Here And Nowhere Else (act I, Scene II)
(The Buddha and his disciples are in the forest. All of a sudden a dacoit named Angulimal enters.)
ANGULIMAL: Stop! Stop!
BUDDHA: I have already stopped. It is you who have not stopped. You have killed hundreds of people. You wear a garland of thumbs around your neck. I have already stopped; I am stationed in the infinite Consciousness forever. But you are still roaming in the world of vital desires and trying to destroy the world. You have not yet come to a halt. In my case, I am already in the static silence of the Ineffable.
(Angulimal pulls out a knife and attempts to stab the Buddha, but the Buddha's Light captures him. He falls at the feet of the Buddha.)
ANGULIMAL: O Buddha, forgive me. Forgive my ignorance. Forgive me for what I have done to the world, and for what I was going to do right now to you.
BUDDHA: I have forgiven you. I have forgiven your past; I have forgiven your present.
ANGULIMAL: If it is true that you have forgiven my past and my present, then I wish you to prove it.
BUDDHA: How do you want me to prove it?
ANGULIMAL: Accept me as your disciple. If you accept me as your disciple, then I will believe that you have truly forgiven me, O Lord.
BUDDHA: You are my disciple, Angulimal. I accept you.
- Sri Chinmoy
Excerpt from: Siddhartha Becomes The Buddha by Sri Chinmoy, Copyright (c) 1973 by Sri Chinmoy - All rights reserved