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HAVING pointed out to the five bhikkhus the truth, the Buddha said: "A man that
stands alone, having decided to obey the truth, may be weak and slip back into his old ways.
Therefore, stand you together, assist one another, and strengthen one another efforts. Be
like to brothers; one in love, one in holiness, and one in your zeal for the truth. Spread
the truth and preach the doctrine in all quarters of the world, so that in the end all
living creatures will be citizens of the kingdom of righteousness. This is the holy
brotherhood; this is the church, the congregation of the saints of the Buddha; this is the
Sangha that establishes a communion among all those who have taken their refuge in the
Buddha."
Kondanna was the first disciple of the Buddha who had thoroughly grasped the
doctrine of the Holy One, and the Tathagata looking into his heart said: "Truly, Kondanna
has understood the truth." Therefore the venerable Kondanna received the name
"Annata-Kondanna that is, "Kondanna who has understood the doctrine." Then the venerable
Kondanna spoke to the Buddha and said: "Lord, let us receive the ordination from the blessed
One." And the Buddha said: "Come, bhikkhus! Well taught is the doctrine. Lead a holy life
for the extinction of suffering."
Then Kondanna and the other bhikkhus uttered three times these solemn vows: "To the
Buddha will I look in faith: He, the Perfect One, is holy and supreme. The Buddha conveys to
us instruction, wisdom, and salvation; he is the Blessed One, who knows the law of being; he
is the Lord of the world, who yoketh men like oxen, the Teacher of gods and men, the Exalted
Buddha. Therefore, to the Buddha will I look in faith.
"To the doctrine will I look in faith: well-preached is the doctrine by the Exalted
One. The doctrine has been revealed so as to become visible; the doctrine is above time and
space. The doctrine is not based on hearsay, it means 'Come and see'; the doctrine to
welfare; the doctrine is recognized by the wise in their own hearts. Therefore to the
doctrine will I look in faith.
"To the community will I look in faith; the community of the Buddha's disciples
instructs us how to lead a life of righteousness; the community of the Buddha's disciples
teaches us how to exercise honesty and justice; the community of the Buddha's disciples
shows us how to practice the truth. They form a brotherhood in kindness and charity, and
their saints are worthy of reverence. The community of the Buddha's disciples is founded as
a holy brotherhood in which men bind themselves together to teach the behests of rectitude
and to do good. Therefore, to the community will I look in faith."
The gospel of the Blessed One increased from day to day, and many people came to
hear him and to accept the ordination to lead thenceforth a holy life for the sake of the
extinction of suffering. And the Blessed One seeing that it was impossible to attend to all
who wanted to hear the truth and receive the ordination, sent out from the number of his
disciples such as were to preach the Dharma, and said to them:
"The Dharma and the Vinaya proclaimed by the Tathagata shine forth when they are
displayed, and not when they are concealed. But let not this doctrine, so full of truth and
so excellent, fall into the hands of those unworthy of it, where it would be despised and
contemned, treated shamefully, ridiculed and censured. I now grant you, bhikkhus, this
permission. Confer henceforth in the different countries the ordination on those who are
eager to receive it, when you find them worthy.
"Go you now, bhikkhus, for the benefit of the many, for the welfare of mankind, out
of compassion for the world. Preach the doctrine which is glorious in the beginning,
glorious in the middle, and glorious in the end, in the spirit as well as in the letter.
There are beings whose eyes are scarcely covered with dust, but if the doctrine is not
preached to them they cannot attain salvation. Proclaim to them a life of holiness. They
will understand the doctrine and accept it."
And it became an established custom that the bhikkhus went out preaching while the
weather was good, but in the rainy season they came together again and joined their master,
to listen to the exhortations of the Tathagata.
AT that time there was in Benares a noble youth, Yasa by name, the son of a wealthy
merchant. Troubled in his mind about the sorrows of the world, he secretly rose up in the
night and stole away to the Blessed One. The Blessed One saw Yasa coming from afar. Yasa
approached and exclaimed: "Alas, what distress! What tribulations!"
The Blessed One said to Yasa: "Here is no distress; here are no tribulations. Come
to me and I will teach you the truth, and the truth will dispel your sorrows."
