From Amitabha

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Introduction

Ordination
The Novice
The God Problem
Kevaddha's Story
The Confession

Introduction

AMITABHA is the story of three historical personalities. The story details the early days of Charaka as a Buddhist monk, his doubts regarding Buddhist theology, his friendship with Kanishka and his subsequent conversations with Asvaghosha. In the latter part of the book Amitabha is described as the embodiment of dharma, creativity and bliss.
An abridged, slightly modified version follows. - Tormod Kinnes

1. The Ordination of Charaka

SOON AFTER the time of Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor of the third century before the Common Era, India experienced invasions and wars. Tribes from the North conquered the region of the upper Panjab and founded several states. These tribulations passed over the religious institutions without doing them any harm. By virtues of Buddhist priests, conquerors in their turn were spiritually conquered and embraced the way of enlightenment. They recognised they could be freed from suffering by abandoning selfish and do what is required, which includes moral conduct. The Buddhist Middle Way consists in right [fit and fulfilling] comprehension, right [proper and rewarding] aspiration, right speech, right conduct, right living, right endeavour, right discipline, and the attainment of the right bliss [a bliss that does not involve derangement].
Viharas, or Buddhist monasteries, continued to be the home of religious exercises. It was in one of these viharas in the mountains near Purushaputra, the present Peshawur, that Charaka, a descendant of the Northern invaders, had decided to join the brotherhood. The vihara which Charaka entered was excavated in the solid rock of an idyllic gorge. A streamlet gurgled by, affording to the hermits abundance of fresh water, and the monks harvested fruit and vegetables from near their cave dwellings.
The rocky walls were covered with ornaments. The monks intoned solemn chants. A passage in one of them ran:

Calming the mind;
In solitude our souls are still and prepared in silence
To find the truth by degrees.

The chanting went on:

"We follow His lead
Who taught us to read."

A venerable old monk said "There is a young man with us who desires to be admitted to the brotherhood."
The abbot replied: "Let him come forward."
It was Charaka; and when he stepped into the middle of the brethren, the abbot asked: "What is your name and what your desire?"
Charaka knelt down, saying: "My name is Charaka. Raise me up to the height of spiritual perfection, please."
The abbot then said to the brotherhood: "This man Charaka, is free from all obstacles to ordination. He has an alms-bowl."
These words were three times repeated, and there was no dissenting voice, so Charaka recited the four main prohibitions: that an ordained monk must abstain from carnal indulgence, from theft of any kind, from killing, and from sad boasts.

2. The Novice

CHARAKA the novice had a sonorous voice. To all appearances the Brotherhood had made a good acquisition; but the soul of the novice was full of dissatisfaction. The life of a monk was so different from what he had expected Sometimes he was startled. He wanted Nirvana bliss and its fullness, not extinction.
The venerable Subhuti thought this bright newcomer might be entangled in the meshes of a spiritual vanity. He recited to Charaka:

Throughout the world ambition is unfurled;
But from all vanity Tathagatas are free."

Charaka knew that there were fools among men considered saints. He was yearning for life, not for death, for a fullness of melody and a wreath of harmony, not for the stillness of the broken gong. A chill came over him, and he shrank from the ideal of saintal-mental suicide. "No, no!" he groaned.

3. The God-Problem

BUDDHA was spoken of as the teacher of gods and men; he was worshipped with a reverence which was peculiar to him. Life is taken seriously in a Buddhist monastery. When Charaka spoke of God, a brother, Kevaddha, said: "Maybe you mean Krishna, the avatar of love, he who danced with all the shepherdesses at once?"
"My question refers to no one of the gods," replied the novice, "but to God".
Kevaddha exclaimed: "Ah, I see!" You do not mean any of the several gods, but God, saying: 'I do not want bananas, nor mangoes, nor grapes, nor pears, nor prunes, nor apples, nor pomegranates, I want fruit! Fruit in general!'"
"Be so good to understand what I mean. I mean him who made us, the Eternal Law of life."
"Well, well," replied Kevaddha, "But did you ever consider every one must find the path of salvation himself?"
Charaka said, "He may be different from what we surmise him to be; true, and beautiful."
Kevaddha replied, "Children need toys and the immature need gods. Novice, you are a worshipper of Brahma!" Then he told a story.

