One of the central tenants of Buddhism, and a key area in which it differed from Brahmanism and later Hinduism, was that the Eightfold Path to enlightenment was open to everyone. One did not have to be born to a priestly caste or to have received a rigorous education to seek transcendence. Nor did one have to renounce one’s family, duties, and traditions. All that mattered was the sincere desire to live a righteous life. We see this principle reflected in the Buddha’s interactions with Sudatta. After the Buddha assured Sudatta that he did not need to abandon his worldly obligations in order to achieve enlightenment, Sudatta decided to use his wealth to create a place of retreat for the Buddha and his followers. The Buddha accepted the gift, but only after he had looked into Sudatta’s heart and determined that “unselfish charity was the moving cause of his offer.” Sudatta’s action was righteous not because he was wealthy and well educated, not because the gift was large, but because it was given in the true spirit of charity.

The documents included in this activity provide an opportunity to delve deeper into the efforts of Buddhists to make their teachings applicable and accessible to everyone. Each document in this activity is a Buddhist parable, a story whose moral reveals an important Buddhist teaching. Thus, the form the teachings take is, in itself, an effort to promote accessibility. Abandoning esoteric language and complex abstract theological formations, the parables present the Buddha’s teachings in stories whose style and structure would have been familiar to all who heard them.