When Yasa, the noble youth, heard that there were neither distress, nor
tribulations, nor sorrows, his heart was comforted. He went into the place where the Blessed
One was, and sat down near him. Then the Blessed One preached about charity and morality. He
explained the vanity of the thought "I am"; the dangers of desire, and the necessity of
avoiding the evils of life in order to walk on the path of deliverance.
Instead of disgust with the world, Yasa felt the cooling stream of holy wisdom, and,
having obtained the pure and spotless eye of truth, he looked at his person, richly adorned
with pearls and precious stones, and his heart was shamed.
The Tathagata, knowing his inward thoughts, said: "Though a person be ornamented
with jewels, the heart may have conquered the senses. The outward form does not constitute
religion or affect the mind. Thus the body of a samana may wear an ascetic's garb while his
mind is immersed in worldliness. A man that dwells in lonely woods and yet covets worldly
vanities, is a worldling, while the man in worldly garments may let his heart soar high to
heavenly thoughts. There is no distinction between the layman and the hermit, if but both
have banished the thought of self."
Seeing that Yasa was ready to enter on the path, the Blessed One said to him:
"Follow me!" And Yasa joined the brotherhood, and having put on a bhikkhu's robe, received
the ordination.
While the Blessed One and Yasa were discussing the doctrine, Yasa's father passed by
in search of his son; and in passing he asked the Blessed One: "Pray, Lord, have you seen
Yasa, my son?"
The Buddha said to Yasa's father: "Come in, sir, you will find your son"; and Yasa's
father became full of joy and he entered. He sat down near his son, but his eyes were holden
and he knew him not; and the Lord began to preach. And Yasa's father, understanding the
doctrine of the Blessed One, said:
"Glorious is the truth, Lord! The Buddha, the Holy One, our Master, sets up what has
been overturned; he reveals what has been hidden; he points out the way to the wanderer who
has gone astray; he lights a lamp in the darkness so that all who have eyes to see can
discern the things that surround them. I take refuge in the Buddha, our Lord: I take refuge
in the doctrine revealed by him: I take refuge in the brotherhood which he has founded. May
the Blessed One receive me from this day forth while my life lasts as a lay disciple who has
taken refuge in him." Yasa's father was the first lay-member who became the first lay
disciple of the Buddha by pronouncing the three-fold formula of refuge.
When the wealthy merchant had taken refuge in the Buddha, his eyes were opened and
he saw his son sitting at his side in a bhikkhu's robe. "My son, Yasa," he said, your mother
is absorbed in lamentation and grief. Return home and restore your mother to
life."
Then Yasa looked at the Blessed One, who said: "Should Yasa return to the world and
enjoy the pleasures of a worldly life as he did before?" Yasa's father replied: "If Yasa, my
son, finds it a gain to stay with you, let him stay. He has become delivered from the
bondage of worldliness."
When the Blessed One had cheered their hearts with words of truth and righteousness,
Yasa's father said: "May the Blessed One, Lord, consent to take his meal with me together
with Yasa as his attendant?" The Blessed One, having donned his robes, took his alms-bowl
and went with Yasa to the house of the rich merchant. When they had arrived there, the
mother and also the former wife of Yasa saluted the Blessed One and sat down near
him.
Then the Blessed One preached, and the women having understood his doctrine,
exclaimed: "Glorious is the truth, Lord! We take refuge in the Buddha, our Lord. We take
refuge in the doctrine revealed by him. We take refuge in the brotherhood which has been
founded by him. May the Blessed One receive us from this day forth while our life lasts as
lay disciples who have taken refuge in him." The mother and the wife of Yasa, the noble
youth of Benares, were the first women who became lay disciples and took their refuge in the
Buddha.
Now there were four friends of Yasa belonging to the wealthy families of Benares.
Their names were Vimala, Subahu, Punnaji, and Gavampati.
When Yasa's friends heard that Yasa had cut off his hair and put on bhikkhu robes to
give up the world and go forth into homelessness, they thought: "Surely that cannot be a
common doctrine, that must be a noble renunciation of the world.
And they went to Yasa, and Yasa addressed the Blessed One saying: "May the Blessed
One administer exhortation and instruction to these four friends of mine." And the Blessed
One preached to them, and Yasa's friends accepted the doctrine and took refuge in the
Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
AT that time there lived in Uruvela the Jatilas, Brahman hermits with matted hair,
worshiping the fire and keeping a fire-dragon; and Kassapa was their chief. Kassapa was
renowned throughout all India, and his name was honored as one of the wisest men on earth
and an authority on religion. And the Blessed One went to Kassapa of Uruvela the Jatila, and
said: "Let me stay a night in the room where you keep your sacred fire."
