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Once one can see the benefits 
received from one's 
parents one will be able to identify 
the goodness 
in others such as the Buddha or 
one's teachers. 
If we are unable to see the 
goodness received 
from our parents it is unlikely to be 
able to identify 
the goodness in anyone else. 
Blessing Twenty-Five: Gratitude 
287 
2. Be grateful to your own body: 
by using it only 
for good deeds. Don't go 
destroying your health 
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with alcohol. Don't abuse your 
mouth by lying 
or gossiping with the neighbours. 
Don't go using 
your handsomeness to become a 
womanizer. 
Everyone has the opportunity to go 
to Nirvana 
so why don't you hurry up and use 
your entitlement? 
Thus you should use your own 
body with 
gratitude. 
D.2 Words of Warning 
concerning Gratitude 
It should be noted that gratitude 
needs be moderated 
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by `equanimity ' [upekkhA] (i.e. 
not allowed 
to be influenced by bias [Agati] or 
by familiarity 
[visAsa] or else can lead to 
corruption. Thus the importance 
of understanding Blessing Sixteen 
&C) 
before moving on to this blessing. 
Secondly, supposing you have 
done someone a favour 
in the past. In fact they owe you a 
favour in 
return. However if you are to 
openly claim a favour 
in return, then it makes you look 
like a manipulator 
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instead of a benefactor in others' 
estimation. Thus if 
you ever do someone a favour, 
never go ask for that 
favour back! If you ask for money 
back that you have 
lent someone, that is alright 
but 
when it is a favour 
you have given someone, asking 
for the favour 
back is not at all appropriate —
because you often 
cannot put a price on a favour. 
E. ILLUSTRATIVE 
EXAMPLES 
E.1 Metaphor: Sunlight is lost on 
a blind man 
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In the same way that the light of 
the sun is blind 
man no matter how brightly it 
shines, the favours 
and compassions of a benefactor 
are lost on an ungrateful 
person no matter how much help 
they may 
give. 
E.2 Ex. One ladleful of rice 
DhA.ii.104ff 
Besides being the right-hand 
disciple of the Lord 
Buddha who was wise in teaching 
second to the 
Buddha himself. SAriputta was 
also unsurpassed 
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in the virtue of gratitude. He would 
not let even 
the smallest favour pass by 
unnoticed. There was 
one day in the town of RAjagaha, 
the Lord Buddha 
was staying at VeOuvana Temple 
and SAriputta 
was there also. An aged brahmin 
called RAdha who 
had been shunned by his wife, 
family and in-laws 
because he was not very wealthy. 
They abandoned 
RAdha instead of looking after 
him in his old age. 
He didn't want to bother anyone 
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unduly so he 
thought of becoming a Buddhist 
monk for the final 
days of his life. None of the monks 
in the temple 
were interested to take 
responsibility for his ordination 
because they saw that he was 
already old 
and would only be a burden on the 
temple. Noone 
would give him ordination. The 
Buddha asked 
if there was not a single monk in 
the temple who 
had received benefit from this 
Brahmin in the past. 
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SAriputta spoke up and said that 
once a long time 
ago RAdha had given him a 
ladleful of rice when 
he was on alms round. The Buddha 
therefore asked 
SAriputta to help out RAdha on 
this occasion. 
SAriputta ordained RAdha and 
allowed him to stay 
in the same lodging teaching him 
meditation and 
the teachings of the Buddha. 
RAdha practised hard 
and before long was able to 
become an arahant. 
SAriputta certainly showed his 
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gratitude and the 
Buddha revealed that it was not 
only in that lifetime 
that he had been grateful. Even in 
previous 
lifetimes, he had been grateful and 
this had built 
up the habits that allowed him to 
absorb the 
Dhamma to the point of mastery. 
E.3 Ex. GuAa/SEha JAtaka 
(J.157) 
A second disciple of the Buddha 
well known for 
his gratitude was/nanda./nanda 
had his own 
disciples to look after 
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five-hundred of them —
according to the duty of senior 
monks. There was a 
young monk who attended/nanda 
in every way 
— washing his robes, sweeping the 
lodging and 
massaging his feet because/nanda 
himself had 
many other responsibilities to 
attend to, especially 
as secretary to the Buddha. Even 
though/panda 
did not have much time to spare to 
look after his 
charges, he thought of his junior 
monks with gratitude. 
