There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.
One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.
Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warrior’s challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.
Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him. “How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?”
“If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it,” the master replied, “to whom does the gift belong?”
A person described as transgendered or transsexual usually identifies as, and desires to live and be accepted as, a member of the sex opposite to that indicated by his or her body. Thus some individuals have a strong feeling that they are female despite having male genitals or that they are a man despite having a woman’s genitals. Such people often say that they feel they are `in the wrong body’.
Ancient Indian literature contains numerous myths about people who spontaneously changed sex, usually as a result of having desire or sometimes even just admiration, for someone of the same sex. Several such stories are also found in Buddhist sources. The commentary to the Dhammapada (5th century CE?) includes a story about a man named Soreyya who changed into a woman after becoming entranced by a certain monk’s beautiful complexion. Later he married and supposedly bore two children (Dhp-a.324).
The Tipiñaka mentions several different types of transgendered states and individuals Ý the man-like woman (vepurisikà), sexual indistinctness (sambhinna), one with the characteristics of both genders (ubhatovya¤janaka), etc. (Vin.III,129). The existence of transgenderism is taken for granted in Buddhist literature with no moral judgments made about it.
Various theories have been posited to explain transgenderism; that it is a psychological or hormonal disorder or that it has genetic or environmental causes. The Buddhist doctrine of rebirth could help explain transgenderism. A person may be reborn as, say, a woman in numerous successive lives during which time feminine attitudes, desires, traits and dispositions become strongly imprinted on the mind. This would determine that she be continually reborn into a female body or that her consciousness would shape the new embryo into a female form; whatever factors are responsible for the physical characteristic of gender. Then, for either kammic, genetic or other reasons, the person may be reborn into a male body while retaining all the long-established feminine psychological traits.
If this or something like it, is the cause of transgenderism, it would mean that this condition is a natural one rather than a moral perversion as some religions maintain. The Buddha said that traits or dispositions (vàsasà) developed through a succession of lives (abbokiõõanã) may well express themselves in the present life and not be an inner moral fault (dosatara) of anything done now (Ud.28).
Transgenderism has presumably existed in all Buddhist societies as it does everywhere else. However, transgendered people seem to be particularly visible and common in Thailand. The Thai word kathoey is used loosely for effeminate homosexuals, transvestites and particularly for transgendered people. Although such people have a degree of acceptance in Thailand, probably because of the general tolerance encouraged by Buddhism, they still face numerous social and legal difficulties. A jurisdiction in which the Dhamma was genuinely applied would recognize transgendered peoples’ specific needs and allow them to legally change their gender if and when they undergo gender reassignment surgery. –
Buddha’s mother couldn’t get pregnant, one night she had a dream, visited by an elephant carrying a lotus, the elephant touched the side of her stomach.
The Queen was pregnant.
After Buddha’s birth he was taken to a guru.
Born into a royal family
Saddat (Buddha) was to be a ruling king that the world had never seen….or a holy man (The Buddha) said the Guru.
His father tried desperately to hide the truth for many years, wishing he would never see suffering, and forever was to be indulging him in Luxury.
Saddat lived luxurious for many years but needed to find enlightenment, to understand his questions of life not found in self indulgence.
Saddat ran from the castle, his family and wealth.
He shaved his head and lived in homelessness.
-In Buddhism: Peace is found in poverty and without worldly things.-
After countless years of different practices and teachings.
Starving oneself for many years, practicing ancient rituals and studying….
Saddat took up starving oneself, thinking the key to enlightenment was to be without anything human to need nothing…
….he became but a skeleton…
His eyes deep in his skull like a light at a bottom of a dark well.
This was not the way.
Saddat was the most malnourished, deep in this practice.
But one day.
He got up from meditation.
He was given rice porridge by a woman walking by.
The others were shocked and exclaimed “Saddat loves luxury!”
Ashamed of him, but.
Buddha realized
There is good, in our lives, good that we need and is important.
Under a the boddhi tree sat meditating.
The Sun moved through the sky but the shadow of his tree did not move, the tree kept him comfortable,
He touched the ground connected with the universe and unto Buddha he became.
During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived – everyone except the Zen master. Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master was. When he wasn’t treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger.
“You fool,” he shouted as he reached for his sword, “don’t you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye!”
But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved. “And do you realize,” the master replied calmly, “that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?”
“”Happy are those who do not fear death. They know no fear and therefore cannot be controlled.”
A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was watching him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the student’s opinion – who immediately told him that it wasn’t any good. The master tried again, but the student criticized the work again.
Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same characters, and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn’t watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters. “There! How’s that?,” he asked the student. The student turned to look. “THAT…. is a masterpiece!” he exclaimed.
Meanings: “Originality is what makes each of us a masterpiece. Don’t stick to the same old way of doing things.”
“Stop thinking and just do what’s natural for you, instead of what’s expected. Some of our best work is done when we least expect it.”
“You can’t perform perfectly under the watch of critical eyes. When you don’t force perfection, it happens by itself, spontaneously. Great things happen when you least suspect it.”
“Whenever you watch over someone you make them self-conscious and uncreative. It’s like trying to teach a child. If you let them alone they will usually figure it out themselves and it will be great.” – See
It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters”
This isn’t about me oh but if I “wrote” it it must be.
You must be logged in to post a comment.