Learning from Buddhist Stories No. 7

 Buddhist stories are good reading materials for children as well as adults to learn important Buddhist principles and values such as compassion, wisdom, kindness, view, joy, and happiness. I express my appreciation to Rev. Satoko Fujii who allowed me to translate her original articles and use her “Kirie” art (art made of cut paper pieces).

An extremely poor woman was living alone in a town. In order to live, she went through town every day begging for alms. One day, people living in the town were excited to learn that Shakymauni Buddha was coming to visit soon.  They prepared many offerings for him. The woman also wanted to offer something for Shakyamuni Buddha, but she was too poor to prepare anything. But through her begging, she was able to scrape enough money to buy a very small lantern. She lit the very plain lantern and offered it, from the bottom of her heart as a welcome to Shakyamuni Buddha.

Other townspeople offered very large and fancy lanterns which made the poor woman feel inadequate that her gift was so plain and small.  The town was lit up in a warm glow as the light from the hundreds of lanterns lit up the sky to welcome the Buddha.  As the night progressed, some lanterns ran out of lamp oil and others were blown out by strong winds. Surprisingly only the small lantern offered by the woman stayed lit until next morning. A disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha wondered and asked Shakyamuni Buddha why only the small tiny lantern stayed lit. Shakyamuni said, “Value (or virtue) of Dana is not based on its quantity. Dana is a practice of selfless giving and receiving without any calculation. When giving, what is most important is to nurture the spirit of Dana in one’s heart and mind.”

The holiday season is coming upon us soon. What is in your heart when you give a gift to someone? We may give something that is rare or a valuable.  We may give a gift just to satisfy our ego and make us feel like we are a good person because we are giving. Let us take this opportunity to reflect what is in our hearts when we give a gift.  Do we give with a sincere heart and mind?  Also when we receive a gift, how do we receive it?  Do we receive it with a sincere and grateful heart and mind? It is a good opportunity to practice Dana and think how we send and receive a gift.

 

＜切絵でみる仏教説話　No.7＞

「切り絵でみる仏教説話」では、仏教にまつわる物語を、切り絵とお話を通じて紹介していきたいと思います。

ある町に身寄りのない貧しい一人の女性が住んでいました。ある時、その都へ釈尊がいらっしゃることとなり、町中の人々は釈尊のためにと、沢山のお供えを用意していました。その女性も自分ができることをしたいと思いましたが、物乞いをしながらどうにか日々の生活が出来る貧しさで、お供えできるものは何一つありませんでした。しかし、苦労の末、ようやく、一つの灯提を得ることができ、精一杯の気持ちで小さなあかりを供えたのでありました。

そして、その後、町中の人々がお供えした灯明は夜の間に油が尽きたり、風に吹かれたりして消えてしまいました。ところがこの貧しい女性の灯明だけはなぜか朝まで燃え続けていたそうです。その後、釈尊のお弟子がそのことを不思議に思いなぜ消えないかのかを、お釈迦さまに尋ねたところ「布施の功徳は、決して量の大小によって決まるものではなく、その心こそ大切なこと」と説かれたと言われています。

贈り物をする時、どんなことを大切にしたらいいでしょうか。「手に入りにくいもの」や「高価なもの」をお贈りすることも素敵なことかもしれません。しかし、まずはどんな心で、どんな気持ちを込めて贈り物をしたのか、ということをしっかり見つめたいなぁと自分自身、感じさせていただいた物語でした。

今後も「切り絵で見る仏教説話」では、仏教にまつわるお話を通じてその物語に説かれている教えを少しずつ読み解いていけたらと思います。

 

(文・画　藤井智子先生）