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Of all the events that took place in Savatthi, the most celebrated was the conversion of the notorious mass murderer Angulimala. He had killed so many people that the outlying districts were deserted. Around his neck he wore a garland of fingers cut from his victims. He was about to slay his own mother to complete his garland, when Buddha intervened. On a lonely stretch of road, Angulimala saw Buddha and began to chase him. Even running his fastest, he was unable to catch up with Buddha, who continued to walk at a normal pace. Angulimala shouted, "Stop, monk, stop!" Buddha replied, "I have stopped. It is you who have not stopped." Puzzled by this answer, Angulimala asked what he meant. "I have stopped harming living creatures," explained Buddha. "You go on killing." The murderer threw away his sword, bowed down, and asked to become a monk. Not long afterwards he became an arahat.
(Mulagandhakuti Vihara, Sarnath, India)
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