Are there really uncontacted bands of humans left on the surface of the planet? Besides in the warm and green parts of Antarctica we are banned from seeing and Sentinel Island off the coast of India or deep in New Guinea and still wandering around in the thick Amazon or out on the Kalahari, aside from those, is there a single human who does not know there are other humans, carrying on destroying the planet? It would seem so. They're probably better off not knowing what we're doing. What about one of the oldest countries in the world, the Kush we now call Ethiopia, are there secret tribes there, riding around on tiny boards with even tinier wheels, doing the impossible?
Showing posts with label yakkhas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yakkhas. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2026
Friday, October 24, 2025
The Yakkhas of Sri Lanka: Stone Agers
(EBS World) Life with the Axe: Sri Lanka's Last Vedda Tribe
Living a Stone Age existence with magic metal axes
The Yakkha or Yakshi are "ogres" -- Sasquatch, Almas, Asian Bigfoot, Orang pendek (living Indonesian Hobbit), "Wild Men" Yeti and Chinese Yeren -- in Buddhist cosmology and Hindu, Jain, and the lore of the subcontinent. It may be that known human tribes living in the wild were referred to as Yakkhas and Yakshas as well:
Yaksha (Sanskrit यक्ष, Yakṣa, Pali Yakkha, female Yakkhini or Yakshi, likely the source of Yeti) are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness [4][5].
- YAKKHA: A class of non-human beings (amanussā), they are mentioned with devas, rakkhasas, dānavas, gandhabbas, kinnaras, and Mahoragas (? Nāgas) (e.g., J.v.420). In other lists (e.g., PvA. 45, 55) they range immediately above the ghosts (petas); in fact, some of the happier petas are called yakkhas. Elsewhere (e.g., A.ii.38) they rank, in progressive order, between humans (manussā) and deva-messengers (gandhabbā). There are many different kinds: spirits, ogres, dryads, ghosts, spooks. In the early records, yakkha, like nāgā, as an appellative, was not depreciative. Thus, not only is Sakka, king of the devas, so referred to (M.i.252; J.iv.4; DA.i.264), but even the Buddha is spoken of as a yakkha in poetic diction (M.i.386). Many devas, such as Kakudha, are also so addressed (S.i.54). More: palikanon.com
Yakshas appear in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts (where they are cannibal humanoid ogres with telepathic shapeshifting powers of transformation, who are known to cohabitate with human women and produce hybrid offspring, suggesting they are with the same species at least to some extent, the most famous of these being the Yakkha Alavaka and his very wise questions put to the Buddha in Sn I.10 Āḷavaka Sutta, ), as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities [5][6]. The feminine form of the word is Yakṣī [7] or Yakshini (Sanskrit यक्षिणी, Yakṣiṇī, Pali Yakkhini) [8]. More
- These are the remaining members of the Vedda Tribe: The Vedda (Sinhalese වැද්දා, Tamil வேடர் or Vēḍar, also the Wanniyalaeto [4]. They are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas, and Bintenne Veddas [5], are accorded "indigenous" status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated [6]. Most already speak the dominant Sinhalese language (Sinhala) instead of their exotic indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were likely the earliest inhabitants of the island of Sri Lanka and have lived there since before the arrival of other groups from the nearby Indian mainland [7][8]. More
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| Kirat Yakkha in traditional dress |
The Yakkha people are subsistence farmers who inhabit the lower Arun valley in Eastern Nepal. They number only a few thousand and their language is nearly extinct [4][5]. They are closely related to Limbu people. More
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Demon Slayer K&J-Pop (BabyMetal)
Watch Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | Netflix (2024) 5 seasons (TV-MA Anime) After a demon attack leaves his family slain and his sister cursed, Tanjiro embarks upon a perilous journey to find a cure and avenge those he's lost. Starring: Natsuki Hanae, Akari Kito, Hiro Shimono.
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| People prefer lore, animation. |
It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. It was published in English by Viz Media and simultaneously on the Manga Plus platform by Shueisha.
It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who joins the Demon Slayer Corps after his family is slaughtered and the sole survivor, his younger sister Nezuko, is turned into a demon, in the hopes of turning her into a human again and defeating the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji.
Who cares?
