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E.3 Metaphor: Paralyzed by 
Stubbornness 
The people of old compared a 
stubborn person to 
someone who has been paralyzed. 
Even though all 
round him there may be delicious 
food, beautiful 
clothes and many other useful 
things, they are all 
useless to that person because the 
paralyzed person 
is unable to pick them up. In the 
same way, if a 
person is stubborn, even though 
they might have 
an arahant for a teacher, are unable 
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to absorb any 
of the goodness of that person. 
E.4 Ex. JEvaka heals King 
Candappajjota 
(Vin.268-81) 
In the time of the Buddha King 
Candappajjota of 
Ujjeni could not be healed by 
anyone in his own 
kingdom, so he sent a letter to 
King BimbisAra asking 
him to send the court physician 
JEvaka 
KomArabhacca to take care of 
him. Normally in 
the treatment, the patient must 
swallow ghee to be 
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cured. In this case, the patient 
stubbornly refused 
treatment because in his religion, 
they prohibited 
the eating of dairy products. 
JEvaka considered the 
condition of the king would be 
helpless if he didn't 
take ghee, so he make what may 
have been the 
world's first `capsule' by 
concealing the ghee inside 
a digestible husk. JEvaka knew 
that after halfan-
hour, the medicine would give its 
effect and the 
king would regurgitate the ghee. 
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Besides being 
cured, the king would know that he 
had been fooled 
by the doctor. JEvaka administered 
the ghee capsule 
to the king and immediately asked 
for the 
king's fastest elephant to go 
looking for additional 
herbs. The king granted his request 
and JEvaka 
made a quick get-away, without 
any intention to 
return. When the king regurgitated 
the ghee and 
knew he had been fooled, he 
ordered his soldiers 
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to pursue and kill JEvaka, but 
JEvaka was long gone 
on a swift elephant and they could 
not catch him. 
The king was angry all day and all 
night, but within 
a few days he was cured of his 
illness, and changed 
his attitude to JEvaka , even 
sending him a reward 
of sEveyyaka cloth to thank him 
for his attention. 
The king made an effort to change 
his stubborn 
personality from that day onwards. 
E.5 Ex. RAdha Thera 
DhA.ii.104ff. 
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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 unduly 
so he thought of becoming a 
Buddhist monk 
for the final days of his life. None 
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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. 
SAriputta spoke up and said that 
once a long time 
ago RAdha had given him a 
ladleful of rice when 
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he was on almsround. The Buddha 
therefore asked 
SAriputta to help out RAdha on 
this occasion. 
SAriputta ordained RAdha and 
allowed him to stay 
in the same kuti teaching him 
meditation and the 
teachings of the Buddha. RAdha 
practised hard and 
possessed the quality of being 
sensitive to self-improvement. 
He never thought of looking down 
on 
the teachings of a much younger 
monk. He practised 
everything he was taught. There 
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was no hesitation 
or doubt in his mind. If he was 
asked to use 
the mantra `SammA-ArahaO' and 
think of a Buddha 
image that was exactly what he 
did. He was 
not like some people who sit and 
think, "How can 
it be possible that we can imagine 
something and 
see it?" or "How could there ever 
be brightness inside?" 
or "The mind has the nature to 
think, what's 
the use of trying not to think?" or 
"Surely the teachBlessing 
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Twenty-Eight: Openness to 
Criticism 319 
ing monk is making it up as he 
goes along?" like 
most people. RAdha did exactly 
what was asked of 
him. SAriputta was a young monk 
who could sit 
for meditation for five to ten hours 
at a time. Even 
though RAdha was seventy, he 
would still sit together 
with SAriputta without worrying 
about stiffness. 
RAdha thought, "After all, I have 
made the 
effort to become a monk, so what 
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is there to be 
feared about meditation when I 
have left behind 
everything else?" and after three 
days was able to 
become an arahant. 
