Dear Bhante,
I did not see Anguimala in “What the Buddha Taught”, googled “gombrich angulimala” and saw that it’s in a different book, “How Buddhism Began”… Will comment later after I read that section. But the part I’m most interested in is whether it’s possible to become an Arahant in the same life that one kills 999 people. That’s really the only “myth” part of the whole Angulimala story that I’m interested in. There doesn’t seem to be anything else in the EBT remotely similar. Devadatta tries to kill the Buddha, goes to hell. King Ajatasattu killed his father the King, and is wracked by guilt, remorse, sleepless nights. In DN 2, the Buddha says if he had not committed patricide, he would have attained stream entry after then DN 2 discourse. Instead, Ajatasattu goes to hell, and Buddha says he will become a paccekkha buddha in a future life. These seem to be much more reasonable consequences to intentional killing. We see how modern soldiers who don’t even want to kill enemy soldiers experience PTS(?) and have trouble returning to worldly life and just functioning in a ordinary lay life. If I even accidentally commit wrong speech that gets people very upset at me that could seriously hinder my ability to enter samadhi easily, let alone killing one, or 1000 people.
I could believe how Angulimala instantly reformed, ordained, and became established in virtue upon his first encounter with Buddha, but stream entry in the same lifetime where he has to deal with remorse, let alone arahantship is inconceivable.
With regard to Jataka tales, I too could enjoy them and see value in it if it was presented truthfully as fairy stories, morality tales in Indian Culture. But to put it in KN, and present it as literal truth, i.e. past lives of Buddha and arahants, that causes big problems! I haven’t taken a census, but it feels like a majority of Theravadan buddhists believe Jataka Tales are literal historical truth of Buddha and chief disciples’ past lives.