The first 26-episode season of an anime TV series adaptation, produced by Ufotable, aired from April to Sept. 2019, with a sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, released in Oct. 2020, which became the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film of all time.
Infinity Castle is out in Japan #demonslayer #anime - Ordinary streets are the anime background.
An 18-episode second season of the anime series aired from Oct. 2021 to Feb. 2022, while a compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village, was released in Feb. 2023. An 11-episode third season aired from April to June 2023, while another compilation film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, was released in Feb. 2024.
Is it all due to Lisa?
Shy girls can speak up and sing in a traditional, aging, patriarchal society with bad demographics?
Mass popularity means $$$
An eight-episode fourth season aired from May to June 2024. A film trilogy sequel adapting the "Infinity Castle" story arc premiered in July 2025.
By July 2025, the manga had over 220 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
It was the best-selling manga of 2019 and 2020. It has received critical acclaim for its art, storyline, action scenes and characters. The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. More
Only its singers can explain allure and charm of J-Pop Babymetal
Asian animators are just better at drawing than Anglos?
- Netflix; Babymetal 2025; Otaku in Tokyo, Aug. 7, 2025; WatchMojo.com; Hao Fusion Studio (AI); CC Liu, Crystal Q., Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Friday, September 27, 2024
Wendigo...Werewolves: 'W' flesh-eaters
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| This is a real Texas security cam image showing a witch skin-walker? Wendigo? Hoaxer? Dogman? Werewolf/wolfman cryptid with odd gait for a man in a costume? (magazine.todo) |
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| Nothing to see here. Oh, that? That's just light and shadow illusion. Tree stump? Loose bark? |
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| The Buddha reasons with abusive Alavaka. |
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| Ancient Greek Dolon lycanthrope (lekythos) |
They are able to communicate with humans, take human "wives," and be reasoned with except in their ferocity and rapacity. They are sometimes in possession of advanced ET technology and dwellings, with psychic powers and preternatural strength, fierce emotions and lust. They are very dangerous and liable to attack humans. The most famous one found in Buddhist sutras is the Yakkha Alavaka. Others dwell in the Himalayas and in woodland, forests, and wilderness areas.
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| Some Natives not only saw them, they interacted and sometimes intermarried. They're human. |
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| Is the cryptid Yeti ("Asian Bigfoot") a man or a bear? It is a meh teh (a "man bear") |
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| Joshua Cutchin/Timothy Renner |
Dogmen (lycanthropes, humanoid wolves) are real, and the wendigo goes by many W names, according to different Algonquin tribes. Others may have the Sasquatch tribe (hominin cryptids) to contend with, some of which are cannibal rapists and skin-walkers. Not all Bigfoot are bad, just it seems the unattached juveniles wilding and running rampant in the forest, stealing food and violating boundaries.
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| Not simply an animal species |
Because these creatures are not strictly flesh and bone but in possession of technology or the paranormal ability to transform into orbs, alight in the middle of a field after a long set of footprints or enter the earth through crevices, caves, caverns, tunnels, or straight into rock (as with the rock-dwelling Tahquitz), tracking them is dangerous and confounding. Search parties become cases of high strangeness.
Windigo: The Flesh-Eating Monster of Native American Legend | Monstrum
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| Portals: Teleport in, phase shifted disappearances |
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| Ignore folklore. Come into the woods |
Armed with sharp claws and teeth and capable of running with incredible speed, the wendigo, or windigo, is a lesson in excess and a manifestation of the anxieties that emerge in the harsh realities of winter — to survive it.
Explore the symbolic interpretations of the wendigo with Dr. Emily Zarka, who explains how this Native American legend can teach us about the spiritual beliefs and social values of the early indigenous peoples of North America.
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| Forest Service puts up joke signs, pamphlets? |
Huge thanks to Dr. Will Oxford (Department of Linguistics at the University of Manitoba) for his time and assistance with the various pronunciations and spellings of the Algonquian languages used in this episode.