4. Kevaddha's Story

THERE was a priest in Varanasi who was an honest fellow. The priest visited the gods of the higher heavens and approached their ruler, the great Brahma, and said: "Are you truly a living being?"
The great Brahma rose from his seat and approached the priest, saying: "You do not know. Further, the question ought never to have been put like that. The question ought to be: "Can water, fire and earth find a footing inside?
"The answer is: "In the realm of bright radiance, eternal light the footing lies.""
"Then the priest understood the Supreme Being as Bright Light: If we desire to attain, somehow our effort are to be like him, to become lamps ourselves.

5. The Confession

THE YOUNG novice was otherwise left to his own thoughts he began to ponder on the uselessness of the hermit's life. When he had familiarised himself with all the Sutras and wise sayings he felt that the religious discourses were becoming tedious.
Weeks went by. One evening all the brethren were gathered together. The senior monk arose and said, "Today is full moon, a fit day for unburdening our hearts. Those who are free from the consciousness of guilt, let them be silent."
A tall figure rose slowly and stood there quietly, motionless, before he lifted his head and began to speak. "Venerable father," he said and sobbed like a child.
The abbot encouraged the penitent brother to make a full confession. "Do not despair," he said.
"I entered the brotherhood with wrong aspirations," replied the novice. "My holiness is mockery; my piety is not genuine; I am false to myself; I am not worthy to wear the yellow robe."
"You are not expected to be perfect," replied the abbot."
Said Charaka. "There is something wrong. I am a heretic on the wrong road in the wrong direction. I feel the grievousness of my stupid errors and am anxious to be led out of the darkness. I want to comprehend the deepest truths; I want to know and to taste the highest bliss; I want to accomplish the greatest deeds."
"Then you are worldly," suggested the abbot inquiringly.
"That my be," replied the novice; "I do not hate life. I love God. That is my fault."
The good abbot did not know what to say. Whether there was something wrong with the novice, no one could exactly say. He was not a Brahman, but a descendant of a noble family. By God he meant all that is right and good and true in the world and without whom there can be no enlightenment."
"Very well," said the abbot, "there is no sin in loving an Enlightened One, a Tathagata, either. The divinity of the gods is less than the noble life of a Bodhisattva."
Subhuti arose: "Charaka is a man of deep comprehension and of an earnest temper. There is a philosopher living in the kingdom of Madadha, by the name of Asvaghosha." So Subhuti proposed to write a letter of introduction to Asvaghosha commending the brother Charaka to his care and suggesting to him to dispel his doubts and to establish him.
The abbot agreed, and the general opinion among the brethren was in favour of sending Charaka to the kingdom of Magadha to the philosopher Asvaghosha to have his doubts dispelled in the faith of Buddha.
Before they could carry out their plan the session was interrupted by a messenger from the royal court of Gandhara, who inquired for a novice by the name of Charaka, a man well versed in medicine and other learned arts. A dreadful epidemic had spread in the country, and the old king had died while two of his sons were afflicted with the disease and now lay at the point of death. The oldest son and heir to the throne was in the field defending his country against the Parthians and some mountaineers of the East, nominally subject to the kingdom of Magadha but practically independent, had utilised the opportunity afforded by these circumstances to descend into the fertile valleys of Gandhara and to pillage the country.
Now, a special awe attached to Charaka since it was known that the young king knew of him and sent a special messenger to call him back to the capital.
The abbot turned again to Charaka saying, "Since you have openly laid bare the state of your mind, there is not such falsehood in you. I find no fault with your conduct; should you find that you cannot remain a monk, you must know that there is no law that obliges you to remain in the Brotherhood against your will."
The abbot then granted Charaka permission to obey the king's call, saying, "You are free to leave the order in peace and goodwill, but do not leave your doubts unsettled: As soon as you have attended to the pressing duties which will engage your attention at the capital, make a pilgrimage to the Asvaghosha in the kingdom of Magadha. He will be a better adviser than I. This I enjoin on you."

Literature

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