THE BUDDHA CARED FOR A MONK SUFFERING THE RESULTS OF PAST KARMA Shortly after his ordination, the Venerable Putigatta suddenly developed painful boils all over his body. His condition grew worse day by day. The boils burst open into foul-smelling sores, and maggots began to infest the wounds. At first, his fellow monks patiently cared for him. But as time passed, the foul odor spread throughout the monastery. The Elder could no longer eat, relieve himself, or even move without assistance. Unable to endure the stench affecting the entire community, the monks built a simple bamboo stretcher and carried him out to the veranda, where it was easier to clean and care for him. Yet, as is often the case, the filth and unbearable smell gradually discouraged everyone. Fewer and fewer monks continued to look after him with the same care. The Elder's body was in unbearable pain. All he could do was lie quietly on the empty veranda, letting out soft groans of suffering. One day, the Buddha appeared.He called a few monks to help Him. The Buddha instructed them to remove the Elder's outer robe and wash it. Then, with His own hands, He dipped a cloth into warm water and gently cleaned each wound, carefully washing the Elder's body and cleaning his bedding. When the outer robe had dried, He had the inner robe removed and washed as well. Wrapping the Elder in the clean outer robe, the Buddha personally washed the inner robe. Finally, He dressed His disciple properly with His own hands. After caring for him, the Buddha stood before the Elder and recited this verse from the Dhammapada: Before long, this body Will lie upon the earth, Cast aside, unconscious, Like a useless log. The moment he heard these four simple lines, Venerable Putigatta immediately attained Arahantship. With a gentle smile, he peacefully breathed his last and entered Parinirvana on the spot. The monks who had not yet attained enlightenment asked the Buddha why the Elder had endured such terrible suffering, yet attained enlightenment so quickly. The Buddha explained that in a distant past life, the Elder had earned his living by trapping birds and selling them for meat. To keep the birds from escaping and make them easier to store, he would deliberately break both their wings and both their legs before throwing them into a basket to be sold later. By crippling and tormenting countless birds in this way, he created terrible karma that caused him to wander through many lifetimes of suffering. In this final life, that karma ripened as the horrific disease that left his body covered with festering sores and decay. Yet during that same lifetime as a bird trapper, he once encountered a Paccekabuddha on almsround. Filled with sudden faith, he offered food and made this aspiration: "May I one day attain the same realization as you." The Paccekabuddha accepted the offering and gave him a blessing. In this life, when he met Gotama Buddha, both kinds of karma ripened at the same time. The karma of killing and cruelly abusing living beings had matured and was ready to be exhausted in full. At the same time, the merit of his offering and his aspiration for enlightenment had also ripened. The root of all attachment is attachment to the body. Clinging to the body is the foundation of attachment, and regarding the body as "mine" is the highest form of possessiveness. Because people identify this body as "I" and "mine," they naturally go on to cling to houses, wealth, family, power, status, and reputation. Contemplating the impermanence of the body—that one day it will lie abandoned on the ground, unconscious like a useless log—strikes directly at the deepest root of attachment. By continually reminding ourselves of the body's impermanence while walking, standing, working, or meditating, even without deep concentration or supernormal powers, unwholesome qualities such as anger, greed, hatred, and delusion gradually wither away and weaken on their own, often without us even realizing it.