Response: They arise on account of a scarcity of merit . There
is an absence of causes originating in previous lives and an absence of
conditions in this present life. It is on account of this that one is
afflicted with hunger and thirst. Then again, it may be that in
previous lives this individual stole the food of buddhas, arhats or
pratyekabuddhas or stole food which was reserved for the personal
consumption by one's parents. Now, although one may take birth in an
era where one might encounter the Buddha, still, on account of the
gravity of one's offenses, he will continue to be afflicted by hunger
and thirst.

Question: Nowadays we have people who, although they have taken
birth in an evil age, they are still able to enjoy fine food and drink.
There have also been individuals who have taken birth in an era where
they could encounter the Buddha, but who have nonetheless been
especially afflicted with hunger and thirst. If one is a person who has
committed offenses it should not be that one can take birth in an era
where he might encounter the Buddha. If one is a person possessed of
blessings it should not be that he could be born into an evil age. How
is it that this could occur?

Response: The causes and conditions of each person's karmic
retribution are different. Some people possess the causes and
conditions for being able to see the Buddha but lack the causes and
conditions requisite to adequacy in food and drink. Others possess the
causes and conditions requisite to adequacy in food and drink but lack
the causes and conditions for being able to see the Buddha. The
situation of these latter individuals is analogous to that of a black
snake who lies curled up around a manipearl. [*] There are even cases
of people who , although they have realized arhatship, are nonetheless
unable to be successful in searching for almsfood.

Additionally, by way of illustration, we have the case of two
brothers who, at the time of Kaashyapa Buddha, left home in search of
the Way. One of them upheld the precepts, recited the sutras and sat in
dhyaana meditation. The other brother sought extensive contacts with
the daanapatis[**] while also cultivating all manner of merit-
generating karma.

When it came to the time when Shaakyamuni Buddha appeared in the
World one of the brothers was reborn into the household of an elder
while the other brother was reborn as a great white [war] elephant whose
strength was such that he was able to smash the ranks of rebels.

The son of the elder left home to study the Way, gaining the six
superknowledges and arhatship. However, on account of only scant merit,
whenever he sought alms food it was difficult for him to come by any.
One day he took up his bowl and entered the city to seek alms food, but
but was unable to get any anywhere. He happened upon the stable of the
white elephant and witnessed the King's providing to the elephant all
manner of sustenance in great abundance. He then said to this elephant,
"In comparing myself to you, [I see that] we both have committed
offenses." The elephant was so moved by this comment that he became
choked up and could not eat for three days.

The elephant keeper panicked and sought out this man of the Way.
On finding him he asked, "What spell did you cast that it caused the
King's white elephant to become so ill that he can't eat?"

[The arhat] replied, "In a previous life this elephant was my
younger brother. At the time of Kaashyapa Buddha we left home together
to study the Way. I dedicated myself exclusively to upholding the
precepts, reciting sutras and sitting in dhyaana meditation while
neglecting entirely the practice of giving. My younger brother busied
himself exclusively with extensively seeking contacts with daanapatis
and all manner of giving, neglecting all the while to uphold the
precepts or pursue his studies. Because he did not uphold the precepts,
recite sutras or sit in dhyaana meditation he has now been reborn as
this elephant. However, because he extensively cultivated the practice
of giving, his food and drink are replete and marked by all manner of
abundance. Because I only cultivated the Way and did not cultivate the
practice of giving, although I have now gained the Way, whenever I beg
for food, I am unable to come by any.

On account of these circumstances we can see that causes and
conditions differ from case to case. Although one may take birth at a
time when he might be able to see the Buddha, still, he might continue
to be afflicted by hunger and thirst.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End Notes:[*] A mani pearl is a miraculous wish- fulling gem.

[**] A daanapati is a lay supporter of the Sangha (the renunciate
monastic order).

The Origins of Illness
(T25.119c7-16 [fasc.8])
[Nagarjuna comments here on the line of Sutra text which reads,
"...those who were afflicted with illness were cured..."]:

There are [basically] two categories of illness: One may become
afflicted with all manner of sickness as retribution for karmic
activities in former lives. Then too, one may become afflicted with all
manner of sickness in the present incarnation due to the influence of
[such pathogenic factors as] coldness, heat, and wind. Among the
disorders originating in the present incarnation, there are two
categories: The first consists of internal disorders wherein non-
regulation of the five organs precipitates the arisal of firmly-
entrenched pathologies originating from former lives. The second
consists of all manner of externally- arising disorders involving such
phenomena as vehicular accidents, bolting horses, being crushed, falling
down from a height, or [being afflicted with] a soldier's sword, a
knife, or a club.

Question: What are the causes and conditions for becoming
afflicted with physical maladies?

