Buddha Stories for All

Life of the Buddha Mainly based on The Great Chronicles of the Buddhas Written by Yap Pak Choong Illustrated by Wong Shook Heong (Shu Xiang) Dedication & Appreciation Preface 1 Sumedha the Future Buddha Sumedha was a Brahmin who lived in a flourishing city called Amaravatī four asaṅkhyeyya and a hundred thousand aeons [i] ago.

  MORAL Clear comprehension; Guard the sense-doors READABILITY  Advanced REFLECTION Do not let greed corrupt the mind. Do not soak the mind in anger. Those who restrain the sense faculties, Diligently practice until you reach the goal.

   MORAL The highest perfection (Paramattha-Pāramī) of Offering READABILITY  Intermediate I REFLECTION How did the rabbit image of the moon come about? -- In order to accumulate the highest perfection (Paramattha-Pāramī) by offering his own body to the begging brahmin, the rabbit (Bodhisatta) jumped into the burning coals. Such extraordinary almsgiving moved the Sakka. So Sakka squeezed a mountain and used its essence to craft the image of the rabbit on the moon.

  MORAL  Greed, multi-life continuity/ repetition, quarreling  READABILITY  Intermediate I REFLECTION Strife brings destruction of wealth and friendship, While the third party will gain from the dispute.

  na antalikkhe na samuddamajjhe, na pabbatānaṃ vivaraṃ pavissa; na vijjatī so jagatippadeso, yatthaṭṭhito mucceyya pāpakammā. Neither in the sky, nor in the sea, Nor entered into the cave; Not a spot in the earth exists That one can be free from the results of the kamma. —Dhammapada Verse 127 Tayojana Vatthu (The Story of the Three Groups of Persons)

  Dhamma Support Education Series puññañce puriso kayirā, kayirā naṃ punappunaṃ; tamhi chandaṃ kayirātha, sukho puññassa uccayo. If a man does works of merit, he should do it again and again; He should delight in it; the accumulation of merit brings happiness. —Dhammapada Verses 118 Lājādevadhītā Vatthu (The Story of the Goddess of Lājā, Puffed Rice)

Get the other Morning Reflection's Drawings . Let us recite some Morning Reflections together. NOW is the precious and opportune moment to practise Dhamma, cultivate the mind and causes for the transformation and upliftment of my life. Let me be aloof from the worries about past and future, and be free from any obsession about people's right and wrong, good and evil. Let me begin each new day free of emotional drawbacks and inhibitions.

         Download the  Word Search and Crossword Puzzles (at the Wikipāḷi Buddhist eLibrary's webpage , click on Tissa & Phussa Series > Word Search Books).

Currently, there are two books produced for this series. To download, click HERE (then choose Tissa & Phussa Series) In producing this series of books, the Dolch words list and Buddhism terms which are related to the daily life of the young samaneras (novices), including the practices of the monastics and layman, are used.

MORAL  Honesty, Upright & Very Upright READABILITY  Intermediate I REFLECTION Be honest, upright, very upright, and speak the truth. Keeping one's word is very important. In this way, what you say will be powerful and will gain the trust of others.

MORAL  Leaders and followers READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION Blackie, through his foolishness, loses all his followers while Luckie leads his herd home safely. REFLECTION Follow a wise leader, Be a wise follower, This is wisdom.

MORAL  Unwillingness to learn essential things; Unteachable READABILITY  Beginner INTRODUCTION A deer which would not come to be taught the tricks of deer, is caught in a trap. REFLECTION The wise sincerely works on the causes, but the fools regret and fear upon the bad results. When sufferings have not arisen, many beings indulge in sensual pleasures and are easily misled by perceptions. Even if the best and most experienced teacher (the deer king) is right in front of us, we do not take the initiative nor are we keen to learn. When we are ready to learn, the opportunity to learn from the teacher is missed (the deer has lost its life). It is often said, "prepare for rainy days"... If there is no rain, would we want to prepare an umbrella in advance?

MORAL  Greed READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION A pigeon lives in a kitchen. A greedy crow befriends him in order to eat the food, he is then housed in the kitchen too. Can the crow’s plan succeed? REFLECTION Look at the consequence of the greedy crow. Greed is bad. Although most of us are aware, it is not easy to eradicate greed completely. Greed manifests as selfishness, attachment and others. Selfishness manifests as only caring about oneself; attachment manifests as holding onto living beings or non-living things. Because of attachment, we are unable to escape from rebirths and will suffer again and again. It is important to eradicate even the slightest attachment until we can one day be freed from the endless rounds of rebirth and attain the security of the other shore, Nibbāna.

MORAL  The power of precepts READABILITY  Advanced INTRODUCTION A king forbids the ministers to fight against the robber king, yet was captured and buried alive in a forest of abandoned corpses. How did he escape the jackals? How did he become the judge of yakkhas (ogres)? How did he get back his kingdom afterwards? REFLECTION When you see for yourself that you are diligent in perfecting the virtues, The results are indeed that effective; One should not cut off the will to uphold the precepts, Diligence is what should be done.