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| Islam knows wilderness monster jinn (djinn, genies) |
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| Ancient Asian depictions of ogres (the jinn, djinn) |
Killer origins of the werewolf | Monstrum
(Storied) Long before a full moon could transform a human into a beast, the werewolf (lycanthrope) was present across the literature, lore, and mythologies of ancient Europe. Whether a punishment for the wicked, a cure for the unlucky, or a blessing for the strong, the human to wolf shapeshifter is almost always violent. Real wolves posed a real threat to humans and their livestock, but how did these predators come to be associated with cannibalism, sorcery, and mental illness (lunacy)? The first in a two-part series, featuring werewolf expert and Gothic scholar Dr. Kaja Franck, this episode tackles the rise of the werewolf in its myriad forms, looking at what happened when Catholicism/Christianity interceded and turned the werewolf into the embodiment of evil — a change that reached its devastating climax with the persecution and execution of accused werewolves and the murder of countless wolves. #werewolf #mythology #werewolftrials #MonstrumPBS
The jinn are as real to Muslims as drags were to ancient Christians
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Algonquian Spirit: Contemporary Translations of the Algonquian Literatures of North America, Ed. Brian Swann, University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
American Cryptids (K.W. Irish) - Atwood, Margaret. Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature, Clarendon Press, 1995.
- Barnick, Adam. “The Shape of the Wendigo.” Glass Eye Pix, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2015, • THE SHAPE OF THE WENDIGO.
- Blackwood, Algernon. “The Wendigo.” The lost valley and other stories…Illus. W. Graham Robertson, Vaughan & Gomme, 1914, pp. 71-132.
- DeSanti, Brady. “The Cannibal Talking Head: The Portrayal of the Windigo ‘Monster’ in Popular Culture and Ojibwe Traditions.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Vol. 27, No. 3, Fall 2015, pp. 186-201.
- Englehart, Steve. “Spawn of the Flesh-Eater!” The Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1, Issue 162, April 1973.
- Harring, Sidney. “The Wendigo Killings: The Legal Penetration of Canadian Law into the Spirit World of the Ojibwa and Cree Indians.” Violent Crimes in North American, Ed. Louis A. Knafla, Praeger Publishers, 2003, pp.75-104.
- Johnson, Basil. The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibway, HarperCollins, 1995.
- Schwarz, Herbert T. Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways, Illus. Norval Morrisseau, McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1969.
- Smallman, Shawn. “Spirit Beings, Mental Illness, and Murder: Fur Traders and the Windigo in Canada’s Boreal Forest, 1774 to 1935.” Ethnohistory, Vol. 57, No. 4, 2010, pp. 571–596.
- “The Orders of the Dreamed”: George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth, 1823, Eds. Jennifer S.H. Brown and Robert Brightman, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.
- Vess, Charles. “Cry of the Wendigo!” Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1, Issue 277, June 1986. Windigo: An Anthology of Fact and Fantastic Fiction, Ed. John Robert Colombo, Western Producer Prairie Books, 1982.
- Written and hosted by Dr. Emily Zarka. Director: David Schulte. Executive Producer: Amanda Fox. Producer: Stephanie Noone. Illustrator: Samuel Allen. Editor: Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. Instagram: monstrumPBS
- Monstrum, Storied, Oct. 21, 2021, PBS; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
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| Bigfoot and the Tripwire |
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Madame Blavatsky on Bamiyan Buddhas
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| Buddhist Tillya Tepe ("Golden Hill") gold crown from formerly Buddhist Afghanistan |
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| Tillya Tepe gold coin, Dharma wheel, Kabul Museum (Gerard Fussman/Anna Maria Quagliotti) |
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| Massive Buddha of Bamiyan |
The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian بت های باميان – Bothā-ye Bāmiyān) are or were monumental statues of the Buddha standing.
They were carved into the side of a cliff in ancient Gandhara, in Bamiyan Valley in the Hazaras' Hazaristan region of central Afghanistan, 140 miles (230 kms) northwest of Kabul [another seasonal capital of ancient Kapilavastu (Kapil, Kapila, Kapila-pura, Kapila-vatthu), where Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, grew up] at an elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 meters).
Modern archeologists believe they were built around 550 CE, although Madame H. P. Blavatsky claims they are remnants of "the Initiates of the Fourth Race" [1].
They were dynamited and destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban [which was created and inspired by the CIA and ISI, intelligence agencies for the USA and Pakistan, respectively] after they declared that they were idols, carrying out an extreme Islamic religious iconoclasm.
