Venerable Kassapa held flowers and smiled, becoming a Buddha with just one thought and a demon with just one thought. Let go of anything that is unfair to you, forgive others and forgive yourself.

Venerable Kassapa

For a while, the Buddha was in Savatthi City. Once, Venerable Kassapa (Kassapa Thera) retreated in a quiet place for a long time and returned to the Lord. His beard and hair are long and his clothes are ragged. At that time, the World Honored One was imparting wonderful Dharma to hundreds of his family members. Seeing him like this, the family members felt displeased and felt that his behavior and clothing were very inappropriate. At this time, the World Honored One all understood the thoughts of his followers and thought: After my Nirvana (Parinibbana), the Buddha Dharma will be promoted entirely by him. He is already proficient in the Tipitaka and possesses all kinds of merits. If the monks often despise him, It should not be ignored, he should be a great virtue that should be respected and praised by everyone in the world, so I should publicize his unparalleled merits in front of everyone. Then he told his family members, "Don't look down upon the Venerable Kassapa. After I pass away, he will carry forward all my teachings." Then he said to the Venerable Kassapa, "Kasyapa, come and sit with me. On the mat." All the family members immediately felt that this move of the World Honored One was really rare, and it must be that Venerable Kasyapa had incredible merits. Venerable Kassapa came to the Buddha, kneeled on the ground with his right knee, put his palms together and saluted, and said to the Buddha: "Lord Sakyamuni, you are my master, you are my good deity, and I am your voice-hearer (Savaka)." (At this time, Venerable Kassapa had already obtained the precepts. This was the promise to obtain the precepts in the old rituals.) The World-Honored One announced the merits of Venerable Kassapa to all his family members: "For example, in one day, two days, and three days, I Even if I can stay in the first meditation for seven days, Kassapa can be like me. The realms of the second, third, and fourth meditations that I can achieve, Kassapa can do the same; just like the four non-thoughts , the four formless realms, and all my realms, Kassapa has all these incredible transformations, such as big and small, one becomes many, I cannot drown in water, cannot be burned by fire, live in the void, and other incredible magical changes, Kassapa also All the same." (The above realms are described in detail in the Tibetan version of "The Hundred Karma Sutra") Hearing the World Honored One's praise of the Venerable Kasyapa, the family members naturally developed great confidence.

Venerable Kasyapa was respected by everyone, and the World Honored One made many prophecies to his family members. At that time, all the bhikkhus praised: "The World-Honored One praised the Venerable Kassapa in this way, and all the people (Manusa, Deva) also aroused great respect. Rare! How wonderful!"

The Buddha heard this. , told the bhikkhus: "Not only now, but also in the past I praised him in front of everyone, and he gained the respect of everyone. Once in Sarnath, India, there was a King Brahmasha who was in power, and the whole country had no quarrels, no enmities, no hatred. There were no thieves and disasters, the government was harmonious, the grain was abundant, the monarchs were kind and virtuous, and the people were loyal to the monarchs. King Fanshi managed the entire country in an orderly manner. There were five hundred princesses in the palace enjoying a happy life with the king, but they were always unhappy. He failed to give birth to a prince, and even though he prayed to all the gods, it still didn't help. At that time, the king had five hundred ministers who were proud, indulgent, and had bad personalities. Among them, there was only one minister, Shengzang, who had wisdom and personality. At this time, there was a little conflict between King Fanshi and King Lihong. King Fanshi thought to himself: If my minister Shengzang lived in Lihong country, he would definitely be better. The conflict between the two countries will be resolved and there will be no war. It is best to let him live in that country. In this way, King Fanshi informed Minister Shengzang of his intention, and Minister Shengzang happily obeyed. He went to Lihong country and settled down temporarily. Since then, the relationship between the two countries has become increasingly harmonious due to the wisdom of Minister Shengzang. Later, King Fanshi was old, and one of his princesses was pregnant. A few months later, a very solemn child was born. The whole court held a grand birth ceremony for the little prince, and fed him with milk, yogurt, butter cakes and other fine foods. When the prince could just walk, Fan Shi gave birth to him. The king thought: I am old and frail and will die soon. The prince is still young and cannot influence the affairs of the country. The other ministers' ill intentions will cause the prince to seize the throne. He naturally thought of his beloved Shengzang. Minister, bring him back and hand the throne to him. He will protect the young prince well and the people of the country will not disobey him. However, after all, as a minister now, if he wants him to inherit the throne, he must be praised in public. All his abilities and talents were equal to avoid dissatisfaction among the people. In this way, King Fanshi sent a special envoy to welcome Minister Shengzang back to the palace to discuss important matters with the king.

Minister Shengzang obeyed the order and returned to Sarnath. King Fanshi asked the important officials in the palace to ride on elephants and horses. The roads inside and outside the city were newly decorated, and the king also came in person. The whole welcoming scene was very grand. When the monarch and his ministers met after a long absence, they hugged each other and were speechless. Then he rides on an elephant, enjoys a feast, and eats a plate of food. At the end of the banquet, the king solemnly said to Minister Shengzang: "Your Majesty, I am old and the prince is still young. After my death, you will take care of all state affairs for me and protect my little prince." ’ Minister Shengzang also agreed. Later, the king fell ill and died because various herbal remedies were ineffective. Minister Shengzang summoned all the important ministers in the court and announced to them: "My dear ministers, now that the king has passed away and the prince is still young, in the future, the prince should inherit the throne and rule the world. We should protect the prince now." ’ Because the king personally praised his merits, everyone was convinced of him. Monks, what do you think? The Minister of Shengzang at that time was the Venerable Kassapa in this life, and King Brahma Shih was me who now realized Bodhi. I had praised him in front of all the ministers in the past, and it is the same in this life. "When all the bhikkhus heard this, they happily accepted it, bowed and left.