On Tuesday,
I introduced to you one of the most dramatic narratives in the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha.
It is the Sutta of Angulimala,
Angulimala,
And it recounts the transformation of a serial killer into an enlightened disciple of the Buddha.
So as we explored on Tuesday,
Angulimala had no restraint.
He blindly followed the instructions of his misguided teacher,
Who deceived him into thinking that violence was required for spiritual accomplishment.
So Angulimala gave himself over to violence,
Killing hundreds of people and collecting their fingers as trophies.
You know,
Just this blind following shows us how an unrestrained view and unrestrained clinging to views and blind obedience can lead to such devastation.
And the story,
The story of Angulimala is extreme.
You know,
He was a murderer and feared by whole villages and driven,
Really driven by rage and delusion.
And most of us are not like that.
Yet,
This dramatic story really shows us something that we all share,
Which is what happens when we do not restrain our impulses.
When we are swept away by anger,
Swept away by fear,
Even in the smallest ways,
We are creating harm.
We're not wielding weapons,
But our words,
Our tone of voice,
Our judgment,
These become our weapons of harm.
And they close our hearts.
Without restraint,
The mind runs after every impulse.
And what happens is our lives become scattered,
Reactive,
And generally painful when we're just being run by impulses.
So as the story goes,
We have the Buddha who goes in search of Angulimala and he's walking calmly into the forest,
Composed,
While Angulimala,
Despite running at full speed towards the Buddha,
Can't catch him.
So what is that about,
Right?
This magical depiction,
I think,
Is meant to portray how restraint is like a special power,
Stronger than unrestrained anger,
Stronger than unrestrained aggression.
And the Buddha doesn't fight back or flee,
But instead he meets Angulimala,
Using restraint in the body,
In speech,
In thought,
Unafraid,
With compassion.
And when Angulimala demands that the Buddha stop walking,
The Buddha responds with,
Well,
I have stopped,
Angulimala.
You stop too.
So what the Buddha is saying is,
I have stopped harming others.
I have stopped running and being run from greed and hatred and delusion.
I have stopped chasing after my impulses.
You can stop too.
You too can stop.
So this phrase,
I have stopped,
Angulimala,
You stop too,
It's an invitation.
And that invitation awakens something in Angulimala in that moment,
That he decides for himself,
That he questions the Buddha.
He says,
Okay,
And this is something that he didn't do with his first teacher,
Which is very important.
He,
You know,
The teacher that led him towards this killing spree,
He didn't question him,
But he's compelled by this invitation to ask the Buddha,
You know,
You tell me to stop,
But now when I've stopped,
You say that I haven't,
Like,
What is the meaning of this?
And the Buddha says,
Well,
I've stopped forever,
Violence towards living beings,
But you have no restraint towards things that live.
That is why I've stopped and you have not.
So in that moment,
Angulimala sees how this is true.
He wakes up to the truth.
The reality that true strength lies in restraint,
Not indulgence to impulses.
The Buddha taught Angulimala in that moment,
That restraint is not repression.
It's a choice to pause,
To stop running,
Stop being run on impulses and compulsions.
And he sees that the restraint of the Buddha who went into the forest in search of Angulimala,
Not to find him and kill him or shame him or criticize him.
The Buddha came to invite him to stop.
An act of compassion.
And Angulimala says in this moment of seeing,
At long last,
Somebody has come to this forest for my sake.
For my benefit.
So as you will see later in the Sutta,
Even when restraint comes late,
When we come to practice,
When we come really to the practice of restraint later in our practice,
That transformation is still possible.
Angulimala becomes a monk and a healer.
And he also has to endure the results of his past.
And he does that without striking back.
So restraint turned his life around.
And for us,
It can turn a difficult day around.
Restraint can,
Or even an ordinary conversation.
So the invitation of this Sutta is to notice when the mind moves towards compulsion,
The compulsion to be heard or express views,
Or that the compulsion to lash out and be right.
Notice when the mind is compulsively chasing something.
And perhaps there will be a moment when you remember,
I can stop.
I don't need to follow this impulse.
I can choose peace instead.
So thank you for your consideration.