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One day when/nanda went to teach 
in the 
palace he was offered 500 sets of 
robes./nanda 
offered all 500 to that faithful 
student of his. Some 
people wondered why/nanda was 
biased towards 
this particular student and whether 
he was really a 
stream-enterer [sotApana] as 
others claimed. Why 
didn't he divide up the robes 
equally? In any case 
the faithful student divided up the 
five-hundred 
288 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
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towards Enlightened Living 
robes equally amongst the other 
499 monks and 
kept only a single robe for himself. 
There were still 
tell-tale monks who went to ask 
the Buddha about 
what/nanda had done. The Buddha 
explained that 
/nanda had not given all the robes 
to a single monk 
because of bias because of three 
reasons: 
1. He recognized with gratitude the 
benefits he 
had received from that student; 
2. He knew that that particular 
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monk possessed 
true virtue; 
3. That monk had made himself 
endearing. 
The Buddha praised/nanda for 
doing the right 
thing. If he had praised all the 
five-hundred monks 
equally, it would have obscured 
the special good 
deeds possessed only by a single 
monk. 
E.4 Ex. Cullapaduma JAtaka 
(J.192) 
When the Lord Buddha was still 
pursuing Perfections 
as the Bodhisattva, he was born as 
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a prince 
called Paduma. His father the king 
was suspicious 
of his young and handsome son 
because he was 
afraid that his son might compete 
with him for his 
own wives and consorts. He 
banished his son from 
the kingdom and told him to come 
back only after 
the death of the king. Prince 
Paduma lived in the 
forest with his wife. 
One day the prince came across a 
prisoner who 
had had his arms, legs, nose and 
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ears cut off in punishment 
but who was nevertheless still 
alive and 
who had been cast away on a raft. 
The prince attended 
to the health of the prisoner even 
though 
the princess shunned him at first. 
Later, when the 
prisoner had recovered his health, 
somehow a love 
grew up between himself and the 
princess and the 
two of them had an affair. The 
princess was afraid 
she would be discovered so she 
lured the prince to 
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the edge of a cliff and pushed him 
over. The prince 
survived by clinging to a branch 
below and returned 
to his home kingdom, in time to 
become 
king. He was fed up with marriage 
and ruled the 
kingdom in justice doing only 
good deeds throughout 
his life. As for the princess, she put 
her lover in 
a basket and would carry him here 
and there begging 
for a living. They made up a story 
that they 
had been married only out of 
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respect for the wishes 
of their parents. Everyone was 
sorry for them, thinking 
that the wife had gratitude towards 
both her 
parents and her husband so they 
gave their donations 
of food and money. One day, the 
princess 
crossed into the kingdom of King 
Paduma and that 
day the king himself was there 
making donations 
to the poor with the others. Of 
course he remembered 
the couple and was angry because 
he had 
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still not come to an end of 
defilements. He ordered 
the execution of both the princess 
and the prisoner, 
but after a few moments, his 
temper cooled down 
and reduced their punishment to 
banishment. 
Thus you may trust a person but 
never trust their 
defilements — even if they are an 
invalid. Ingratitude 
has deep roots which can even be 
communicated 
from one lifetime to the next —
therefore to 
get rid of ingratitude right from the 
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present lifetime 
is the safest bet. 
E.5 Ex. SElavanAga JAtaka 
(J. 72) 
In another lifetime the Lord 
Buddha was born as a 
white elephant in the forest. 
Devadatta was born a 
hunter. The hunter had lost his way 
in the forest so 
the elephant showed him the way 
home. The hunter 
left marks on the trees as he went 
and later found 
the opportunity to return to the 
same place in order 
to get the tusks of the white 
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elephant. The first 
time the hunter came, the elephant 
gave him the 
tip of his right tusk. The second 
time the hunter 
came he gave him the tip of his left 
tusk. Each time 
the hunter came, the tusks of the 
elephant were cut 
a little shorter. As the tusks got 
shorter, sawing the 
tusks became very painful for the 
elephant. When 
only stumps were left, the hunter 
no longer used a 
saw. He cut into the flesh of the 
elephant's face to 
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