E.6 Ex. BrahmadaAIa 
punishment of Channa 
DhA.11.110ff 
In the time of the Buddha, when he 
left the palace 
to ordain, he went together witha 
horseman called 
Channa. Channa also ordained at 
that time, but 
from that day to the time when the 
Buddha entered 
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Parinirvana, he could make no 
progress in the 
teachings of Buddhism. The reason 
for this is that 
he would selfishly do whatever he 
felt like doing 
and would ignore the advice of all 
the other monks 
in the community. He would be so 
proud of the fact 
that he had accompanied the 
Buddha when he renounced 
the palace that he thought that the 
whole 
of Buddhism should thank him for 
it. He was not 
ready to listen to anyone's 
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criticism because he saw 
them all as ungrateful. He would 
listen to no-one 
but the Buddha himself. However, 
the Buddha 
didn't have enough time to give 
Channa personal 
attention, so he ended up as a 
stubborn monk. 
/nanda asked the Buddha "What 
can we do with 
this monk because if you should 
ever enter upon 
parinibbAna, there will be no-one 
left who can do 
anything to help this monk." 
The Buddha said, "You must 
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perform the
BrahmadaAla punishment." 
/nanda asked, "How can we do 
that?" 
The Buddha explained, "From now 
on, whatever 
Channa wants to do let him do it. 
Whatever he 
wants to say let him say it. Shun 
him by treating 
him as if he wasn't there and don't 
speak to him or 
do anything to co-operate with 
him." 
When the Buddha passed away, all 
the monks did 
what the Buddha had instructed 
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and within a very 
short period of time Channa 
became like an outcast 
in the community. Charma came 
grovelling to 
/nanda saying, "Please be a refuge 
to me — I will 
stop being stubborn." 
All the monks had a meeting and 
decided to forgive 
him. As a result of everyone 
treating him in 
the same way, he could soon 
realize his mistake and 
change his ways. 
If you have a stubborn child in the 
family, the parents 
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can use the same technique of 
punishment. 
However, if your parents are 
stubborn, as children 
you should not try using this 
technique or maybe 
you will be punished yourself! 
Even in schools or 
places of work might adapt this for 
their own use. 
E. 7 Ex. Sariputta criticized for a 
squint underrobe 
(SA.ii.29, Mil.397) 
SAriputta's humility was as great 
as his patience. 
He was willing to receive 
correction from anyone, 
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not only with submission, but with 
gratitude. It is 
told in the commentary to the 
SusEma Sutta that 
once through momentary 
negligence, a corner of 
the elder's under-robe was hanging 
down. A sevenyear 
old novice, seeing this, pointed it 
out to him. 
SAriputta stepped aside a once and 
arranged the 
garment in the proper way and 
then stood before 
the novice with folded hands 
saying "Now it is correct, 
teacher!" and said the following 
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verses: 
"If one who has gone forth this 
day, at the age 
of seven should teach me, I accept 
it with a lowered 
head. At the sight of him, I show 
my zeal 
and respect. May I always set him 
in the teacher's 
place." 
320 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
Blessing Twenty-Nine: The Sight of 
a True Monk 321 
A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 The place of Blessing 
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Twenty-nine in the 
order of things 
With this blessing we come to the 
twenty-ninth step 
of Buddhist practice — that of `the 
sight of a true 
monk'. We find that all that 
patience and openness 
to criticism developed in earlier 
blessings together 
with `seeing a true monk' in this 
blessing will be a 
foundation to prepare us to discuss 
spiritual teachings 
with a monk (the topic of the next 
blessing). 
A.2 The Objectives of the 
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Twenty-ninth blessing 
The objectives of this blessing are 
as follows: 
I. to make ourselves worthy of 
discussing the 
Dhamma with a monk: a monk is 
an ordained 
person who has no need of 
anything from anyone. 
He has no interest in fame or social 
standing. 
If anyone cannot be sufficiently 
patient to 
listen to what he has to say, then 
why should he 
bother to teach them? Even if you 
were to conduct 
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