The Buddha told Ananda: "This mother and son not only accepted my help today, but in the past life, they also received my kindness and were saved."

Next, the Buddha told Ananda a story.

A long time ago in the past, there was a great king named Maharaja Tanang.

The king had three sons, the eldest prince was named Mahafunananin; the second prince was named Mahadeva; and the younger prince was named Mahasattva.

Once, the king, his ministers, his wife, and the prince went to visit the wilderness. Due to fatigue from the journey, the king ordered everyone to stop and rest.

The three princes didn't want to rest, so they went to play in the dense forest together.

They saw a tigress at the bottom of the cliff, nursing two cubs. The tigress looked very hungry and thirsty.

The little prince said to his brothers: "This tiger is extremely hungry and dying, and it has to nurse two tiger cubs. I look at it and want to eat its babies."

The two brothers replied: "You are right, that tigress may not be able to support it for long."

The little prince asked: "What does this tiger need to eat now?"

The two brothers replied: "If there is fresh meat, this is the food the tigress needs most right now."

The little prince asked again: "Can anyone find fresh meat to save this tiger now?"

The two brothers said: "Don't think about it. Where can we get meat in the wilderness now?"

The little prince thought to himself: "In the process of life and death, I lost my life countless times, but I gave up my body in vain."

Either because of greed, or to vent resentment, or because of ignorance, I have never devoted myself to the Dharma.

When something like this happens today, I can contribute myself and plant a field of blessings for all sentient beings. What is there to cherish about my body?

The little prince followed his two brothers forward while making up his own mind.

After walking not far, he said to his two brothers: "You go first, I have something to do, and I will chase you later."

The little prince jumped off the cliff and lay down in front of the tiger.

His heart was only devoted to seeking the truth. He looked at the tigress and said, "I don't have the food you need. In the past, I only knew how to cherish my body. Now I use my body to give and contribute to the Dharma!"

However, the tiger was too weak to eat.

The little prince broke off a sharp branch and pricked his neck to draw blood. After the tiger licked the blood, he was ready to eat, so he opened his mouth and ate.

When the two elder brothers saw that their younger brother hadn't come back for a long time, they went back to look for him. They remembered what the little prince said and thought that he must have gone to save the tiger.

So he chased him to the edge of the cliff and saw that the tiger had eaten him, leaving him in a bloody mess.

When the two brothers saw this scene, they collapsed to the ground and fainted.

After a long time, they woke up, burst into tears, were extremely sad, and fainted again.

When the queen was sleeping, she had a dream. She dreamed of three pigeons playing in the woods. An eagle suddenly flew in and ate the smallest pigeon.

The queen woke up from her dream, feeling frightened, and said to the king: "I heard that the dove in the dream represents descendants. I dreamed that the little dove died. I was worried that something bad would happen to the little prince."

After listening to the queen's words, the king immediately sent people to look for the three princes.

Not long after, the eldest prince and the second prince came to the king and queen.

The king and queen asked together: "Where is your brother?"

The two princes burst into tears and timidly replied: "The tiger has eaten him."

After hearing the children's words, the king and queen immediately fainted and took a long time to wake up.

They quickly rushed to the place where the little prince fed the tiger, and saw that the little prince's meat had been eaten by the hungry tiger, leaving only a pile of bones scattered on the ground.

The king and queen burst into tears and fell into unconsciousness several times, and so on for a long time.

After Mahasattva died, he was reborn in Tushita heaven.

When he arrived in heaven, he said to himself: "What good deeds did I receive for my rebirth in heaven?"

He looked across the six realms with his heavenly eyes and saw the remains of his previous life still piled up in the mountains. His parents were sad and crying, and they were in great pain.

Seeing that his parents were crying so sadly because they did not understand the principles of good and evil cause and effect, he felt pity in his heart and decided to persuade them.

He came down from Tushita Heaven, stopped in mid-air, and said to his parents: "I am your son Mahasattva. I sacrificed my life to feed tigers and was able to ascend to heaven."

"Your Majesty, you should know that everything in the world is an illusion. If you live, you will die. If you do evil, you will fall into hell. If you do good, you will be born in heaven. This is the natural law of reincarnation."

"Why are you sinking in the sea of ​​sorrow and trouble now without thinking about enlightenment and diligently cultivating the path to liberation?"

The parents replied: "You were so compassionate and pitied all sentient beings that you left us. Our hearts are broken because we miss you. Why do you have to do this if you cultivate immeasurable loving-kindness?"

Therefore, Mahasattva comforted his parents with various kind words and verses, making them gradually wake up.

The king made a coffin decorated with seven treasures, buried Mahasattva's remains, and built a tower on the tomb.

The Buddha told Ananda: "The great king Maharatana at that time was none other than my current father, King Yuetoutan. The queen at that time was my mother Mahamaya now."

"The Mahafuna Nin at that time is now Maitreya. The second prince at that time, Mahadeva, is now Vasumitra."

"The little prince Mahasattva at that time was none other than me now. The tigress at that time was my old mother now. The two tiger cubs at that time were my two sons now."

