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the mind by seeing the Noble 
Truths and can eventually 
become fully-enlightened. 
D. ILLUSTRATIVE 
EXAMPLES 
D.1 Milakkha-Tissa Thera 
(AA.i.21, 
SA.ii.199ff) 
In the time of the Buddha there 
was a hunter called 
Milakkha. Every day of his life 
since his youth, he 
had been involved with killing 
animals in one way 
or another. He had done evil every 
day of his life 
until there was virtually nothing 
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left in his heart in 
the way of virtue. One day, the 
miniscule amount 
of good deeds he had done in his 
past caught up 
with him. He started to think of his 
state of affairs. 
He had been setting his traps in the 
forest and was 
thirsty. He saw some monks 
practising meditation 
in the forest and walked straight 
into their encampment 
looking for something to drink. 
The monks 
were sitting in meditation or 
practising walking 
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meditation, trying to maintain the 
quality of their 
minds. Even though some of the 
monks were already 
arahants, he didn't feel anything 
special when 
382 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
he saw them, because his mind 
was still caught up 
with the usual concerns of trapping 
and killing. 
Thus he ignored the monks and 
walked straight into 
one of the monk's kutis looking for 
something to 
drink. He opened up the water jar 
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in the monk's 
kuti, but even though the jar was 
full of water, it 
looked completely empty to him. 
As a result of seeing 
the water jar all dried up with his 
unquenched 
thirst, he turned round and insulted 
the monks saying, 
"What do you do all day long? 
Sitting around, 
walking up and down but leaving 
your water jars 
empty when your neighbours are 
thirsty. You go 
preaching to everyone else to be 
generous and hospitable, 
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but when it comes to playing the 
host yourself, 
you don't show any interest". 
An arahant nearby knew that the 
hunter had been 
blinded by his own bad karma. He 
said, "Take a 
rest from your insulting in the 
shade and I will bring 
you some water." He brought more 
and more cups 
of water until the hunter had 
quenched his thirst 
and could start to talk some sense. 
The hunter 
started to notice the things around 
him. He saw how 
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radiant the arahant was and what 
good manners he 
had. He thought,"Even after being 
insulted he has 
shown no anger but has even 
brought water for me 
to drink. If it had been me on the 
receiving end of 
some insults I would probably 
have killed the offending 
person by now. Even though I 
have still 
not gone to a new existence, I still 
cannot see the 
water that is filling a water jar. 
Supposing I were to 
die, I would surely go to hell. Even 
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though good 
things are there before my eyes, I 
cannot see them. 
My life is indeed in a sorry state." 
Therefore the 
hunter sat and discussed the 
Dhamma with the 
arahant. He received abundant 
food for thought 
from the arahant. He realized how 
much evil he had 
collected for himself. Only then 
did he realize that 
his whole life had been concerned 
with evil. If anyone 
had told him that killing was bad 
before he 
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would say, "What do you think 
you're saying? 
Don't you eat meat then?" Today 
he listened to the 
teaching of the arahant, and as the 
result, for the 
first time in his life he started to 
fear evil. Thus he 
asked to ordain. The arahant 
looked at the potential 
of the man and allowed him only 
to ordain as a 
novice. He thought that as a monk 
he would never 
make it. 
The arahant taught the new novice 
meditation, but 
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because of all the evil he had done 
in his past, his 
meditation was always disturbed 
and haunted by 
images. Everytime he closed his 
eyes for meditation 
he could never imagine the object 
of meditation. 
He always felt as if all the animals 
he had killed 
had come back to haunt him, 
twitching as if in their 
death throes on his lap. He 
couldn't close his eyes 
without being disturbed. In the end 
he went to the 
arahant and asked to disrobe 
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because he felt his 
original inspiration for practice had 
burned out. He 
asked permission to revert to his 
old livelihood of 
hunting. He thought to himself that 
if he was going 
to be born in hell anyway that 
there was not 
much harm in falling into hell a 
little bit deeper than 
before . . . 
The arahant didn't try to persuade 
the novice otherwise, 
but he asked the novice to do one 
final chore 
before disrobing — to bring some 
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green wood to 
make a fire.The novice did as the 
arahant said, but 
as hard as he tried, he could not 
manage to light 
the fire. Once the novice had tired 
himself out, the 
arahant asked the novice to stand 
to one side and 
said that he would light it for him. 