Upadesha: If in one's previous lives one took pleasure in
inflicting all manner of cruelties involving lashing with a whip,
beating with a club, imprisonment, and tying up, then in one's present
life one becomes afflicted with illness. [Then again,] if in this
present life one is unaware of how to take care of one's body and so
does not observe proper measure in eating and drinking or is irregular
in one's sleeping habits, one may develop all manner of illnesses on
account of this. And so there are four hundred and four categories of
illness like these. On account of the Buddha's spiritual powers those
afflicted with illness were able to become cured.

The Buddha Cares for a Sick Bhikshu {119c16-120a5}]

An exemplary case is told of the Buddha when he was in the state
of Shraavastii. There was a layman who had invited the Buddha and the
Sangha to take their meal in his home. The Buddha had five reasons
whereby he might choose to accept his meal while continuing to abide in
the monastic dwelling: First, out of a wish to enter samadhi; second,
out of a wish to speak Dharma for the gods; third, out of a desire to
stroll about and inspect the dwellings of the bhikshus; fourth, to look
in on the bhikshus who were ill; and fifth, in instances where no
prohibitions had been instituted, to formulate prohibitions for the
benefit of the bhikshus.

At this time the Buddha went in order from one door to the next
and entered the rooms of the bhikshus. He observed a bhikshu who
suffered from illness, but whom no one was looking after. He was lying
there in his excrement and urine and was unable to rise from that
position. The Buddha asked the bhikshu, "How is it that you are so
afflicted with suffering and yet no one is looking after you?"

The Bhikshu replied, "Bhagavat, I am, by nature, lazy. When
others have fallen ill I have never looked after them. Therefore, when
I am taken ill, others do not look after me either."

The Buddha said,"Son of good family, I shall look after you. At
that time [the god] Shakra Devaanaam Indra bathed him with water and the
Buddha rubbed his hands along the [Bhikshu's] body. When he rubbed his
body, all of the suffering and pain immediately disappeared and was
cured. His body and mind became peaceful and restored. At this time
the World Honored One gently and slowly supported this sick bhikshu as
he got up, took him outside of the dwelling, saw to his getting cleaned
up, and to his dressing in [fresh] robes. Then he gently and slowly
assisted him in going back in whereupon he provided him with a fresh
sitting mat and allowed him and allowed him to sit.

The Buddha then said to the sick bhikshu," For a long time now
you have not been earnest in striving to bring it about that those
matters not yet gained might be gained, that this time of not having yet
arrived might be a time of arrival, and that those matters not yet known
might be known. Consequently you now undergo suffering and distress
like this, but it may yet be that you are bound to undergo even greater
suffering yet."

When the Bhikshu heard this he thought to himself, "The kindness
of the Buddha is immeasurqble and his spiritual powers are countless.
When he used his hand to rub me, the anguish and pain immediately
disappeared such that in body and mind I became filled with bliss."

On account of this [we can know that] the Buddha employs his
spiritual power to cause those who are sick to be cured and to cause
those who are disfigured to become whole again.

[The Origins of Disfigurement {120a5-12}]

What is meant by being "disfigured"? If there is a person who in a
former life mangled someone's body or cut off someone's head or sliced
off someone's hands or feet or mangled parts of someone's body or who
perhaps destroyed images of the Buddha or broke the nose of a Buddha
image or did these things to images of worthies or sages, or who perhaps
destroyed images of his father or mother,- on account of these offenses
he takes on a form which in many ways is not complete.

Moreover, it is a retribution for unwholesome dharmas to take on
a body that is ugly. If in this present life one is victimized by
thieves or if one is subjected to capital punishment or if one
encounters all manner of causes and conditions whereby one is caused to
be disfigured, or if perhaps one becomes afflicted with wind- type,
cold- type or heat- type diseases whereby one's body develops horrible
sores or where parts of the body start to decay,-- this is what is meant
by "disfigured."

[The Story of Gandaka {120a13-29}]

[And so it indicates in the Sutra passage that] they received
the great kindness of the Buddha and were all made whole again. An
exemplary case in point is that of a servant in Jetavana named
Ga.n.daka. (Text notes here: "Ga.n.daka" means "put together" in the
language of Ch'in.) He was a nephew of King Prasenajit who was
handsome, brave, strong and whose mind was was harmonious and wholesome
in nature. When the King's most senior consort saw him she became
attached to him and called to him softly, desiring thereby to influence
him to go along with her [intention]. But Ga.n.daka did not go along
with her and so the consort became greatly enraged, and slandered him
maliciously by accusing him of being guilty of what had been her own
offense.

