The Fragrance of Virtue

One time, the Buddha and Ananda, one of the Buddha's ten principal disciples, walked past a market. Seeing a grass rope on the ground, the Buddha asked Ananda to pick up the rope and bring it to him. Ananda brought the rope to the Buddha and said, "It's so smelly." The Buddha smiled and said to him, "Do you know why this rope smells?" Ananda said, "I saw fish vendors over there. I think this rope had been used to tie fish and then thrown away."

The Buddha replied, "That's right. The rope was used to tie fish, so it smells bad. It's the same for people. If we're under unwholesome influences, our character will be flawed like how the rope becomes smelly."

As they moved on, the Buddha saw a piece of paper. Again, he asked Ananda to pick it up. Ananda did and brought it to the Buddha and said, "It smells very good." The Buddha asked Ananda, "Do you know why it smells good?" Ananda said, "It was used to wrap incense."

The Buddha said, "Right. We're a product of our environment. The grass rope stinks because it was used to tie fish, and the paper smells good because it was used to wrap incense."

After returning to his abode, the Buddha shared what he saw with his disciples — The grass was fragrant to begin with. But after it was made into a rope and used to tie fish, it became smelly. The paper was actually filthy because back then, paper was made from grass and cow dung mixed together. But after it was used to wrap incense, it became fragrant. So, nothing in the world has a permanent, unchanging form, yet its original nature will never change. It's just that whatever environment it is exposed to, the influence will be evident.

Ananda then asked the Buddha, "Whenever I walk by a hill of flowers, if the wind blows my way, I can smell the fragrance of the flowers. I smell that because the wind blows my way and the scent is spread with the wind. But I wonder if there is a scent in the world that can spread against the wind?"

The Buddha replied, "Yes. It's the fragrance of virtue. Regardless of the direction of the wind, the fragrance of virtue will permeate everywhere."

Such is the way of virtue. When we have virtue, we can influence people around us wherever we go. In a field of grass or rice seedlings, when the wind blows, the grass or rice seedlings will sway under the wind as it gently blows all the way across the field. It's very beautiful. This is exactly how our virtue can influence others.

Like a gentle breeze, virtue can soothe and influence people in a positive way. So, the influence we are exposed to and the environment we are in will decide how we behave ourselves, and only in a wholesome environment can we learn and grow.