"Seeing the results of being someone who says bad things about others."
The Needle-like Body Haired Ghost 2
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.9 | Dutiya Suciloma Sutta
This is how I heard. At one time, the Blessed One was living at the city of Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Park, the Squirrel Garden. During those days, Bhante Lakkhaṇa and Bhante Mahāmoggallāna were living on the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain. One day, in the morning, Bhante Mahāmoggallāna dressed in his robes, took his bowl and double-layered robe and went to Bhante Lakkhaṇa and said to him,
“Come, friend Lakkhaṇa, let us go to the city of Rājagaha for alms.”
“Alright, friend,” Bhante Lakkhaṇa replied.
Then, as he was coming down from Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, Bhante Mahāmoggallāna smiled at a certain place. Bhante Lakkhaṇa asked him,
“Why, friend Moggallāna, did you smile?”
“Friend Lakkhaṇa, this is not the suitable time for that question. Ask me that question when we meet the Blessed One.”
Then, Bhante Lakkhaṇa and Bhante Mahāmoggallāna walked for alms in the city of Rājagaha. After they returned from their alms round, they had their meal. Then, they went to the Blessed One, worshipped him respectfully and sat down to one side. Bhante Lakkhaṇa asked Bhante Mahāmoggallāna,
“This morning, while you were coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, Bhante Mahāmoggallāna smiled. Why, friend Moggallāna, did you smile?”
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a ghost with needle-like body hairs moving through the air. Those needles kept coming out and continued stabbing his body. The ghost was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One continued,
“Monks, that non-human being used to be a slanderer who broke friendships using divisive speech in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of being an evil judge."
The Pot-like Testicles
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.10 | Kumbhanda Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a ghost with pot-like testicles moving through the air. When he walked, he had to lift his testicles onto his shoulders and when he sat down he sat on top of his testicles. Vultures, crows, and hawks were chasing after it. They were stabbing it and tearing it apart. The ghost was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One continued,
“Monks, that non-human being used to be an evil judge, in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of insulting the Saṅgha"
The Dung Eater
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.12 | Guthakhadi Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a ghost with his head submerged in a pit of dung, devouring dung with his both hands. The ghost was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One continued,
“Monks, that non-human being was a brāhamin in the time of the Kassapa Buddha in this same city of Rājagaha. One day, he invited the monks for a meal. He filled rice pots with dung and called the monks saying, ‘Sirs, eat as much as you want from this and take the rest away with you!’ As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of engaging in sexual misconduct"
The Pit of Dung
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.11 | Guthakupa Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a ghost with his head submerged in a pit of dung. The ghost was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being used to be a man who engaged in sexual misconduct with others wives, in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of engaging in sexual misconduct"
The Skinless Female Ghost
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.13 | Nicchavitthi Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a skinless female ghost moving through the air. Vultures, crows, and hawks were chasing after her. They were stabbing her and tearing her apart. She was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being was a prostitute in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, she was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, she has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of deceiving people."
The Ugly Female Ghost
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.14 | Maṅgulitthi Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a female ghost, foul smelling and ugly, moving through the air. Vultures, crows, and hawks were chasing after her. They were stabbing her and tearing her apart. She was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being was an evil fortune-teller in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, she was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, she has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of acting on jealousy."
The Scorched Female Ghost
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.15 | Okilinī Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a female ghost with her body roasting, sweaty, scorching, and moving through the air. She was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.’”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being was the chief queen of the King Kāliṅga. Out of jealousy, she poured a plate of burning coal over another wife of the king. As a result of that bad kamma, she was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, she has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of being an executioner"
The Headless Ghost
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.16 | Asīsaka Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a headless body moving through the air; its eyes and mouth were on its chest. Vultures, crows, and hawks were chasing after it. They were stabbing it and tearing it apart. It was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.’”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being used to be a killer of thieves named Hārika in this same city of Rājagaha. As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of being an evil monk."
The Evil Monk
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.17 | Bhikkhu Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a monk moving through the air. His robe, bowl, waistband, and body were burning, blazing, and flaming. The monk was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.’”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being had been an evil monk in the Kassapa Buddha’s time. As a result of that bad kamma, he was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, he has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
"Seeing the results of being an evil nun."
The Evil Nun
Saṁyutta Nikāya 19.18 | Bhikkhunī Sutta
This sutta begins in the same way as in the previous sutta.
Bhante Moggallāna replied,
“This morning, friend, as I was coming down from the Gijjhakūṭa Mountain, I saw a nun moving through the air. Her robe, bowl, waistband, and body were burning, blazing, and flaming. The nun was crying out in pain. I thought then, ‘It is unusual, indeed! It is amazing, indeed! That there exists such a being, that there exists such a non-human, that there exists such a life.’”
Then, the Blessed One said to the monks,
“Monks, there are disciples who have gained the divine eye and special knowledge. They can know, see, and witness such a non-human. Monks, in the past, I, too, saw that being, but I did not speak of it. If I had spoken about it, there might have been some people who wouldn’t believe my words. If they had not believed my words, it would have led them to their harm and suffering for a long time.”
The Blessed One
“Monks, that non-human being had been an evil nun in the Kassapa Buddha’s time. As a result of that bad kamma, she was boiled in hell for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. As a remaining result of that same kamma, she has been reborn as a ghost and is experiencing such terrible pain.”
