The Buddhist scriptures recount that once upon a time, as the Buddha walked toward a forest, local farmers frantically warned him about the dreaded Angulimala. At one point, a brilliant, student at Taxila, Angulimala, was betrayed by jealous peers who poisoned their teacher's mind. The teacher put forth an impossible tuition fee, demanding a thousand human right-hand little fingers. Unbelievably, instead of giving up, the young man set out to collect the fingers. Presumably, he quickly discovered that people were reluctant to willingly give up their little fingers and so he was forced to resort to violence to obtain them. He found he had nowhere to store these fingers. He tried hanging them on a tree but the birds stole them thus, he strung them around his neck. For this gruesome and growing garland of bloody fingers, he was nicknamed Angulimala, which means 'finger garland'.
He eventually wore a grotesque garland of 999 severed fingers around his neck.
Spotting the Buddha, Angulimala charged at him, aiming to complete his necklace. Strangely, despite his formidable speed, he could not catch up to the Buddha, who walked serenely ahead. Exhausted and frustrated, Angulimala screamed for him to stop. The Buddha turned and calmly stated that he had already stopped harming living beings. He had completely ceased causing harm, violence, and suffering to living beings. Since he had no desires or fears, his mind was at absolute peace, and it was time for Angulimala to do the same. Profoundly moved, the culprit abandoned his weapons following the Buddha to become a monk.
Later, the king led his troops to hunt down Angulimala, stopping at the monastery to pay his respects to the Buddha. When the Buddha revealed that the infamous offender was now peacefully seated among the monks, the king was astonished but expressed deep reverence, praising the Buddha for achieving through persuasion and peace what weapons could not. This parable highlights that people are capable of profound change and true influence comes from compassion and personal example.
Moral of the Fable- The path to awakening, peace and non-violence can transform anyone.