97: Nanda - The Buddha's Half-Brother Who Became a Monk for All the Wrong Reasons

97: Nanda - The Buddha's Half-Brother Who Became a Monk for All the Wrong Reasons

On the day of his wedding, the Buddha came to Nanda's house on his alms round. Nanda stepped outside to receive the bowl and walk him to the door. The Buddha kept walking. Nanda's fiancée ran after him, hair still half-combed, crying - "Dear, please return immediately." Nanda looked back at her. The Buddha kept walking. Nanda followed. At the monastery the Buddha turned and asked if Nanda would ordain. So great was his reverence that he couldn't say no. He ordained. He was miserable from the first day. New story every day. Follow so you never miss one.

96: Rabia - The Woman Who Wanted to Burn Paradise and Flood Hell

One day the people of Basra saw a woman running through the streets. A burning torch in one hand. A bucket of water in the other. Someone stopped her and asked what she was doing. She told them exactly where she was going and why. Her answer has been carried in the Sufi tradition for thirteen centuries - because it asked a question that no one had quite asked before. Not what are you doing. Not how faithfully are you doing it. But why. New story every day. Follow so you never miss one.

95: Menaka and Vishwamitra

Menaka knew what she was being sent to do. She had been in Indra's court long enough to understand what was being asked of her when he sent her to the forest where Vishwamitra sat. She went. She moved through the trees the way she knew how. He opened his eyes. And looked at her in a way she hadn't expected. Not with hunger. Not with the kind of attention she had learned to recognise and use. He looked at her the way someone looks at something they didn't know they'd been missing. She had come to stay long enough to break his concentration. She stayed for ten years. New story every day. Follow so you never miss one.

94: The Tortoise Who Almost Made It

Kambugriva the tortoise had one problem when the drought came. His friends the geese could fly. He couldn't. They came up with a plan. He would hold a stick in his teeth. They would each hold one end and carry him through the sky. One condition. Whatever he saw, whatever he heard, whatever anyone below said about him or about them - He must not open his mouth. Not for anything. He promised. And he almost kept his word. New story every day. Follow so you never miss one.

93: Kunti - The Mother Who Placed Her Firstborn in the River and Never Forgot

A sage gave a teenage girl a mantra. With it she could summon any deity and bear a son equal to them in glory. One morning at dawn, alone, she said the words out of curiosity. The Sun God appeared. She asked him to leave. He told her the mantra was irreversible, and if she refused, he would curse her and everyone she loved. She was a girl alone with a God in front of her and no one to ask. Ten months later, in the dark, she placed her newborn in a sealed basket. He was glowing when she let go. New story every day. Follow so you never miss one.