The Bodhisatta’s Lesson on Desire and Attachment

Long ago, the Bodhisatta was a spirit of the air, observing the lives of mortals from above, seeing both their struggles and their folly. One day, he witnessed a heartbreaking scene unfold in a small village.

A poor couple lived there, their lives simple and their possessions few. When the time came for the grand festival of the city, the wife was filled with longing. She dreamed of wearing the finest, most vibrant safflower-dyed cloth—a symbol of wealth and beauty. But there was one problem: they could barely afford enough food, let alone expensive fabric.

Her heart set on this one desire, the wife lamented to her husband, “We cannot attend the festival in these old, coarse clothes. I must wear safflower-dyed cloth, no matter what it costs. I will not go unless I have it.”

Her husband, though poor and kind-hearted, was deeply troubled. He knew they could never afford such luxury, but his wife’s insistence wore him down. He tried to reason with her, but she would not listen. Driven by love for her and the wish to make her happy, he finally agreed to do the unthinkable: he would sneak into the royal park and steal the precious safflower dye.

Under the cover of night, he crept into the park, breaking through a fence to reach the prized dye. But his actions did not go unnoticed. The guards heard him and swiftly captured him, chaining him and bringing him before the king. The next morning, the king condemned him to death for his crime.

Led out of the city to the execution grounds, the man was impaled and slowly died in agonizing pain. As he hung there, bloodied and broken, crows circled and pecked at his eyes. In his final moments, his greatest regret was not his suffering, but the thought that he would never see his wife in the beautiful clothes she so desperately wanted. With his last breath, he whispered to a crow, “Tell my wife… my valuables are hidden in my pillow.”

Then, he died and was reborn in hell, where he would endure eternal torment for his blind attachment to worldly desires.

In the Lifetime of the Buddha

In the time of the Buddha, one of his disciples, a man who had once been a layperson, began to long for his wife from his previous life. The same cravings that had driven him to foolish actions in his past life now resurfaced in his heart. He was drawn to her, remembering her beauty and the life they had shared.

The Buddha, seeing the disciple’s inner turmoil, called him to listen. “You are suffering,” the Buddha said, “because you have not let go of your attachments. In a past life, you and your wife were the poor couple who foolishly sought the safflower-dyed cloth. Your wife’s desires were the cause of your downfall, and your cravings for her have led you to the same suffering.”

The disciple listened, understanding the truth in the Buddha’s words. The Bodhisatta, seeing this, spoke of the dangers of attachment and desire, and how they could bind the soul to pain and suffering.

Moral: Desire, especially when driven by others, can lead to ruin. Clinging to fleeting pleasures, like the pursuit of material wealth or the fulfillment of vain wishes, brings only sorrow. True wisdom lies in letting go of attachments and finding peace in simplicity.