Buddhist Stories: The Story of Ananda, the Names of Hells, and the Praise of the Buddha, Part 1 of 11 Aug. 10, 2015

“My life is not my life anymore. My life belongs to all of you. Whatever affects you, affects me. Whatever I have to do, I have to do. All because of you. I don’t have a life. I don’t have any freedom. I don’t have even freedom to choose my clothes or to wear what color my hair is. But I don’t mind too much. It’s just that it’s not like I choose to. It doesn’t matter; it’s a small thing.” “The value of a person or a Master doesn’t lie in the house, bigger house or bigger temple for Her or for Him, or a lot of stuff. It’s not like that. The value is inside. And if I know my own value, it doesn’t matter what I have or don’t have, it’s the same.” “This is about Ananda, the one who told us all of these stories. We are in debt to him. If he wasn’t there, there was no video, no digital camera, nothing. He’s the one who brought all of these to us. And he was even the one who pleaded with the Buddha to let the nuns come into the sangha, because of His mother, His step mother, of course.”