Basket of Conduct 15

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1. The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood
2. The Chapter on an Elephant
3. The Perfection of Ethics (5th)
4. The Buffalo King’s Conduct
5. “Then again when I was
6. a buffalo who roamed the forest,
7. large in body and strong,
8. big and scary to see.
9. In a cave, a craggy hillside,
10. at a tree root or a waterhole,
11. there’d be somewhere for buffalos,
12. in one place or another.
13. Wandering the mighty forest,
14. I saw a fine spot.
15. Having gone there,
16. I stood and lay to rest.
17. Then a monkey came along,
18. wicked, ignoble, and nimble.
19. On my shoulder, forehead, and eyebrows,
20. he peed and pooed.
21. Not just that day, but a second,
22. a third, and a fourth;
23. he soiled me all the time,
24. he was harassing me.
25. Seeing me being harassed,
26. a spirit said to me:
27. ‘Kill that vile, wicked thing
28. with your horns and hooves.’
29. When he spoke, I said
30. this to that spirit:
31. ‘Why would you smear me
32. with a wicked, ignoble carcass?
33. If I were upset with him
34. I would degrade myself,
35. violating my ethics,
36. and being criticized by sensible people.
37. Better to die from purity
38. than live in shame.
39. How could I, for the sake of life,
40. harm another?’
41. Thinking of me, this one
42. will do the same to others,
43. and for that they will kill him.
44. Then I shall be free.
45. Forgiving disrespect
46. from the low, middle and high,
47. the wise one gains
48. their heart’s desire.”