Angulimala

The write-up below is extracted from a mailing list, dated Aug 26th 2004. I wrote this after watching the film "Angulimala", a Thai movie.

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Dear all,
Just wanna share some reflections on the film "Angulimala".

1. In the movie we saw Angulimala being fooled/ deluded by Mara. It looked almost impossible that someone sane will do what he did (kill so many innocent beings), yet in truth (as far as I understand it), what he did is what every man on the street is capable of doing. That includes you and I! There're two factors in play here: Strong faith in something and the power of thought.

Strong Faith
When we have so much faith in someone or something, whatever he says, we'll listen, even though sometimes we may think that it's not common sense.

For example, I have a lot of faith in the Ajahn Lee, who's practicing the Thai Forest Tradition. I trust that what he said is the truth. I regard myself as a blind man, who doesn't see the road in front of me, and he's my guidance, leading me to the direction of light, step by step. I have to trust him and depend on him, because I can't see the light myself, yet. In other words, I practically leave my life in his hand. If he is to lead me astray, he can do so easily, just as Mara can lead Angulimala astray when he trusted him so much. On the other hand, it's necessary to have such strong faith in a teacher to really follow his teaching and thus progress in one's practice. If we doubt the teacher and keep on questioning what he teaches, the truth of which we are yet able to comprehend, when are we ever going to start practicing? It's only when we start practicing that we begin to see the truth of what is taught.

So to have a strong faith in the teacher is necessary for one to start practicing, and to progress in one's practice. However, one must be extremely careful when one chooses a teacher, because if the teacher teaches the wrong thing (just like Mara in this movie), one can easily be led astray.

Power of Thought
Actually to kill someone, all that is required is one thought. That one-thought then leads to another thought, and still another thought, which may weaken or strengten that initial thought. In the case of things one is not used to doing, it takes many accumulation of thoughts to do it. But once it becomes a habit, one does it almost automatically.

What am I trying to say here, is that all of us have the potential to commit the crime that Angulimala committed, if we don't take care of our thoughts carefully. So select your food for thoughts!

In fact, for this reason, I don't see the prisoners as any different from any of us.


2. Angulimala repented when he met the Buddha, and since then never harm any living beings.

This point is especially inspiring for me. To break a habit is extremely difficult, especially if it has been so strongly inculcated into one's character. Angulimala has killed 999 people before he met the Buddha, so the habit energy of killing was pretty strong in him (I suppose). Yet, just a word from the Buddha and he completely refrained from killing!

Are we capable of doing that? When we know that what we've done is wrong, are we able to change ourselves and turn a new leaf overnight? Angulimala can, and he did. Can we?



Fen

Letting Go

Letting go is allowing things to be. We observe, we acknowledge, we know, but we don’t cling to it.

Wanting things to be this way or that way is clinging to becoming (Bhava Tanha).

Not wanting things to be a certain way is clinging to non-becoming (Vibhava Tanha).

Letting go is just letting things be what they are, without any expectation for them to be otherwise. Letting go allows one to stop – stop from running after the never-ending desires: I want this, I want that, I want to be this and that…….

When one lets go, one stops struggling. One who lets go is at peace.

Standard of Practice

How do you gauge how successful you are in what you’re endeavouring?

If it is by how much praises you get, how much you gain materially, that is going by the standard of the world.

By the standard of the Dhamma though, the above are immaterial.

If, however, in doing something, you know that:
You are developing good-will (Metta), compassion (Karuna), appreciation (Mudita) and equanimity (Upekkha),
Or you have less of hatred (Dosa), greed (Lobha) and delusion (Moha),
Then you’re truly successful, as the positive qualities you’re developing and the negative qualities you’re abandoning helps shape you into a beautiful person with a beautiful heart. It’s a sure-fire way to ensure happiness in the world.

And when you are truly happy and at peace with yourself, it doesn’t matter what others say or think about you. You know for yourself who you really are.