Shed to Transform!

There was an offering of delicious cakes for the Sangha! Everyone got one, and cakes were set aside for those expected to return later. All of the mendicants enjoyed the treat, and as others arrived, they claimed and enjoyed their cake too.

But as the day got later, one sweet cake remained. A young monk was very late coming back from the village; and his cake was left waiting. So the discussion arose as to who might get to eat this extra cake. It was decided that the most senior monk, Sariputta, should receive the honor! He accepted the dessert and still had crumbs on his lips when the young monk finally arrived!

“I ate the cake meant for you!” Sariputta admitted.

“Ah! We all have a sweet tooth!” the young monk laughed forgivingly.   

But this much troubled the great elder. Immediately Sariputta swore off dessert cake forever!

Some mendicants thought it was extreme to renunciate these delicious cakes, and approached the Buddha about it. To help them understand, the Buddha told a story about a past life.

The Buddha was a doctor treating a snake-bitten man. As the serpent’s venom crept towards the man’s heart, the doctor rushed to find the snake.

He found the offending snake nearby and brought it back to be confronted.

The doctor asked, “Did you bite this man?”

“Yes, I did,” hissed the snake.

“Well then, cure him! Take back your bite, and suck out your venom,” demanded the doctor.

The snake recoiled in disgust, “What?! And swallow back the venom I have just spat!” cried the snake; “I never have, and I never will!”

“Either you suck your venom out and stop this murder or into the fire you’ll go!” threatened the doctor.

“Cursed is the venom once spat—forced to swallow back to survive! Death would be better than living!” shouted the snake as it prepared to throw itself into the fire!

But Dr. Bodhisattva blocked its way, and spared the snake.

🐍

(JA69)

That snake was Sariputta, with the same vehement integrity that honed a skillful execution—the perfection of a faultless strike (da)—now sharpened in his ascetic renunciation.