འཕགས་པ་ཡལ་འཁར་སྐྱང་གས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.17

intro.17

To exemplify such qualities, the Buddha proceeds to recount his past lives in a manner typical of the Jātaka tales. The stories portray his renunciation during his lives as wealthy kings, highlighting his benevolence and compassion for the sake of others, qualities totally free of any self-concern. Prominently featured in most Jātaka tales are the Buddha’s heroic acts of self-sacrifice, in which he cuts off his limbs or even offers his whole body to benefit others. In many of these stories, he is an animal displaying various noble behaviors, such as rescuing other animals or people. The introduction concludes with the Buddha’s prediction that there will be monks who, although they know about the Buddha’s virtuous deeds in his past lives, will be corrupt and will indulge in all sorts of negative behaviors, such as transgressing their vows, drinking, overeating, engaging in sexual behavior, speaking ill of the Dharma, behaving badly toward women, having wives and children, and generally demonstrating selfish motivations.