According to Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, these statues are witnesses to earlier civilizations. She rejected the fact that the statues [previously] represented the Buddha, claiming they come from the ancestors of the Miao people, and were "the work of the Cyclopes, the true and actual Giants of old" [2].
- [This would make sense. There are still redheaded, six-fingered giants in the area, Nephilim, Asuras, Nagas, Yakkhas, dwelling in caves and reported by US servicemen at war in the area for 20 years. They were likely repurposed to represent the historical Buddha, the scion of the region who became a great religious figure in neighboring proto-India then returned to the region to save everyone with his teachings on bringing about the end of all suffering. The Indo-Scythians or Shakyas/Sakas of the area then expanded and took over what is now Bihar/Vihar, India, the site of the Buddha's Great Awakening or Mahabodhi. This was before India came into being, 200 years after the life of the Buddha, what the Buddhist Emperor Ashoka conquered and unified many independent states or mahajanapadas into one empire, leaving behind many Ashokan pillars.]
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| Psychic Madame Blavatsky |
As archeologists discovered, the main bodies were hewn directly into the sandstone cliffs, but details were modeled in mud mixed with straw, coated with stucco. They are the site of the world's oldest oil paintings, as the entire cliffside is riddled with caves used by Buddhist monastics in the past and modern Hazari and/or Pashtun people today.
- Madame Blavatsky explains:
The Buddhist Arhats [enlightened ones] and Ascetics [monastics] found the five statues, and many more, now crumbled down to dust, and as the three were found by them in colossal niches at the entrance of their future abode, they covered the figures with plaster, and, over the old, modelled new statues made to represent Lord Tathagata [the Buddha]. The interior walls of the niches are covered to this day with bright paintings of human figures, and the sacred image of Buddha is repeated in every group. These frescoes and ornaments—which remind one of the Byzantine style of painting—are all due to the piety of the monk-ascetics, like some other minor figures and rock-cut ornamentations. But the five statues belong to the handiwork of the Initiates of the Fourth Race, who sought refuge, after the submersion of their continent [Atlantis], in the fastnesses and on the summits of the Central Asian mountain chains [3].
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| Trifecta: Mes Aynak, Kabul, Bamiyan |
Blavatsky states that the sizes of the statues had an esoteric meaning:
Moreover, the five statues are an imperishable record of the esoteric teaching about the gradual evolution of the races.
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| What is left of Kabul after the US War? |
The second—120 feet high—represents the sweat-born; and the third—measuring 60 feet—immortalizes the race that fell, and thereby inaugurated the first physical race, born of father and mother, the last descendants of which are represented in the Statues found on Easter Isle; but they were only from 20 to 25 feet in stature at the epoch when Lemuria was submerged, after it had been nearly destroyed by volcanic fires.
The Fourth Race was still smaller, though gigantic in comparison with our present Fifth Race, and the series culminated finally in the latter [4].
Online resources
- Bamian Statues at Theosophy World
- The Bamian Statues: Their Mysterious Origin by H. P. Blavatsky
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine Vol. II (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), p. 339.
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine Vol. II (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), p. 337.
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine Vol. II (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), p. 339.
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine Vol. II (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), pp. 339-340.
Intrigue
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| The Aryan Buddha in the Kabul Museum |
In Pakistan, Director-General of the ISI [Pakistan's CIA] Akhtar Abdur Rahman advocated for the idea of a covert operation in Afghanistan by arming Islamic extremists who formed the Mujahideen [85]. Gen. Rahman was heard loudly saying, "Kabul must burn! Kabul must burn!" [86] and masterminded the idea of a proxy war in Afghanistan [85].
Pakistani Pres. Zia-ul-Haq authorized this operation under Gen. Rahman, which was later merged with Operation Cyclone, a program funded by the United States and carried out by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). More
- Theosophy Wiki edited and expanded by Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Neanderthals had sex w/ modern humans?
Ancient humans had a wild sex life
The strange truth about Neanderthal sex lives
To learn more details about Neanderthal Sex lives, go here:
ranker.com/list/love-and...
Be sure to subscribe to the Weird History Newsletter: ranker.com/newsletters/we...
