时间：11/13/2027 11/14/2027
地点：星海禅修中心
主讲：净真
佛法修行
神医耆婆未请槃特比丘缘
昔日，佛陀在罗阅城的迦兰陀竹园说法度众。一天，神医耆婆邀请佛陀及其弟子前往家中应供，唯独没有邀请槃特比丘。
应供时，耆婆先以清净水供养佛陀，却为佛陀所婉拒。耆婆恭敬地请示：「世尊，为何您不接受弟子诚心所供养的清净水呢？」世尊回答：「因为今天应供的众僧中，少了槃特比丘。」耆婆答道：「世尊，您教导槃特比丘扫地时诵念的简短偈子，连牧羊人、牧牛人都背得出来，槃特比丘却花了四个月仍记不得。我为何要供养如此愚笨的比丘呢？」但世尊仍坚持道：「若不请他来，我便不接受清净水。」耆婆只好听从佛陀的训示，遣使去请槃特比丘。
当槃特比丘到达后，佛陀请阿难尊者将钵拿给他，并说：「槃特，你不必起座，你就从所在之处将钵送给我。」于是槃特比丘以神通力将钵送至佛的手中。耆婆见到如此景象，深自懊悔：「唉！我实在是大错特错，竟然轻慢了这样的圣者。」于是至诚地向尊者忏悔自己的愚昧无知，并恭敬供养种种美味饮食，反倒冷落了其他比丘。
佛陀见此情景，便为大众述说神医耆婆的过去因缘：
「无数世以前，耆婆是一名马商，从事马匹贩卖交易的工作。一天，他带着一千匹马要到邻国贩售，没想到一匹母马竟然在中途产下了小马。马商为了尽快到达目的地，看了看这匹平凡无奇的小马，便将它送给路旁的人家，继续赶马上路。
到了邻国，马商前去谒见国王，表达来意。国王看了所有的马后，说道：『你这次带来的这一千匹马，都是很普通的马，但其中有一匹马鸣声悲切，声音奇特，一定是刚产下了不寻常的千里名驹。这匹小马长大后，其价值绝对可以抵得上一千匹马呢！如果你将这小马卖给我，我便将其他一千匹马都买下；倘若不卖，我就连一匹马也不买。』马商听了回答：『国王，这一路上，我不记得有母马生产啊！』国王坚定地表示：「我通达马相、善辨马声，一听母马的鸣声，即知其小马是否优良。」马贩思索良久，才回想起半途的确有母马产下一匹小马，而且已经送给别人了。
这匹被马商送出的小马十分特别，它出生不到几天便会开口说人话，它对主人说：『如果马商把我要回去，你就请他以五百匹马来交换，若不答应，你就不要将我还给他。』过了几天，马商果然来了，他对小马的主人说：『前阵子我将一匹小马托付给您，想必您一定也养得很辛苦，今日我愿意用一匹好马，来赎回它。』主人回答：『是您自己要将小马送给我的，我并未向您索取，而我也确实辛辛苦苦养活了它。所以既然你这么想要买，就请您用五百匹马来和我交换吧！』马商见主人这么坚持，只好用五百匹马将小马赎回。
佛陀说完这段因缘，便对耆婆说：「你前世先是看轻小马，随意送人，后来又看重它，以五百匹马赎回；到了今日也是如此，先是瞧不起资质较愚鲁的槃特比丘，而后又敬重他，冷落其他五百位比丘。你未能以平等心、恭敬心对待一切众生的习气，久远以来一直如此啊！」
Date: 11/13/2027 11/14/2027
Location: Star Ocean Meditation Center
Teacher: Jason
Dharma Talk
The Karmic Condition of the Physician Jīvaka Not Inviting the Bhikṣu Paṇṭhaka
In former times, the Buddha was teaching and transforming beings in the Kalandaka Monastery in the Bamboo Grove of Rājagṛha. One day, the divine physician Jīvaka invited the Buddha and his disciples to his home for an offering meal, but he did not include the bhikṣu Paṇṭhaka.
During the offering, Jīvaka first presented pure water to the Buddha, but the Buddha did not accept it. Respectfully, Jīvaka asked, “World-Honored One, why do you not accept this pure water offered with sincere devotion?” The Buddha replied, “Because among the assembly invited today, the bhikṣu Paṇṭhaka has been left out.” Jīvaka said, “World-Honored One, you taught Paṇṭhaka a short verse for sweeping the ground, which even shepherds and cowherds can memorize. Yet Paṇṭhaka took four months and still could not learn it. Why should I make offerings to such an unintelligent monk?” But the Buddha insisted, “If you do not invite him, I will not accept the pure water.” Jīvaka then obeyed the Buddha’s instruction and sent someone to invite Paṇṭhaka.
When Paṇṭhaka arrived, the Buddha asked Venerable Ānanda to present the alms bowl to him and said, “Paṇṭhaka, you do not need to rise from your seat. From where you are, send the bowl to me.” Then Paṇṭhaka, by his spiritual power, extended the bowl directly into the Buddha’s hands. Seeing this, Jīvaka deeply regretted his actions, thinking, “Alas, I have made a grave mistake by slighting such a noble being.” He sincerely repented his ignorance before the Venerable One and respectfully offered various fine foods, while neglecting the other bhikṣus.
Seeing this, the Buddha recounted Jīvaka’s past karmic conditions to the assembly:
“In immeasurable past ages, Jīvaka was a horse trader engaged in the business of buying and selling horses. One day, he brought a thousand horses to a neighboring country for trade. Unexpectedly, one mare gave birth to a foal along the way. In order to reach his destination quickly, the merchant looked at the seemingly ordinary foal and gave it to a household by the roadside, continuing his journey with the herd.
Upon arriving in the neighboring country, the merchant met the king and explained his business. After inspecting the horses, the king said, ‘The thousand horses you have brought are all ordinary. However, one horse has a sorrowful and unusual neigh; it must be the offspring of a remarkable thousand-mile steed. When it grows up, its value will equal that of all the thousand horses. If you sell me that foal, I will buy all the horses; if not, I will buy none of them.’ The merchant replied, ‘Your Majesty, I do not recall any mare giving birth along the way.’ The king firmly said, ‘I understand horse characteristics and can distinguish them by sound. From the mare’s neigh, I can know whether the foal is excellent.’ After careful thought, the merchant finally remembered that a mare had indeed given birth on the way and that the foal had already been given away.
The foal that had been given away was extraordinary. Within a few days of birth, it could speak human language. It told its owner, ‘If the merchant comes to reclaim me, ask him to exchange five hundred horses for me. If he refuses, do not return me to him.’ A few days later, the merchant indeed came and said to the owner, ‘Previously I entrusted you with a foal; you must have cared for it with difficulty. Today I am willing to give you a good horse in exchange for it.’ The owner replied, ‘You yourself gave me the foal. I did not ask for it, and I have cared for it with great effort. If you truly wish to buy it back, then exchange it for five hundred horses.’ Seeing the owner’s firm insistence, the merchant had no choice but to redeem the foal with five hundred horses.
After recounting this karmic story, the Buddha said to Jīvaka, “In a past life, you first despised the foal and gave it away casually; later you valued it highly and redeemed it with five hundred horses. In this present life, it is the same: you first looked down upon the less capable bhikṣu Paṇṭhaka, and later came to respect him, while neglecting the other five hundred bhikṣus. This habitual tendency of failing to treat all beings with equal respect and a balanced mind has existed for a very long time.”
