The Guru and His Bowl

The Guru and His Bowl


Once upon a time, there was a king who had a huge palace, many beautiful wives, jewels and gold, everything anyone could possibly want.

He had a guru, who was a yogi and very ascetic.

All that the guru had was a begging bowl.


One day, while the guru was giving teachings to the king under a tree in the palace grounds, a servant came running out calling,

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The whole palace is on fire! Please come immediately!"

The king looked at the servant nonchalantly and replied,

"Don't bother me. I'm here with guru learning Non-attachment. You go and deal with it."


At that, the guru jumped up saying,

"What do you mean don't bother?! I left my bowl in the palace!"

Now, who's the real guru here?




"Not by a shaven head does an undisciplined man, who utters lies, become a monk.

How can one who is full of desire and greed be a monk?"

- The Buddha




"He who wears the yellow robe, without being freed from impurities, who is devoid of self-control and truth, is not worthy of it."

- The Buddha (Dhammapada verse 9)





"The bhikkhu who is calm in body, calm in speech, calm in mind,

Who is well-composed,

Who has given up worldly things, is truly called a peaceful one."

- The Buddha





"He is not a wise man just because he talks much;

Only he who is peaceful, free from enmity, and does no harm to others,

Is called a wise man."

- The Buddha





"Let one first establish oneself in what is proper, and then instruct others.

Such a wise man will not be defiled."

- The Buddha





"You can have all the visualisations, symbols, knowledge etc.

But with no real understanding of the Dhamma,

You can and will never be enlightened."





"He who never thinks of anything as 'mine',

Who does not feel the lack of anything,

He is never worried by a sense of loss."

- The Buddha





"But if monks like this get stuck on their material possessions - robes, alms food, lodgings, and medicine - without behaving themselves properly in line with the sacrifices that other people have made for their sake, then they're not really contemplatives.

They're simply taking advantage of their donors."

- Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo





"People who have a good opinion of themselves but aren't good in their behaviour are burdensome and heavy, causing cracks wherever they stay."

- Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo






"Not by fine talk, not by good looks is one considered good-hearted,

If he/she were jealous, selfish and deceitful."

- The Buddha (Dhammapada v.262)





"Many men wearing the yellow robe up to their necks who have an evil disposition and are unrestrained in thought, word and deed are reborn in a woeful state on account of their evil deeds."

- The Buddha (Dhammapada v.307)