Kassapa, seeing the Blessed One in his majesty and beauty, thought to himself: "This
is a great muni and a noble teacher. Should he stay overnight in the room where the sacred
fire is kept, the serpent will bite him and he will die." And he said: "I do not object to
your staying overnight in the room where the sacred fire is kept, but the serpent lives
there; he will kill you and I should be sorry to see you perish."
But the Buddha insisted and Kassapa admitted him to the room where the sacred fire
was kept. And the Blessed One sat down with body erect, surrounding himself with
watchfulness. In the night the dragon came, belching forth in rage his fiery poison, and
filling the air with burning vapor, but could do him no harm, and the fire consumed itself
while the World-honored One remained composed. And the venomous fiend became very wroth so
that he died in his anger. When Kassapa saw the light shining forth from the room he said:
"Alas, what misery! Truly, the countenance of Gautama the great Sakyamuni is beautiful, but
the serpent will destroy him."
In the morning the Blessed One showed the dead body of the fiend to Kassapa, saying:
"His fire has been conquered by my fire." And Kassapa thought to himself. "Sakyamuni is a
great samana and possesses high powers, but he is not holy like me."
There was in those days a festival, and Kassapa thought: "The people will come
hither from all parts of the country and will see the great Sakyamuni. When he speaks to
them, they will believe in him and abandon me." And he grew envious. When the day of the
festival arrived, the Blessed One retired and did not come to Kassapa. And Kassapa went to
the Buddha on the next morning and said: "Why did the great Sakyamuni not come?"
The Tathagata replied: "Did you not think, Kassapa, that it would be better if I
stayed away from the festival?" And Kassapa was astonished and thought: "Great is Sakyamuni;
he can read my most secret thoughts, but he is not holy like me."
The Blessed One addressed Kassapa and said: "You see the truth, but do not accept it
because of the envy that dwells in your heart. Is envy holiness? Envy is the last remnant of
self that has remained in your mind. You are not holy, Kassapa; you have not yet entered the
path." And Kassapa gave up his resistance. His envy disappeared, and, bowing down before the
Blessed One, he said: "Lord, our Master, let me receive the ordination from the Blessed
One."
And the Blessed One said: "You, Kassapa, art chief of the Jatilas. Go, then, first
and inform them of yours intention, and let them do as you think fit." Then Kassapa went to
the Jatilas and said: "I am anxious to lead a religious life under the direction of the
great Sakyamuni, who is the Enlightened One, the Buddha. Do as you think best."
The Jatilas replied: "We have conceived a profound affection for the great
Sakyamuni, and if you will join his brotherhood, we will do likewise." The Jatilas of
Uruvela now flung their paraphernalia of fire-worship into the river and went to the Blessed
One.
Nadi Kassapa and Gaya Kassapa, brothers of the great Uruvela Kassapa, powerful men
and chieftains among the people, were dwelling below on the stream, and when they saw the
instruments used in fire-worship floating in the river, they said: "Something has happened
to our brother. And they came with their folk to Uruvela. Hearing what had happened, they,
too, went to the Buddha.
The Blessed One, seeing that the Jatilas of Nadi and Gaya, who had practiced severe
austerities and worshiped fire, were now come to him, preached a sermon on fire, and said:
"Everything, Jatilas, is burning. The eye is burning, all the senses are burning, thoughts
are burning. They are burning with the fire of lust. There is anger, there is ignorance,
there is hatred, and as long as the fire finds inflammable things on which it can feed, so
long will it burn, and there will be birth and death, decay, grief, lamentation, suffering,
despair, and sorrow. Considering this, a disciple of the Dharma will see the four noble
truths and walk in the eightfold path of holiness. He will become wary of his eye, wary of
all his senses, wary of his thoughts. He will divest himself of passion and become free. He
will be delivered from selfishness and attain the blessed state of Nirvana."
And the Jatilas rejoiced and took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the
Sangha.
THE Blessed One having dwelt some time in Uruvela went to Rajagaha, accompanied by
a number of bhikkhus, many of whom had been Jatilas before. The great Kassapa, chief of the
Jatilas and formerly a fire worshiper, went with him.
