The Story of Donna
The Story of Donna
The composer found inspiration in one video recording of the late Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Thera entitled “The Power of the Mind” in which the late Venerable spoke about the very nature of the Buddha. The late Venerable noted that till today, many people misconstrued the Buddha as a highly God-like personality while others thought that He was a normal human being. This song, with cleverly inserted snippets of the talk, weaves the story on how the Buddha explained this very highly developed nature in a simple manner.
The Story of Dona derived from Dona Sutta (Anggutara Nikaya) unfolded with the Brahmin Dona trailing the Buddha who was walking mindfully from Ukkhatta to Setabya. The Brahmin was awed by the thousand-spokes-wheel imprint found in the Buddha’s footprints and became extremely curious about it. At the rest area, the Brahmin approached the calmly seated Buddha and enquired if He is a god, celestial minstrel, nature spirit or just a plain human being. The Buddha denied categorically He is any of the beings mentioned as He has discarded the very roots of rebirth as any of these beings (or for that matter any other beings as well). The Buddha likened Himself as a lotus blooming out of the muddy world and is unsoiled by the very nature of this world of rebirth. Thus He has ‘Awakened’ or attained ‘Buddha-state’.
However, the path towards this state seems arduous and long but not unattainable. The Buddha spent countless eons mindfully cultivating all the perfections and worked tirelessly to eliminate fetters that kept Him within this cycle of rebirth. Through His selfless compassion, He did not only inform us that we too can be an ‘Awakened One’ but shared the information on how we can release ourselves from this cycle. The Buddha has given us the first step by showing us the way. Now it is up to us to follow.
Songs01 The Story Of Dona – Full02 The Story Of Dona – Mid03 The Story Of Dona – Short04 The Story Of Dona – M1
He understands everything in this world Perfected all the ten perfections Eradicated all the fetters inside Therefore He is called the Buddha
AN 4.36 PTS: A ii 37Dona Sutta: With Donatranslated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu © 2005–2012
"Just like a red, blue, or white lotus — born in the water, grown in the water, rising up above the water — stands unsmeared by the water, in the same way I — born in the world, grown in the world, having overcome the world — live unsmeared by the world. Remember me, brahman, as 'awakened.'