"WHY EATETH YOUR MASTER WITH PUBLICANS AND SINNERS?" (Matt. ix. 10.)
The Courtesan Amrapalî invited Buddha and his disciples to a banquet in the mango grove at Vaisalî. Buddha accepted. Some rich princes, sparkling in emeralds, came and gave him a similar invitation. He refused. They were very angry to see him sit at meat with Amrapalî. He explained to his disciples that the harlot might enter the kingdom of Dharma more easily than the prince. (Bigandet, p. 251.)
THE PENITENT THIEF.
Buddha confronts a terrible bandit in his mountain retreat and converts him. ("Chinese Dhammapada," p. 98.)
"THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN."
Professor Beal, in his "Catena of Buddhist Scriptures" (p. 52), tells us that, in the "Saddharma Prâkasa Sasana Sûtra," a great war in heaven is described. In it the "wicked dragons" assault the legions of heaven. After a terrific conflict they are driven down by Indra and the heavenly hosts.
"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE UNTO A MERCHANT-MAN SEEKING GOODLY PEARLS, WHO, WHEN HE HAD FOUND ONE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, WENT AND SOLD ALL THAT HE HAD AND BOUGHT IT." (Matt. xiii. 45.)
The most sacred emblem of Buddhism is called the mani (pearl), and in the Chinese biography, a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls finds it, and unfortunately drops it into the sea. Rather than lose it he tries to drain the sea dry. ("Rom. Hist.," p. 228.)
THE VOICE FROM THE SKY.