Little Things Bringing Big Results

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Things in the world can disappear without any warning. And things that conflict with our plans or fall outside our schedules can occur. Moreover, little and seemingly insignificant things can bring big results. A small incident we encounter can produce a prominent and noteworthy outcome. That is why we Buddhists who believe in kamma—volitional mental, verbal, or physical acts—should try to include good volitions in whatever we do in mind, speech, or body. Good volition is good kamma which results in a good life. Distinguished results of accidental incidents will be elucidated in the following stories from the Buddhist texts (tipitaka).

At the time of Gotama Buddha two brothers named Maha Panthaka and Culpanthaka became monks in the Buddha’s dispensation. Maha Panthaka, the elder brother, was learned and well-versed. But Culapanthaka was uneducated and so dull that even after studying for a long period of four months he could not memorize a Pali verse with four stanzas:

“Padumam yatha kokanadam sugandham,

Pato siya phullamavitagandham;

Amgirassam passa virocamanam,

Tapantamadiccamivantalikkhe.”

Thus the elder monk asked the younger monk to disrobe. But the younger monk did not want to leave the Order. He loved the monkhood. Then, one day, the physician Jivaka came to their monastery to invite five hundred monks to receive alms food at his house. At that time the elder monk was the one who apportioned the alms food and he excluded the name of his brother from the list of the names of the monks going to receive the alms food. On knowing this the younger monk felt sad and ashamed and decided to disrobe. However he was supported by the Buddha. And he did not disrobe but he became an arahant.

The Buddha saw the monk in the early morning and asked: "What are you doing here in the early morning?"

The monk replied: "My elder brother, Lord, drove me out of the Order and thus I'm preparing to disrobe."

And the Buddha told the monk: "If so, why didn't you come to me? Your ordination belongs to me. Come here. What will be the use of your lay life? Come to me."

Then the Buddha created a clean cloth with His super-normal power. And He gave it to the monk. The Buddha asked the monk to rub the cloth with his fingers while sitting facing east and while muttering "RajoharaÏam" (Carrying dust). The monk followed the Buddha's instructions and he noticed: "This cloth has become dirty due to my body." And he meditated on the decaying nature of things. Then the Buddha reminded him to remove moral defilements by using his mindfulness and wisdom. He continued to follow the Buddha's instructions until he attained arahantship together with analytical knowledge (patisambhinana). When this knowledge was attained, he learned all of the Buddha's teachings (tipitaka).

This story shows the following: Cula Panthaka was, at the beginning, a dull and uneducated monk but he loved his monkhood; He was helped by the Buddha and attained arahatship while rubbing a clean cloth with his fingers. What were the causes of these distinctions?

Cula Panthaka was an educated monk at the time of Kassapa Buddha. One day he saw a dull monk who could not memorize the Buddha's teachings. And he played jokes on the dull monk. Then the dull monk stopped his learning. Due to his playful bad kamma, Cula Panthaka became a dull monk at the time of Gotama Buddha.

And in another life Cula Panthaka was a king. One day he went around his kingdom riding on an elephant. Meanwhile he got sweat on his forehead. And he wiped his sweat with a handkerchief. He noticed his handkerchief became dirty due to his sweat. The decaying nature was also recognized by him. Due to this merit he became an arahant while meditating on how a clean cloth became dirty as it was rubbed.

What have you learned from the three stories of Cula Panthaka? Have you lived your life carelessly? How many small things have been done nicely or badly? Anyway starting from now you should notice your daily behaviors even though they are small. You should be ready to face little things in life, in beneficial ways, so you can create great monuments in this life and in the cycle of successive lives (samsara). Please look backward and forward during the course of life. How did you make jokes about those who were in awkward situations? How will you make jokes about those who are embarrassed and uncomfortable? What did you realize when your clean cloths got dirty? What will be kept in your mind if your clean cloths get dirty?