The arahant meditated 
and split the earth deep down until 
both of 
them could see the deepest level of 
hell [aveci]. The 
arahant took an piece of embers 
from Aveci hell, the 
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size of a firefly and lit the green 
wood. It burned to 
a cinder in a fraction of a second as 
if it were nothing 
more than tissue paper. 
The novice was frightened. Before 
he hadn't realized 
how hot the fires of hell were. His 
teacher 
said, this is how hot a cinder from 
hell is. Supposing 
the whole of you has to fall into 
hell, can you 
imagine how hot that will be? 
Milakkha no longer 
dared to disrobe — no matter how 
badly he was 
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haunted when he meditated, he 
was not discouraged. 
He kept up his practice for several 
years with 
an earnest. The hauntings became 
less frequent and 
eventually disappeared altogether. 
His mind became 
more peaceful and radiance arose 
from 
within. The arahant allowed him 
to take full ordination 
as amonk. 
Milakkha practiced with earnest. 
Eventually he 
came to the day when he managed 
to maintain the 
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Blessing Thirty-Three: Seeing the 
Four Noble Truths 383 
positivity of mind to the full. His 
old merits together 
with the new merits of his 
continuous practice came 
to fruition. His teacher saw his 
progress and saw 
that he was ready to hear his 
teaching. He said: 
"Honour will accrue to all who are 
earnest, who 
have mindfulness, right livelihood 
and acting 
only as the result of consideration 
in advance. 
When self-controlled and abiding 
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in the 
Dhamma without recklessness." 
Milakkha examined himself: 
seeing that he had 
earnest (ever since seeing the fires 
of hell), 
mindfulness (no longer was he 
disturbed by haunting 
images), right livelihood (as a 
monk his 
maintenence of the monastic 
discipline was unblemished), 
thinking before speaking or acting 
and 
certainly not reckless. Milakkha 
saw that he had 
accomplished all that his teacher 
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had set for him. 
He felt content and refreshed by 
his own conduct. 
The satisfaction of keeping the 
Precepts properly is 
considerably more powerful than 
any worldly 
achievement. For Milakkha, the 
contentment allowed 
his mind to become unified and 
stop. He attained 
DhammakAya, and used the 
DhammakAya 
to consider the Four Noble Truths 
until he became 
enlightened at the level of the 
non-returner 
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[anAgAmE]. He couldn't attain 
arahatship because 
he had not trained himself 
sufficiently in previous 
lifetimes. When he passed away, 
he could not yet 
enter upon Nirvana but was born in 
the BrahmA 
world called the Pure Abodes 
[SuddhAvAsa]. There 
he continued to purify his mind 
until he could enter 
upon Nirvana. 
D.2 Ex. KisAgotamE TherE 
(DhA.ii.270ff) 
KisA GotamE lived in SAvatthE. 
She was known as 
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KisA GotamE because of her slim 
body. She married 
a rich young man and a son was 
born to them. 
The son died when he was just a 
toddler and KisA 
GotamE was stricken with grief 
Carrying her dead 
son, she went everywhere asking 
for medicine that 
would restore her son to life. 
People thought she 
had gone mad. But a wise man 
seeing her pathetic 
condition, decided to send her to 
the Buddha. He 
advised her, `Sister, the Buddha is 
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the person you 
should approach. He has the 
medicine you want. 
Go to him.' Thus she went to the 
Buddha and asked 
him to give her the medicine that 
would restore her 
dead son to life. 
The Buddha knowing her 
distracted mental condition 
told her to go looking for some 
mustard seeds 
from a home where there had been 
no death. Overjoyed 
at the prospect of having her son 
restored to 
life, KisA GotamE ran from house 
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to house, begging 
for some mustard seeds. Everyone 
was willing 
to help her but she could not find a 
single home 
where no death had ever occurred. 
The people were 
only too willing to part with their 
mustard seeds, 
but no-one could claim never to 
have lost a loved 
one in death. As the day dragged 
on, she realised 
that hers was not the only family 
that had faced 
death and that there were more 
people dead than 
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