Lord Buddha taught us to be aware of 3 kinds of the decline; violation of precepts, jealousy, and stinginess. The decline due to precept violation is obviously found in those who have dark mind and consider not adhering to the precepts as normal whilst the decline due to jealousy could be found even in those leading a virtuous life.
According to Losaka Tissa Jataka, in the period of Kassapa Buddha, there was a millionaire who had faith in Buddhism. He built a monastery, ordained as a monk and became an abbot of the monastery. One day, a merchant who was also an attendant of the abbot met a monk who was an arahant (a person who attained the highest stage of spiritual enlightenment) at the village. The merchant was so impressed by the monk’s mannerism and his teachings that he invited him to stay at the monastery. Worried that his patron would turn to support the arahant instead of him, the abbot began scheming to make sure that it didn’t happen.
The next morning, the abbot was supposed to accompany the monk to the merchant’s house, but he rang the gong with the back of his fingernail on purpose so the arahant would not hear it and went to see the merchant alone. The merchant did not see the monk so he arranged some food and asked the abbot to deliver it to the monk. Now that he had no excuse to refuse, the abbot begrudgingly agreed.
The abbot was unable to withstand the fire of jealousy within his mind, so he threw away the food into a pile of grassfire while on the way back. The arahant was able to sense the abbot’s jealousy. Feeling concerned that his presence would bring heavy Karma to the abbot, he left the monastery without saying goodbye.
When the abbot learned that his visitor had already left, he realized the monk must have been highly virtuous and thus knew his thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about this sin. After his death, his soul suffered hundreds of thousands of years of damnation in hell before being reborn as hungry ghost. In every lifetime, he faced much of deprivation. His large meal was the only meal large enough to satiate his hunger.
In the last life he was born and named Lokasa in the period of Gotama Buddha, and still had to suffer the karmic residual.
When Losaka was seven years old, Sariputta, one of the Buddha’s prominent disciples, saw the child picking up grains of rice tossed in the street after the pots had been washed. The disciple invited the boy to become a novice, to which he readily agreed. But his bad luck continued as he rarely got a full helping of food on his alms rounds, receiving just enough for basic sustenance. People were not intentionally cruel to him, but they just saw that his alms bowl was filled.
Despite being an arahant (one who has reached the final stage of enlightenment), his past Karma remained in effect as it was a very heavy Karma. As a result, years of malnutrition left him weak.
When it came to Losaka’s final day, Sariputta sensed it and decided that he should get to have at least one full meal. Sariputta had Losaka accompanied him on the morning alms round, but they received nothing. So, he sent Losaka back to the monastery and collected food on his own. Upon his return, he asked someone to deliver the food to Losaka. However, that person forgot his name ans ate it himself.
Sariputta decided to rush to the palace and asked King Pasenadi Kosol to fill his bowl with honey, ghee, butter, and sugar. He even offered to hold the bowl himself while Losaka was eating to prevent a mishap. Finally, Losaka could eat until he was full for the first time. He passed away not long after.
And this is just a brief story of his one tragic life out of hundreds of thousands of his previous incarnations suffering from one heavy Karma.
When your hand gets burned by fire or boiling water, you feel the pain was unbearable. How much torment did he endure while receiving a punishment in hell and then from living in starvation again and again? Had he not understood the law of Karma, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.
Only a little jealousy and the soul can spiral into the abyss of anguish with almost no end.
May the story of Lokasa Tissa Arahant be a good reminder to us. Living together as a group often makes people compare themselves with each other, leading to jealousy that ends in hurting or insulting other group members both intentionally and unintentionally.
When the retribution takes effect, the good Karma that are less powerful can’t help. The retribution will firstly take priority. Until the karmic residual completely extinguishes, the good Karma will begin to show the result.
We all have been encountering karmic results. Being born rich or poor is a result of past Karma. Being exploited, envied, loved, or hated are all the outcomes of past Karma.
Keep this truth in mind. Don’t blame others but yourself for it was you who had chosen this path. Accept them and move on with faith in goodness. Sooner or later, the power of good Karma will come to your rescue.
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