When the King heard this [accusation] he had him sliced apart,
joint after joint, and then had his body cast upon the charnel ground.
That evening, at the moment just before his life was about to ebb away,
the tigers, wolves and raak.sasas came around desiring to eat him. At
that moment the Buddha arrived at his side and let his light shine upon
him. His body suddenly became as before and he became overjoyed. The
Buddha then spoke the Dharma for his benefit whereupon he immediately
realized the third stage of the Way. The Buddha then led him by the
hand to Jetavana whereupon this man exclaimed, "My body had already been
broken and had already been cast off. The Buddha put my body back
together! Now I shall devote the rest of my life to serving with this
body the Buddha and the Bhikshu Sangha.

The next day, when King Prasenejit heard of this matter he came
to Jetavana and said to Ga.n.daka, "I wish to apologize to you for my
transgression. In truth you were blameless, but on false grounds, were
subjected to punitive injury. I am now going to present to you by
dividing up the country half of it in reparation.

Ga.n.daka replied, "I have already developed a revulsion [for
worldly possessions]. As for the King, he is blameless. Disastrous
mistakes from my former lives have made this event appropriate
retribution for my offenses. I am now going to put my body to work in
service to the Buddha and the Sangha and so will not be coming back
again."

[Instances] like this [illustrate what is meant when the Sutra
records that] if there is a being who is disfigured and imperfect, when
he is illumined by the Buddha's light he is immediately restored to
normalcy. And so it says, "Even all of those who were disfigured became
whole. When illumined by the Buddha's light they were immediately
restored to normalcy."

The Traveller and the Ghosts

(T25.148c1-27 [fasc.12])
And furthermore, there are those people who conceive the idea of
an "I" as existing in the midst of external phenomena. Take for
instance those non- buddhist cultivators of dhyaana absorptions who,
when employing the contemplation of the "earth element all- encompassing
basis", give rise to the view that, "The earth element constitutes the
'self' and the 'self' is just the earth element." They may develop the
same view with regard to water, fire, wind or space. Thus, on account
of such cognitive inversions they may impute selfhood to something which
exists within another person's body. Additionally, they may even
conceive the idea of their "self" as being constituted by someone else's
body.
As an example, once there was a man who had been given a mission
whereby he was compelled to travel a great distance. He spent the night
alone in a vacant dwelling. In the middle of the night a ghost carried
in the corpse of a man and set it down in front of him. Then there was
another ghost who chased along behind and angrily castigated the first
ghost, yelling, "This corpse is mine! Why did you carry it in here?"
The first ghost said, "It belongs to me! I carried it in here
myself!"
The second ghost retorted, "The fact of the matter is, I am the
one who carried this corpse in here!" Then each of the ghosts grabbed
one of the hands of the corpse and tried to pull it away from the other.
Thereupon the first ghost said, "There's a man here. We can ask him to
settle this."
The ghost who had come in later then asked the traveller, "Well,
who was it that carried this corpse in here?"
The traveller thought to himself, "Both of these ghosts are very
strong. If I report the facts, I'm bound to die. If I lie, I'm also
bound to die. So, since I can't avoid being killed in either case,
what's the point in lying about it?" And so he replied, "It was the
first ghost who carried in the corpse."
The second ghost flew into a rage, tore off one of the
traveller's hands and then threw it down on the ground. At this, the
first ghost pulled off one of the arms from the corpse and attached it
as a replacement. They then proceeded in this fashion with both arms,
both feet, the head, the two sides, and so forth until the traveller's
entire body had been changed. The two ghosts then proceeded to devour
the body which they had gotten from the exchange. When they had
finished, they wiped off their mouths and departed.
At that point the traveller thought to himself, "With my very
own eyes I saw those two ghosts entirely devour the body born of my
mother! This body which I now have here is composed entirely of someone
else's flesh! Do I really still have a body now? Or is it the case
that I have no body at all? If I hold the view that I do indeed have a
body,- that body is actually somebody else's entirely. If I hold that I
don't have one,- still, there is a body here right now! He continued to
ponder like this until his mind became so confused and distressed that
he became like a man gone mad.
The next morning, he went off down the road. When he reached
the neighboring country he saw that there was a Buddha stupa and a group
of monks. He couldn't talk about anything else:- He could only keep
asking whether his body was existent or nonexistent. The bhikshus asked
him, "Just who are you, anyway?"
The traveller replied, "Well, as for me, I don't know myself
whether I'm a person or a non- person." He then described in detail the
events which had transpired.
The bhikshus remarked, "This man has a natural understanding of
the nonexistence of a self. He could easily gain deliverance." And so
they offered an explanation, saying, "From its origin on up until the
present, your body has always naturally been devoid of a self. It's not
something that just happened now. It is merely on account of an
aggregation of the four great elements that one conceives of it as 'my'
body. In this respect, your original body and this one you now have are
no different." Thus the bhikshus succeeded in bring about the
traveller's deliverance to the Way, whereupon he cut off all afflictions
and immediately realized arhatship.