#neanderthal #sex #weirdhistory
- Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy); Intrigued Mind, Aug. 29, 2022; Weird History, March 17, 2024; Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Sutra: To cross the wilderness, avoid fools
Ken and Visakha Kawasaki (trans.), Apannaka Jataka (Jat 1), Jataka Tales of the Buddha, Part I edited by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
Crossing the Wilderness
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| Many strange things happened in the past. |
Anathapindika bowed to the Buddha, made his offerings, and sat respectfully to one side. At that time he was accompanied by many friends who were followers of other teachers.
His friends also paid respect to the Buddha and sat close to the banker. The Buddha's face appeared like a full moon, his body surrounded by a radiant aura. Seated on the red stone seat, he was like a young lion roaring with a clear, noble voice as he taught them a beautiful discourse sweet to the ear.
After hearing the Buddha's teaching, they gave up their other practices and took guidance from the Three Gems: the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
- [Three Gems: The Teacher, the Teaching, and the successfully Taught, the noble-sangha of enlightened disciples who have reached any of the stages of awakening from stream entry to arhatship.]
After that, they returned regularly with Anathapindika to offer flowers and incense and to hear teachings. They gave liberally, kept the Five Precepts, and faithfully observed the Lunar Fasting (Uposatha) Day.
- [1: The Uposatha is the lunar observance day or "Sabbath," based on the four phases of the moon every month, when one undertakes the Eight Precepts rather than the ordinary five, fasting after noon to the next day, staying in the temple to hear the Dhamma or Dharma and putting it into practice.]
Soon after the Buddha left Savatthi to return to Rajagaha, however, these men abandoned the Dhamma and reverted to their previous beliefs.
Seven or eight months later, the Buddha returned to Jetavana. Again, Anathapindika brought these friends to visit the Buddha. They paid their respects, but Anathapindika explained that they had forsaken the guidance of the Three Gems and had resumed their previous practices.
The Buddha asked, "Is it true that you have abandoned taking guidance from the Three Gems for guidance from other doctrines?"
The Buddha's voice was incredibly clear because throughout many aeons he had always spoken truthfully.
When these men heard it, they were unable to conceal the truth. "Yes, Blessed One," they admitted. "It is true."
"Disciples," the Buddha said "nowhere between the lowest of hells below and the highest heavens above, nowhere in all the countless worlds that stretch right and left, is there the equal, much less the superior, of a buddha.
"Incalculable is the excellence that springs from being guided by the Five Precepts and from other virtuous conduct."
Then he declared the virtues of the Three Gems: "By going for guidance to the Three Gems," he told them, "one escapes from rebirth in all states of suffering." He further explained that meditation on the Three Gems leads through the four stages of enlightenment.
"In forsaking such guides as this," he admonished them, "you have certainly strayed.
"In the past, too, men who foolishly mistook what was no guide for a real guide, met with disaster. They fell prey to ghouls (yakkhas, djinn, vicious spirits) in the wilderness and came to ruin.
In contrast, people who stuck to the truth not only survived, they prospered in that same wilderness."
Anathapindika raised clasped hands to his forehead, gave praise, and asked the Buddha to tell that story of the past (jataka or rebirth tale).
"In order to dispel the world's ignorance and to conquer all suffering," the Buddha proclaimed, "I practiced the Ten Perfections for countless aeons. Listen carefully, and I will speak."
Having their full attention, the Buddha made clear, as if he were releasing a full moon from behind clouds, what rebirth had concealed from them:
Story of the Past
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| Proceed with caution. MONSTER CROSSING AHEAD. Do not be swayed by strangers. |
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| The Parks Department posts signs today, whereas ancient American Indians used pictographs. |
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Long, long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Baranasi (Varanasi, ancient India), the Bodhisatta (the Buddha-to-be) was reborn into a merchant's family and grew up to be a wise trader.
At the same time, in the same city, there was another merchant, a very foolish fellow, with no common sense whatsoever.
One day it so happened that the two merchants each loaded many carts with costly wares of Baranasi and prepared to leave in the same direction at the same time.
The wise merchant thought, "If this young fool travels with me and if our many carts stay together, it will be too much for the road. Finding wood and water for the help will be difficult, and there won't be enough grass for the oxen. Either he or I must go first."