"A long time ago, when their lives were in danger, I rescued them from misery and brought them peace and happiness."

Having said this, the expression on the old monk's face became a little more solemn.

Looking at Li Xiuyuan, he said: "In this case, does the donor think that this act of feeding the tiger is appropriate?"

Sitting on the futon, Li Xiuyuan's expression remained the same, but he was extremely shocked in his heart.

Although he had studied countless Buddhist scriptures, this was the first time he heard the story of the Buddha feeding tigers with his body. More importantly, at this time, his mind was not on whether he should feed tigers with his body.

He thought that the seemingly loyal, compassionate, and kind-hearted old monk in front of him turned out to be the same person as the monk on the first floor of the pagoda.

Why do you waste your time telling yourself a story in a big circle?

Thinking of this, he decided not to pay attention to the compassion of Buddhism. He wanted to talk to the old monk in front of him about unreasonable principles.

So, Li Xiuyuan murmured: "In my opinion, there is absolutely no need for that little prince to sacrifice his life to feed the tiger."

The old monk raised his head when he heard this, looked at Li Xiuyuan quietly, and shook his head.

He said in a condensed voice: "You mean that the Buddha is fake and compassionate, and are you doubting the inheritance of Buddhism?"

Li Xiuyuan's brows moved slightly, and the expression on his face became colder.

He looked at the old monk in front of him and asked: "What do you want to say? Come straight to it when you have made it clear. Don't beat around the bush with me. That is your Buddha, not mine."

After thinking for a while, he continued: "In my opinion, he can let his two brothers go to his parents to bring meat to save the tiger, so why bother to save the tiger with his life?"

If you want to talk about crooked truths, even the old monk is no match for Li Xiuyuan, let alone the old monk in front of you.

The old monk frowned, spread out his fingers, and gently shook the bell.

A crisp bell echoed in the Buddhist hall, turning into thousands of silver needles and stabbing towards Li Xiuyuan's divine sea.

A clear cry of "Buzz!" sounded from the Samsara Sword placed on Li Xiuyuan's lap.

The sound of the sword was like a bolt of lightning falling from the sky, and it immediately melted away the thousands of silver needles from the copper bell in the old monk's hand. Under the backlash, the old monk vomited a mouthful of blood.

The monk's clothes were dyed red in an instant, and the three feet of the Buddhist hall were dyed red.

Until this moment, Li Xiuyuan still did not raise his sword to slay the demon. Instead, he looked at the old monk quietly and said, "My heart is as solid as a rock. I'm afraid I will disappoint you."

The old monk also knew that since Li Xiuyuan rejected the story he had spent so much time telling, his next plan might also be in vain.

The divine sword broke the old monk's magic weapon, and the old monk had no choice but to continue to inject the power of Buddhist mantras into the copper bell.

Seeing that his captivating copper bell had lost its effect on Li Xiuyuan, after spitting out a mouthful of blood, the old monk sighed softly and placed the copper bell on his futon.

The crisp ringtone still echoed in the pagoda, and the Buddha's majesty was still solemn, but it could no longer hurt Li Xiuyuan.

"I'm sitting here just to stop you from going up. If you want to break through the nine-story pagoda, you can only kill me with one sword."

The compassion on his face reappeared. The old monk looked at Li Xiuyuan and said, "The sword is in your hand, you can do it now!"

"If I kill you, will Buddha think I'm cruel?"

Li Xiuyuan's eyes seemed to see the Honglian Temple in the wind and rain, and when he saw the abbot, the old monk, sitting in front of the Buddha without anger, he couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart.

The old monk sitting on the futon softly recited the name of the Buddha and murmured: "Everyone in the world suffers, and so does the Buddha. What is cruelty? What is compassion."

Li Xiuyuan was shocked when he heard this and said seriously: "What a pity."

"What a pity? What is a pity?"

The old monk looked at the calm Li Xiuyuan in front of him and said in a low voice: "The donor has no compassion and no intention to listen to the Tao. It seems that even Buddhism can't save you."

Li Xiuyuan looked at the old monk with a compassionate face, and seemed not surprised that he would talk about him in this way.

So he calmly replied: "It's a pity. If you hadn't been harmed by the old monk without anger, you might have become a Buddha instantly. What a pity!"

The old monk was like a wake-up call. He smiled with difficulty and said in a daze: "My practice here naturally has nothing to do with my senior brother. This is all our own choice."

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said: "You pretend that you don't dare to fight, but you are hiding in the nine-story pagoda... I tell you clearly, I will overturn this pagoda."

"What I want to know is, when I overthrow this nine-story pagoda, where will you go to live in peace, or will you simply go to the world and cause trouble? Aren't you afraid of the punishment of heaven?"

The old monk looked at the copper bell beside him and said after a moment of silence: "When the end comes, I should embrace the fear with joy."

Li Xiuyuan sighed again and said: "That's why I say it's a pity that you, who could obviously become a Buddha, fell into the devil's path together with Wu Ai."
To be continued...