On killing the Buddha, the emphasis on killing is probably using drama to nail in a point (as with Christianity). There is another example of it where the Buddha gets killed.

There was once a Zen Master who lived, as they often do, near the top of a mountain. People would travel from miles and miles around, seeking him out for the answers to their questions.

Whenever someone would ask him a question, such as, "What is the true nature of the Buddha?" he would look at them with a piercing glance and point his index finger at them. There was something about the presentation or the spirit of the master doing it, because many upon receiving this answer would become enlightened.

One day the Zen Master was sick, and there was a long line of people waiting for him. The Zen Master's son saw this, and he was an impish sort. His son saw what his father did in answer to everyone's questions and figured, hell, that isn't so hard. None of the questioners had ever seen the Master before, so the son just dressed up in his father's clothing, went and sat on his chair like his father, and commenced the finger pointing.

Lo and behold, people started becoming enlightened from the son's shennanigans. The sick father heard some commotion from his bed and looked to find an imposter on his chair imitating him! Worse, he realized the perpetrator was none other than his son. "Well," thought the Zen Master, "time to fix his little red wagon and teach him a lesson."

The Zen Master dressed up as a beggar, smearing dirt and screwing up his face so his son wouldn't recognize him. He took a knife from the kitchen and held it behind him, so his son wouldn't see what was coming.

The old man got in line, and when it came him turn he said, "Great Master, could you please tell me, who is the Buddha?"

When the son looked piercingly at the father and pointed with his finger at his father, the Zen Master grabbed the finger with one hand and with the other cut the finger completely off.

It was at this very moment the the Zen Master's son was enlightened.

[This message has been edited by babayada (edited October 16, 2004).]