"Look," he said to the other merchant, "the two of us can't travel together. Would you rather go first or follow after me?"
The foolish trader thought, "There will be many advantages if I take the lead. I'll get a road that is not yet rutted and cut up. My oxen will have the pick of fresh grass. My help will get the choicest wild herbs for curry. The water will be undisturbed. Best of all, I'll be able to set my own price for bartering my goods." Considering all of these advantages, he said, "I will go ahead of you, friend!"
The Bodhisatta was pleased to hear this because he saw many advantages in following after. He reasoned:
"Those carts going first will level the road where it is rough, and I'll be able to travel along the road they have already smoothed. Their oxen will graze off the coarse old grass, and mine will pasture on the sweet young growth that will spring up in its place. My help will find fresh sweet herbs for curry where the old ones have been picked. Where there is no water, the first caravan will have to dig wells to supply themselves, and we'll be able to drink at the wells they have dug. Haggling over prices is tiresome work; he will do the work, and I will be able to barter my wares at prices he has already set."
"Very well, friend!" he said. "Please go first."
"I will," said the foolish merchant, and he yoked his carts and set out. After a while he came to the outskirts of a wilderness. He filled his huge jars with water before setting out to cross the many leagues (yojanas) of desert that stretched before him.
- [A yojana is an ancient measure of distance that is literally the length a yoked ox can walk before it needs to be unyoked and rested, which is commonly thought to be the equivalent of about 7 miles. This would have made great sense in an agrarian society.]
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| Throw that water away. There's more not far from here. Lighten your load and go quickly. |
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| Ghouls (yakkhas)? Wild spirits called jinn. |
The ghoul (yakkha) who haunted that wilderness had been watching the caravan. When it reached the middle, he used his power to conjure up a lovely carriage drawn by pure white young bulls.
With a retinue of a dozen disguised ghouls carrying swords and shields, he rode along in his carriage like a mighty lord. His wet his hair and clothes, and he wore a wreath of blue lotuses and white water-lilies around his head. His attendants also wet themselves until they dripped, and they draped themselves in similar garlands. Even the bulls' hooves and carriage wheels were muddied.
Because the wind was blowing from the front, the merchant was riding at the head of his caravan to escape the dust. The ghoul drew his carriage beside the merchant's and greeted him kindly with friendly words. The merchant returned the greetings and moved his carriage aside to allow the carts to pass while he and the ghoul in disguise chatted.
"Sir, we are on our way from Baranasi," explained the merchant. "I see that you are all wet and muddy and that you have lotuses and water lilies. Did it rain while you were on the road, or did you come across water pools with lotuses and water lilies?"
"What is it that you say?" the ghoul exclaimed. "Just over there is a dark-green streak of a jungle. Beyond that there is plenty of water. It is always raining there, and there are many lakes with lotuses and water lilies."
Then, pretending to be interested in the merchant's business, the ghoul asked, "What do you have in these carts?"
"Expensive merchandise," answered the merchant.
"What is in this cart that seems so heavily laden?" the ghoul asked as the last cart rolled by.
"That cart is full of water."
Deceptive advice
The ghoul complimented him, "You were wise to carry water with you this far," and advised him: "There is no need for it now because water is so abundant ahead. You could travel much faster if you lighten your load by emptying those heavy jars. You'd be better off breaking them and throwing the water away. Well, good day," he said suddenly, as he turned his carriage, "we must be on our way. We have stopped too long already." He rode away quickly with his carts. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned and made his way back to his city.
Youthful foolishness
The merchant was so foolish that he followed the ghoul's advice. He smashed his water jars, without saving a single cupful and ordered his crew to drive on quickly.
Of course, they never found any water, and they were soon exhausted from thirst. At sunset they drew their carts into a circle and tethered the oxen to the wheels. But there was no way to slake the weary animals' thirst and no rain.
Without water, the crew could not cook any rice either. They sank to the ground and fell asleep. As soon as darkness came, the ghouls attacked, killing everyone and all the animals.
The fiends devoured the flesh, leaving only bones, and departed. Skeletons were strewn in every direction, but the carts stood with their loads untouched. The heedless young merchant was the sole cause of the ruin and destruction of the entire caravan.
