Before becoming a Buddha, Sakyamuni experienced a period of penance. Legend has it that one day he meditated in the forest. At this time, there is an eagle chasing a pigeon in the sky. Seeing that Sakyamuni was in a critical situation, the pigeon flew into his sleeve in an attempt to escape.
Sakyamuni naturally understood the pigeon's desire for survival, so he said to the eagle: Please let this pigeon go, God has the virtue of a good life.
The eagle replied: If I let this pigeon go, then this pigeon is alive, but I will starve to death. Where can I get the virtue of living a good life?
Sakyamuni said: I am willing to exchange the same weight of meat for the life of pigeons. So he took a scale, put the pigeon on the other side of the scale, and then began to cut his own meat with a knife. Strange to say, pigeons are not heavy, but Sakyamuni cut a lot of meat and still didn't balance the scales.
Finally, he jumped into the scale himself, and the weight finally balanced. He closed his eyes and said, if I don't go to hell, whoever goes to hell will eat me.
2. Give your life to the tiger:
Prince Kantuo, who didn't like the splendor, fled to live in the forest and practiced with Master in the forest.
The prince is in the forest and there is a deep valley below. At that time, there was a hungry tiger in a deep valley. She had just given birth to seven little tigers. It's very cold in winter and it snows heavily. The tigress held the little tiger in her arms and stayed under the deep valley for three days. Because she was afraid that the tiger would freeze to death, the tigress was afraid to go out and look for food. She was hungry and guarded the tiger.
However, the snow is still falling, and the tiger mother and son are hungry and sleepy, trapped in a deep valley and dying; The tigress was forced by hunger and even wanted to eat the little tiger.
At that time, many immortals saw this scene and asked, "Who can give his life to save the tiger below?" At that time, the prince was meditating. He heard this question from meditation and thought, "Good! My wish has come true. "
At the prince's voice, Datura flowers rained down and the earth shook. The prince took off his deerskin coat, entangled his leader, and then jumped off the hanging rock and fell beside the hungry tiger. After Mother Tiger got the flesh and blood of the Bodhisattva, she and her cubs were saved.
Extended data:
The Buddha preached teachings and went hand in hand in two ways. One is the way of teaching reason, and the other is the way of vivid avatar story metaphor. The Buddha's former life Prince Mahasaka recorded in Buddhist stories is a vivid supernatural story with metaphors.
The story is about the prince thinking: I gave my body countless times in the cycle of life and death a long time ago, and lost my life in vain. Some because of greed, some because of ignorance, and some because of ignorance. This passage tells us that greed is like a hungry tiger, anger is like a tiger, and infatuation is like a tiger. The tiger's maw eats human flesh, leaving nothing.
When ordinary people are not enlightened, there is no one who is not swallowed by greedy tigers and wastes his life in vain. Buddha Sakyamuni is not alone. Ordinary people feed tigers with their bodies when they are delirious and in endless robbery. I just didn't know when I woke up.
Baidu encyclopedia-lay down your life to feed the tiger