ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 17.18

17.18

“Monks, in times gone by, in a certain mountain village there lived a miserly, avaricious householder who hoarded all his belongings. This was during a time when blessed buddhas were not in the world, and so solitary buddhas had arisen. One day when he was at home, a solitary buddha came to the householder’s home for alms. The householder gave alms to him and then regretted having given him alms.

“ ‘Better to eat the vegetables myself or to give them to someone who works than to give them to this monk who’s got only a shaved head to show for himself!’¹²⁶ Now regretful, he stole back the food, and chased the sage away from the house, cruelly intending to physically and verbally abuse him.

“The solitary buddha thought, ‘It’s not right for this emotionally afflicted person, who has become so abased, to continue in this downward spiral. I have to help him.’ So he rose up into the sky, making a miraculous display of fire and light, rain and lightning.

“Ordinary people are quickly brought to faith through miracles, so when he saw all this, the householder bowed down at the sage’s feet like a tree felled by a saw and said, ‘O great fortunate one, please come down! I’m mired in misdeeds! Please reach down and lift me up!’ Solely out of compassion for him, the solitary buddha descended.

“The householder bowed down at his feet, asked his forgiveness, gave him alms, and prayed, ‘May no portion of the act of harming this person so worthy of offerings ripen to me. By the root of virtue of having thus venerated him again, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this.