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BUDDHA'S TOOTH

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THE BUDDHA’S TOOTH

Baba said, "The dog which you saw before meals and to which you gave the piece

of bread is, one with Me, so also other creatures (cats, pigs, flies, cows

etc.) are one with Me. I am roaming in their forms. He, who sees Me in all

these creatures is My beloved. So abandon the sense of duality and distinction,

and serve Me, as you did today" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, ch. IX.

An old woman lived with her young son in a small village. She eked out a living

for the two of them by working for her neighbours and by tending a single cow

and some chickens. They were both deeply devout, the woman telling her son of

the Buddha, the compassionate one, whose teaching relieved suffering. Painfully

she saved tiny bits of money for the day her son would be old enough to go on a

pilgrimage to the very tree where the Buddha had gained enlightenment. He grew

up, eagerly looking forward to the journey.

At last the boy was old enough to make the trip, and there was enough money for

him to travel the great distance and to buy a relic of the Buddha while in the

holy city. "Bring me a tooth of the Buddha", his mother requested. "I saved for

this all my life and yours. Be very careful of the money. Here is just enough

for you to live during the weeks you will be travelling, and the extra, this

precious piece of gold, is for the tooth. Keep it safe in your pocket." She

kissed him and cried over him, and checked once again that his cloths (such as

they were) were clean. She poured out all manner of instructions on him, as

well as tears. "Don’t forget the tooth", she reminded.

The boy now a handsome young man, set out. Before very long he fell in with

another group heading for the same place. There were all manner of people with

the pilgrims, and they sang and chanted, making the journey a pleasant one.

One in the city, however, the young man saw other things that looked attractive

and soon forgot that he was on pilgrimage. What with one thing and another, all

his money was soon gone, including the precious gold piece his mother had

entrusted to him for the sacred relic, the Buddha’s tooth. He woke up one

morning with nothing left except a bad headache. He knew he had to find his way

home somehow. And he was stricken with sorrow at how he had squandered his

mother’s money, so hard won. Hungry and thirsty, he began the painful trek back

to his village without ever getting to the tree where the Buddha had reached

enlightenment.

When night fell, the young man would lie down by the side of the road and sleep,

exhausted and hungry, but still worrying about the relic he had been unable to

buy. One morning, as he stumbled along the road, he saw an old dog that had

died. As sometimes happen, the dog’s mouth was slightly open and his teeth were

showing. The young man reached in and touched one of the teeth. It fell out into

his hand. He wrapped it in his torn loincloth.

When he finally arrived home, his mother was overjoyed beyond measure to see

that he was alive and safe. And triply overjoyed when he presented her with the

relic, ‘a tooth of the Buddha’, as he declared it to be.

Sobbing with gratitude and awe, the mother washed the tooth and placed it in the

shrine she had prepared while the young man had been away. During the months and

years that followed, the ‘relic’ became a thing of incredible wonder to the

villagers. In fact it almost became a reason for pilgrimage itself. Many

miracles were attributed to it and to his mother as keeper of Buddha’s tooth.

Her deeds of compassionate listening and goodness were profound and her

happiness unbounded.

The young man, however, grew more and more distraught as the relic’s reputation

grew and his mother’s saintliness increased. This built up over years, and

finally he couldn’t stand living a lie any more. One evening, after several

priests had visited and received both blessings and teachings from the tooth,

he finally blurted out the true story to his mother. "That’s not the Buddha’s

tooth. I lost all the money you gave me. I got that tooth from a dead dog!" And

he ran outside the house.

Just outside the door stood a beautiful man looking at him with eyes of kindness

and humour. It was Buddha’s smiling. In a gentle voice, the Buddha said, "That

was my tooth, you know."

(Written by Jean Houston)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Goodness has no limits. You may be best person in your circle. But surely there

are many who are better by far than you can ever hope to be.

 

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