I promised you to talk about the fish. There was a rich person. He was very, very rich but he had no son. So, both of them, husband and wife went all over every possible worshiping area to plea for a son. Because of their sincerity, she gave birth to a son, finally. And then one time both of them went out to near the river, playing and having picnic and then because they were happy, so they were tossing their child up and down, up and down. Then she was so happy, and distracted by the joy and then the baby fell into the water. At the end of this river, there was a little village and there, there was also a very rich family and the rich father also had no son. He kept praying everywhere but didn’t get any….

00:34:38 “And after that, after taking refuge in the Three Jewels, he took out one golden coin and gave it to the Buddha, offered it to the Buddha. Because of that, so life after life, his merit is immeasurable. In this world not many people can compare to him, in richness and merit and health and all the good things as he has. Ananda, that rich person at that time, now is Trùng Tín, monk, Bhiksu.” Bhiksu means a high monk already. Sramanera means lower monk, just novice. So, he’s already Bhiksu, meaning high monk, high priest. “From then on, from that time until now Trùng Tín has enjoyed richness and honor for ninety-one eons.”

“I prostrate to You, World Honored One, just now I received Your thought that all beings on this planet are so difficult to teach, and then You want to enter Nirvana. Because of that, I came here and beg You to stay on this planet to give the teaching to all beings.” “So that the light of the Truth will spread all over the world as well as in Heaven, so all beings will bathe in Your merit and Your blessing and then they will be liberated from life and death, and from the lower birth of animals, or devils, ghosts, hungry ghosts and in hell, etc. etc. And they will be peaceful in Buddha’s Land. Please be compassionate and open Your mercy to accept my request.”

Brahma god, the god of the Third World, the highest level in the Third, in our physical spiritual dimension. Lower, physical spiritual dimension, even Brahma came and begged the Buddha, the enlightened Master to teach, to enlighten him and all his heavenly beings, not just the humans, not just this physical level. Because Brahma also one day kaput; when his time’s gone, his world also will be dissolved just like our planet one time, or not. You see? So, he came and begged the Buddha.

One day the king sat on his throne and was thinking thus: “Concerning physical comfort and material satisfaction, one day it will disappear. Any material things will disappear or kaput. It’s not a lasting happiness. So, I would like for myself and all beings to have lasting bliss and happiness. Then I really have to go and find an enlightened master to teach me the Truth. Otherwise, it won’t work.”And the Brahmin said, “If you want to hear the teaching, the true teaching, then you have to bore 1,000 holes on your body.”And the Brahmin said, “If you want to hear the teaching, the true teaching, then you have to bore 1,000 holes on your body.”

"If being born, then will die." What a truth for 1,000 holes in the body. And then after the king heard already, he told them to copy and then give to people and he asked his subordinate to light the lamp on his body. When the flames came up very high all over his body, his face was still very pacified. He didn’t complain. He just was as normal. He didn’t change his attitude or appearance. And then he vowed, he said in front of everyone, “I have suffered like this for the Truth, to request the Truth. I vow to use this merit for the Buddhahood. After I become a Buddha, I will use this bright wisdom to destroy all the darkness in this world for all beings to benefit.”

So all of these lives and the body has been reborn and died, reborn and died, it was a waste, waste of time, waste of a body. It has not been offered to seek the Truth, to attain enlightenment. Therefore, all these bodies have been such a waste. So, this time I want to nail my body to offer to the master to search for Buddhahood. So at this time, I do this to offer my body in order to become Buddha. To use this merit toward Buddhahood. So do not stop me because I do this also for you, for all of you. When I become Buddha, I will liberate you first, enlighten you first. This is a very great merit. It’s a very great cause. So do not try to deter me.

Because sacrificing money or wife or children is not as difficult as sacrificing your own body and suffering slowly like that, not like a quick death. So, the Brahma wanted to remind the Buddha of the reason why He wanted to become Buddha, and so much sacrifice He had done. So now He attained Buddhahood, He should not have forgotten what He wanted to do, liberate other beings, even though it’s difficult. Yes, so at least He should try. And the Brahma saw that there are some numbers of beings who are ready for this teaching, can be taught, and can be saved, so please don’t look at others, the ignorant group, but teach these who are ready to hear; so he kept repeating the sacrifice of Buddha.

“I sacrifice this body thus, because I want to have this happiness, lasting happiness and bliss for myself and for all others.” So he jumped into the fire, and then all the heavens and earth trembled again and everybody was so touched. And at the time that everyone was so sorrowful and frightened, suddenly the whole fire turned into a lotus pond. All the beautiful fragrance came and came into people’s noses, and they were happy, happy. Even the Sakra god and the Brahma god had to praise the prince. “At that time, it’s because of love for all beings that You sacrificed thus. Now You have attained the great Buddhahood, please stay and teach all beings.”

That’s why we have to protect the environment because it protects us. All the trees, they don’t say anything. But they quietly radiate their peacefulness. And the oxygen from them is helping us to calm our minds. Imagine if you don’t have enough oxygen? I don’t know, I just, scientifically speaking it’s like that. But before I knew all the scientific research, I already feel that trees are good for me. I just feel good, being under them. Even my dogs, they try to find a tree to scratch a little their neck or something or lay under the tree. It’s cooler, and it just feels peaceful.