MORAL  Common Sense Leadership READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION Despite the warnings, a greedy fellow ate a poisonous fruit. How did their leader know it was poisonous, even though it looked exactly like a mango. REFLECTION Wise men are skilled, knowledgeable and observant; They are the true refuge and the benefactor of the followers.

MORAL  Determination and brave effort READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION How Prince Five-Weapons fought the Yakkha Sticky-Hair, with wisdom and brave effort. REFLECTION The greatest weapon of all is hidden inside you – Wisdom and brave effort. People used to tell us about how we can use materials to protect ourselves when we face difficulties. However, in this story, our Bodhisatta showed us how we can face our challenges with the weapons hidden inside us: Confidence (it is not referred to the self-ego or feeling inferior types of confidence), skills, courage, compassion, wisdom and brave effort. Instead of fighting his enemy, he helped his enemy. Children, are you ready to face your challenges with the weapons the Bodhisatta showed us?

MORAL  The righteous character of Venerable Sāriputta READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION What happens when a snake refuses to suck out his poison, even under the threat of death? REFLECTION Determination wins respect − Venerable Sāriputta is the chief disciples of the Buddha; the wisest disciple, and a very humble one too. He takes good care of the descendants of the Saṅgha. When the junior teased that everyone likes to eat sweet and delicious food, he felt a sense of urgency and decided not to eat sweets again.  The firm and upright character of Venerable Sāriputta is the same when he was born as a snake in the past life. Can we just like Venerable Sāriputta?

MORAL  Steal out of greed, lie out of fear, learn the truth out of investigation READABILITY  Intermediate II INTRODUCTION  The Jewel on the King’s Crown – The king has lost the jewel on his crown, how to get the thief to return the jewel without wearing everyone? The Pearl Necklace of the Queen – The queen's pearl necklace was stolen. Several innocents confessed as the thief. Who is the real culprit? How to recover the necklace? REFLECTION Steal out of greed, lie out of fear, learn the truth out of the Wise’s investigation.

MORAL  The perils of laziness READABILITY  Beginner INTRODUCTION Two fish are caught in a net because of their foolishness; learn how the third and wiser fish rescues them. REFLECTION Do not put off what you can do today. Delaying because of laziness and greed leads to disaster.

MORAL  One do not harbours envy READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION  Being jealous of the royal elephant, the king designed to let it fall off the cliff. Will he succeed? REFLECTION Do you want to have great influence? If you do, you should try to be a woman or man who does not envy or begrudge the gain, honour, respect, reverence, obeisance and devotion received by others. Instead, you should rejoice: that is what we called sympathetic joy. Such are the wor­k­ings of kamma. Storyboard of Dummedha Jātaka Read the Chinese picture book . Get the text .

MORAL  Quick wittedness saves the day, advantageous environments, guard the sense-doors READABILITY  Beginner INTRODUCTION How a little quail got caught by a falcon and later beat the falcon down by fighting on his own ground. REFLECTION In this story of the quail and the falcon, we see the Buddha warning us not to go into wrong places. Because of greed for food, the quail left the safety of his home and intruded into the enemy’s territory. The quail could have been hurt or even died, but he managed to escape back to his home. So what are the wrong places to go for a spiritual person? The Buddha said the wrong places to go is the world of 5 sensual pleasures, which are desires of what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch. If we get lost in this world, we will be in great danger.

MORAL  True Friendship READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION  How a woodpecker and tortoise rescued their friend, the antelope deer from a trap. REFLECTION Friendship in adversity —— The Buddha and his disciples are not just friends in need; they are friends indeed. But in many past lives, they have been wholesome friends who have promoted each other and helped each other for mutual benefit. A good friendship is to improve each other, to be good, and to move towards purity and happiness together.

MORAL  Do not listen to rumor READABILITY  Beginner INTRODUCTION  The timid rabbit and the flight of the beasts. REFLECTION "Find out the truth before blindly following what people do."

MORAL  Not to forget other's kindness; Unbeatable goodness READABILITY  Intermediate II INTRODUCTION A farmer lost his way while looking for his lost bull. He fell into a ravine and was saved by a monkey. This man tried to kill his lifesaver… REFLECTION We should not forget the kindness others have shown us, But instead, always have a heart of gratitude and repay the kindness; Even if someone has an evil mind and performs evil deeds, Our wholesome mind must remain.

  [Dhamma Support Education Series ] "Even an evildoer sees happiness." --  Why did the great rich merchant, Anāthapiṇḍika, drive the guardian deity away from his house?

MORAL  Dispassionateness/ Greed; Avoid spending a pound to win a penny READABILITY  Intermediate I INTRODUCTION How a monkey threw away a handful of peas to find one. REFLECTION People and things that can't be grasped, are unnecessary to even reach out. Be grateful for the past; cherish the present. Avoid spending a pound to win a penny.