Читать книгу Garland of the Buddha's Past Lives (Volume 2) - Aryashura - Страница 14

You should regard treachery

toward friends as a foe

and look affectionately on friends

who are affectionate to you. (24.62 [38]—63 [39])

The Bodhi·sattva’s virtue is often the factor that enables enmity to be overcome. In ‘The Birth-Story of the Great Monkey’ (27), a king’s army attacks a tree inhabited by monkeys, “as if eager to attack the inaccessible fortress of an enemy” (27.23). This aggression is dispelled when the king witnesses the Bodhi·sattva’s self-sacrifice for his troop of monkeys, giving the following maxim to the story: “Those who act morally can influence the hearts even of enemies.” Similarly, in ‘The Birth-Story of the Sharabha Deer’ (25), a king marvels that a deer whom he tried to kill is still willing to save him from a pit:

How can he show me compassion

when I have clearly treated him as a foe? (25.26 [13])

In some stories the “enemy” is so impressed by the Bodhi·sattva’s virtue that he declares not only friendship but also a willingness to offer his life in gratitude: “My life is yours!” (25.40 [21], 26.17 [9]).4

However, while enemies are often transformed into friends through virtue, several stories stress the value of proper companionship (rather than just any companionship), since an immoral friend can easily lead a person astray. The notion that moral company facilitates the cultivation of virtue reflects the Buddhist notion of a “good (spiritual) friend” kalyana/mitra) and is expressed, for example, by two verses in “The Birth-Story of Suta·soma’ (31): __________________