Second caravan
Allowing six weeks to pass after the foolish trader had set off, the Bodhisatta set forth with his many carts. When he reached the edge of the wilderness, he filled his water jars.
Then he assembled his crew and announced, "Let not so much as a handful of water be used without my permission. Furthermore, there are poisonous plants in this wilderness. Do not eat any leaf, flower, or fruit which you have never eaten before, without showing it to me first." Having carefully warned the crew, he led the caravan into the wilderness.
The ghoul appears
When they reached the middle of the wilderness, the same ghoul appeared on the path just as before. The merchant noticed his red eyes and fearless manner and suspected something was not quite right.
"I know there is no water in the desert," he said to himself. "Furthermore, this weird stranger casts no shadow. He must be some kind of ghoul. He probably tricked that foolish merchant, but he doesn't realize that I may know better."
"Get lost!" he shouted at the ghoul. "We are on business. We do not throw away water before we see where more is to come from!"
Without saying any more, the ghoul rode away.
As soon as the ghouls had left, the merchant's crew approached their leader and said, "Sir, they were wearing lotuses and water lilies on their heads. Their clothes and hair were dripping wet. They told us that up ahead there is a thick green forest where it is always raining.
"Let's throw away our water so we can proceed more quickly with lightened carts!"
The merchant ordered a halt and summoned all the entire crew. He asked them, "Has anyone among you ever heard before today that there is a lake or a pool in this wilderness?"
"No, sir," they answered. "In fact, it's known as the 'Waterless Desert.'"
"We have just been told by some shady strangers that it is raining in the forest just ahead. How far does a rain-wind carry?"
"Seven miles (one yojana), sir."
"Has anyone here seen the top of even a single storm cloud?"
"No, sir!"
"How far off can a person see a flash of lightning?"
"Four or five leagues (yojanas), sir."
"Has anyone here seen a flash of lightning?"
"No, sir."
"How far off can one hear the peal of thunder?"
"Two or three leagues, sir."
"Has anyone here heard a peal of thunder?"
"No, sir."
"Those were not humans but ghouls," the wise merchant told the crew. "They are hoping that we would throw away our water. Then, weak and faint and unable to defend ourselves, they plan to return to devour us.
"Since the young merchant who went ahead of us was not a man of good sense, most likely he was fooled by them. We may expect to find his carts standing just as they were first loaded. We will probably come across them today. Press on in full speed, without throwing away a single drop of water!"
Just as the merchant predicted, his caravan soon came across the carts with the skeletons of men and oxen strewn in every direction. He ordered the crew to arrange the carts in a fortified circle, to take care of the oxen, and to prepare an early supper [of rice and curry] for themselves. After the animals and crew had all safely bedded down, the merchant and a coterie of guards with swords in hand stood watch through the night.
At daybreak the merchant replaced weak carts for stronger ones from those abandoned and exchanged his own common goods for the costliest of the merchandise left behind by the foolish trader.
When he arrived at his destination, he was able to barter his stock of wares at two or three times their value. He returned to his city without losing a single member out of his crew.
Meanwhile, back in the present
This story of the past ended, the Buddha said, "Thus it was, lay disciples, that in times past, the foolish came to utter ruin and destruction, while those who stuck to the truth evaded the cruel hands of ghouls, reached their destination safely, and were able to return to their homes again.
"Sticking to the truth endows happiness even up to rebirth in the World of Brahma.
- [3: The World of Brahma (brahmaloka0 is a celestial world beyond the Sensual Sphere, in what is called the Fine-Material Sphere. It surpasses the sensual heavens and is superior to them in pleasure and length of lifespan.]
Moreover, it also leads ultimately to full enlightenment (arahantship). Following untruth entails rebirth either in the four states of downfall or in the worst conditions of the human world."
After the Buddha expounded the Four Ennobling (Enlightening) Truths, those many lay disciples were established in the fruit of the first path, reaching the first stage of enlightenment (stream entry).
The Buddha concluded this lesson by identifying the rebirth as follows: "The foolish young merchant at that time was Devadatta [4] and his crew were Devadatta's followers. The wise merchant's crew were the followers of the Buddha, and I myself was that wise merchant."
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