initiative to meet you but it is not you who take\r\ninitiative to meet me. Moreover, I am not Prince \r\nSiddhartha who belonged to the Royal Family as I used to be any more,\r\nbut I am just an ordinary man like you, who experience immeasurable sufferings\r\nand I want to tell you something."

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Having heard the sweet and rational\r\nexplanation Sunita felt less fearful and he looked at the\r\nBuddha saying in respect:

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"World Honored One! Are you also concerned about the\r\nmiserable like me? You will teach me how to practice your religion, wont\r\nyou?   

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The Buddha seriously asked him: "Why did you have such\r\nquestions?" Sinuta answered: "World Honored One! Brahmin Gurus say\r\nthat only people who are of Brahmin and Kshatriya classes are\r\nallowed to worship the holy saints and contact their peers while\r\nwe are people of inferior class having no permission to do jobs\r\nintended for the noble and we have to serve them in our entire life.

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Sunita wanted to add more words but the\r\nBuddha interrupted and asked him:

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"So you really do not know that I was\r\nborn to save all the sentient beings from suffering by\r\neradicating superstition, divine\r\nintervention and bring equality and joy for them, do\r\nyou? Do you want to enjoy a better life of a bright future and live close to me\r\nnow? 

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Bursting into tears of joy, Sunita replied:

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"Thats what I have never thought of\r\nbefore.  How lucky I will be if it comes true."

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Buddha gently held his hand and took\r\nhim to a nearby river bank ...After taking a bath, Sunita\r\nfollowed the Buddha to the Jetavana Vihara and he\r\nwas admitted into the sangha and became a Bikkhu. Soon afterward,\r\nover a period of diligent cultivation, he attained Sotapanna\r\nthen Arhatship.

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 In long-standing grievances, King Pasenadi\r\nwondered why the Buddha, a member of the Kshatriya - a royal\r\nwarrior caste, saved so many the lowest castes people. His dissatisfaction\r\nincreased when the Buddha continued saving another - Sunita, the manure\r\ncarrier. "Prostration! I am adamantly opposed to prostrating myself\r\nbefore him." He muttered. The more he thought about it, the angrier he\r\ngrew. Having found this intolerable, King Pasenadi together with his royal\r\ncourtiers moved toward the Jetavana Vihara with the request\r\nthat the Buddha not admit Sunita as well as the lowest castes people into the\r\nBuddhist Sangha anymore from that time on.

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On arrival at the gate of Jetavana Vihara, King\r\nPasenadi saw a monk sitting on a large rock mending\r\nan old shirt. He then had the monk ask permission to meet\r\nthe Buddha. Accepting the request, he made himself disappear\r\nsomewhere  through the rock, arousing both terror and\r\nadmiration among the King and his followers. 

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Later, it was from the rock that the monk appeared and gave\r\nthe answer:

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 "Come on in, please, Your Majesty! The World Honored\r\nOne agreed to see you."

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The King bowed to him then entered the monastery.

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After falling prostrate in worship before the Buddha, the\r\nKing asked:

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"World Honored One! What is the name of the monk who\r\nhas just allowed us to enter? He has attained such a supernatural power that he\r\ncan move through hard rock gently.

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The Buddha replied: "Your Majesty! It is Sunita, the\r\nmanure carrier that I assisted more than a month ago. He has got such\r\nsupernatural power by his hard cultivation and attained arhatship. 

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Seeing the King being in thoughtful silence, the\r\nBuddha calmly added:
\r\n"Your Majesty! Pure fragrant lotus flowers\r\nbloom in the dirty mud. Do you like them and pick them up?
\r\nThe king answered: "World Honored One! Undoubtedly,\r\nalmost everyone loves beautiful and fragrant flowers and they\r\nlike to admire and pick them up for decoration." 

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The Buddha then continued his explanation and questions:

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"Your Majesty! Human is the same case. They belong to\r\nthe low classes (the discrimination rules are set up by human) but thanks\r\nto their virtue cultivation, and mind training practice thereby\r\nbecoming Saints and sages. Do they deserve offerings and respect?

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"World Honored One! They certainly deserve offerings and respect if\r\nthey are really Saints and sages." the king answered.

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The Buddha praised him:

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"Good judgment! You are very judicious about\r\nrecognizing the humans true value."

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Like the dark clouds chased away by the Sun, the Kings\r\nthoughts of contempt and disgust for Sunita and the low class people were\r\ndispelled by the Buddhas convincing explanation. Since then, he was\r\nfilled with the admiration of talents and virtues of Sunita whom\r\nhe met at the gate not long ago.

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 Moreover, the King asked the Buddhas permission to\r\nhave the Arhat Sunita give a lecture to theroyal\r\nfamily and his people in the inner city tomorrow so\r\nthat they all could make offerings to him. On the Buddhas approval, the\r\nKing and his courtiers bowed to the\r\nBuddha and came out to the\r\ngate to directly invite the Arahat with supernatural\r\npowers to have a dharma talk.

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 Granted approval from the Arhat, the King was\r\nhighly delighted. On the way to the palace he relentlessly praised the\r\nBuddha, who was the embodiment of equality and his\r\nSangha was amonastic community of talented and virtuous monks.

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Translated into English by Mr.Tran Xuan Thanh, layman.

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