Buddha and the Murderer

There is an inspiring Buddhist story that clearly reflects our ability to improve ourselves.

In the time of Buddha, there lived a man who had murdered 999 people.

Whilst he was searching for his 1000th victim, he met Buddha.

Upon meeting Buddha for the first time, Buddha began to ask the mass murder a series of questions.

Once Buddha knew about this man and his plight, Buddha taught him to meditate and to control his emotions.

After encountering Buddha and learning from him, the mass murderer did not murder anyone again.

This story shows us one powerful lesson. No matter how much we have wronged in the past or how bad our situation is, we all have the ability and the resources to make positive changes in our own lives and, consequently, in the lives of others as well.

Most people have areas of their life that they want to change or improve. However, they have lived and put up with those lower standards for so long that they do not believe that it is possible to improve them. The truth is that it is very easy to change anything. First make a firm decision to accept nothing less than the new high standard you want to implement. Secondly, find the resources and characteristics that will allow you to maintain this new high standard. Finally, live out your commitment and inspire others to do the same.