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A story from Meyyurkuppam, Tamil Nadu
Jason
God EmperorArrakis Moderator
Here is a story I found today and I thought I would share it with you since it is related to Buddhism. It is from the Times online:
Fishermen were gathering on the beach that morning to survey the wreckage of their boats when they spotted an unusual structure bobbing on the waves, a raft with a cagelike structure above it. Curious, nine of the fishermen piled into the one undamaged boat and paddled out to investigate. Bolted to a plinth aboard the raft, they found the little brass figure with his curious smile, gazing up at the sky.
They dragged the raft ashore and put it under the tree where they lit it with candles so everyone could see. “We didn’t know what it was,” Sakthivel, a fisherman, said.
No one here had ever even heard of Buddha.
Soon an expert arrived to tell them that the little idol was a Buddhist sage, Jalagupta, who was mounted on a raft and sent off to sail along coastal villages to bless and protect them from the sea. And his home was Burma, more than 1,000 miles across the sea.
“It was a gift from God and it came so far to protect us,” Ramesh, a fisherman said. While many other communities nearby were hammered by the tsunami, only 12 people out of a population of 1,000 died in Meyyurkuppam. “We believe that it saved us from death.”
Government officials arrived in the village soon after, demanding that the statue be handed over to a museum. But the villagers refused. Instead they want to build a temple to put it in where they can worship it properly. As soon as they start fishing again, they say, they will earn the money to start building it.
“We don’t know any Buddhist prayers so we say the Hindu prayers instead and hope that Buddha will understand,” Ramesh said. “We must pray to it because it chose our village, none other, so we know we are blessed.”
Fishermen were gathering on the beach that morning to survey the wreckage of their boats when they spotted an unusual structure bobbing on the waves, a raft with a cagelike structure above it. Curious, nine of the fishermen piled into the one undamaged boat and paddled out to investigate. Bolted to a plinth aboard the raft, they found the little brass figure with his curious smile, gazing up at the sky.
They dragged the raft ashore and put it under the tree where they lit it with candles so everyone could see. “We didn’t know what it was,” Sakthivel, a fisherman, said.
No one here had ever even heard of Buddha.
Soon an expert arrived to tell them that the little idol was a Buddhist sage, Jalagupta, who was mounted on a raft and sent off to sail along coastal villages to bless and protect them from the sea. And his home was Burma, more than 1,000 miles across the sea.
“It was a gift from God and it came so far to protect us,” Ramesh, a fisherman said. While many other communities nearby were hammered by the tsunami, only 12 people out of a population of 1,000 died in Meyyurkuppam. “We believe that it saved us from death.”
Government officials arrived in the village soon after, demanding that the statue be handed over to a museum. But the villagers refused. Instead they want to build a temple to put it in where they can worship it properly. As soon as they start fishing again, they say, they will earn the money to start building it.
“We don’t know any Buddhist prayers so we say the Hindu prayers instead and hope that Buddha will understand,” Ramesh said. “We must pray to it because it chose our village, none other, so we know we are blessed.”
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Comments
What a great story; thanks for sharing this.
Adiana
You hit the nail on the head with that statement! I agree with you; the fisherman got it right in the first place.
Adiana
Awww, that's so great. I hope these people will be able to learn more about Buddha soon!