Angulimala, the road back
In the kingdom of Kosala there lived a man who had been misled by a teacher into doing terrible harm. He became a bandit in the forest and was known as Angulimala, "garland of fingers", because he wore a string made from what he had taken from his victims. Villagers stopped using the road.
One day the Buddha walked alone along that road. Angulimala saw him and ran after him, sword in hand. Strangely, the harder he ran, the farther the calm figure ahead seemed to be. Out of breath, he shouted, "Stop, monk, stop!"
The Buddha answered without turning round: "I have stopped, Angulimala. You are the one who has not."
The words struck him. He asked what they meant, and the Buddha explained that he had stopped doing harm to any being, while Angulimala had not. The man threw away his sword and asked to follow. The Buddha welcomed him into the community.
Tellings go on to say that when he later walked through the town to collect food, people threw stones at him, and that he bore it patiently, knowing how much had to be repaired. Later versions say he lived the rest of his life in quiet practice.
The story is often told to show that a person is not defined by the worst thing they have done, and that the way back starts with the decision to stop. It does not make light of the harm that was done. The names and details differ between the Pali and Chinese versions, so this is only a short retelling. Compare with Kisa Gotami, another story of a person turned by a few words.
Related pages
- Kisa Gotami and the mustard seedA short story about grief and what it can teach, retold in plain words. A woman who lost her child asks the Buddha for help.
- Buddhist basics in plain wordsThe Three Jewels, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Five Precepts, and karma and rebirth, explained briefly and neutrally for people who are new to Buddhism.
- Two Jataka talesJataka tales recount the Buddha's earlier lives. Two short ones: the hare, and the golden deer.
- The poisoned arrowA short parable in which the Buddha answers a monk who wants every big question settled first. What matters most is dealing with the suffering in front of you.
Keep reading
- Buddhist basics in plain words
- Layout of a Vietnamese Buddhist temple
- The altars of a Vietnamese temple
- How to pay respects at a Vietnamese temple
- Buddhist calendar
- Uposatha, full-moon and new-moon days
- Buddhist glossary for temple visitors
- Avalokiteshvara (Quan Thế Âm), the one who listens
- The Buddha's awakening
- Two Jataka tales
- Maudgalyayana and filial gratitude
- Visiting a Vietnamese temple: common questions
- Temple etiquette: how to behave in a Vietnamese temple
- Offerings: what flowers, fruit, water, lamps and incense mean
- Festivals in Vietnamese Buddhist temples
- Kisa Gotami and the mustard seed
- The blind men and the elephant
- The poisoned arrow
- Ksitigarbha (Địa Tạng) and the vow
- Sujata and the bowl of milk rice