Unaccepted Gift

One day the Sakyamuni Buddha visited a village to deliver His teachings. A foolish man approached the Buddha and started to slander Him with the filthiest words.

The Buddha waited quietly until the foolish man finished the disgusting talk and then asked politely, "Son, have you ever given a gift to someone?" "Certainly, many times I did," replied the man. "If a person refused to accept your present, to whom would it belong?"
The abuser replied, "In that case, it would belong to me who offered it." Then the Buddha continued, "My son, you have for me a gift of abused words, but I accept nothing and request that you to keep it to yourself."

An abuser is like a man who looks up and spits at the sky. The spittle does not soil the heaven but eventually it comes back and defiles him or her. We often get upset when someone speaks ill of us. That is because we accept his or her bad words toward us. If we could stand still without accepting the foolish words, the words would return to the abuser.

Although the Sakyamuni Buddha was a great teacher, there were many people who disliked Him. They were the people in other faiths and relatives whose spouse or children or even parents denounced their material lives and ordained as monks or nuns. In these cases, the Buddha accepted the abused words. Even though He was spoken ill of or even beaten with sticks, and rocks were thrown at Him, He was very patient. He did not run away from these persecutions. He always told his disciples to be patient for seven days. Only for seven days, people would speak ill of them, if the disciples endured quietly for a week, the abusers would get tired of their wrong doing.

In our daily life, we Buddhists, should try to be patient even though we are slandered. Do no accept the wrong gift. Be patient for seven days.

April 16, 1987