When the Magadha king, Seniya Bimbisara, heard of the arrival of Gautama Sakyamuni,
of whom the people said, "He is the Holy One, the blessed Buddha, guiding men as a driver
curbs bullocks, the teacher of high and low," he went out surrounded with his counselors and
generals and came to the grove where the Blessed One was. There they saw the Blessed One in
the company of Kassapa, the great religious teacher of the Jatilas, and they were astonished
and thought: "Has the great Sakyamuni placed himself under the spiritual direction of
Kassapa, or has Kassapa become a disciple of Gautama?"
The Tathagata, reading the thoughts of the people, said to Kassapa: "What knowledge
have you gained, Kassapa, and what has induced you to renounce the sacred fire and give up
your austere penances?"
Kassapa said: "The profit I derived from adoring the fire was continuance in the
wheel of individuality with all its sorrows and vanities. This service I have cast away,
and instead of continuing penances and sacrifices I have gone in quest of the highest
Nirvana. Since I have seen the light of truth, I have abandoned worshiping the
fire."
The Buddha, perceiving that the whole assembly was ready as a vessel to receive the
doctrine, spoke thus to Bimbisara the king: "He who knows the nature of self and understands
how the senses act, finds no room for selfishness, and thus he will attain peace unending.
The world holds the thought of self, and from this arises false apprehension. Some say that
the self endures after death, some say it perishes. Both are wrong and their error is most
grievous. For if they say the self is perishable, the fruit they strive for will perish too,
and at some time there will be no hereafter. Good and evil would be indifferent. This
salvation from selfishness is without merit.
"When some, on the other hand, say the self will not perish, then in the midst of
all life and death there is but one identity unborn and undying. If such is their self,
then it is perfect and cannot be perfected by deeds. The lasting, imperishable self could
never be changed. self would be lord and master, and there would be no use in perfecting the
perfect; moral aims and salvation would be unnecessary.
"But now we see the marks of joy and sorrow. Where is any constancy? If there is no
permanent self that does our deeds, then there is no self; there is no actor behind our
actions, no perceiver behind our perception, no lord behind our deeds.
"Now attend and listen: The senses meet the object and from their contact sensation
is born. Thence results recollection. Thus, as the sun's power through a burning-glass
causes fire to appear, so through the cognizance born of sense and object, the mind
originates and with it the ego, the thought of self, whom some Brahman teachers call the
lord. The shoot springs from the seed; the seed is not the shoot; both are not one and the
same, but successive phases in a continuous growth. Such is the birth of animated
life.
"You that are slaves of the self and toil in its service from morn till night, you
that live in constant fear of birth, old age, sickness, and death, receive the good tidings
that your cruel master exists not. Self is an error, an illusion, a dream. Open your eyes
and awaken. See things as they are and you will be comforted. He who is awake will no longer
be afraid of nightmares. He who has recognized the nature of the rope that seemed to be a
serpent will cease to tremble.
"He who has found there is no self will let go all the lusts and desires of egotism.
The cleaving to things, covetousness, and sensuality inherited from former existences, are
the causes of the misery and vanity in the world. Surrender the grasping disposition of
selfishness, and you will attain to that calm state of mind which conveys perfect peace,
goodness, and wisdom."
And the Buddha breathed forth this solemn utterance:
"Do not deceive, do not despise each other anywhere.
Do not be angry, and do not bear secret resentment;
For as a mother risks her life and watches over her child,
So let your love to all be without bounds, so tender, kind and mild.
"Yes cherish good-will right and left for all, both soon and late,
And with no hindrance, with no stint,
Free from envy and hate;
While standing, walking, sitting down, forever keep in mind:
The rule of life that's always best is to be loving-kind.
"Gifts are great, the founding of viharas is meritorious, meditations and religious
exercises pacify the heart, comprehension of the truth leads to Nirvana, but greater than
all is loving-kindness. As the light of the moon is sixteen times stronger than the light of
all the stars, so loving-kindness is sixteen times more efficacious in liberating the heart
than all other religious accomplishments taken together. This state of heart is the best in
the world. Let a man remain steadfast in it while he is awake, whether he is standing,
walking, sitting, or lying down."
When the Enlightened One had finished his sermon, the Magadha king said to the
Blessed One: "In former days, Lord, when I was a prince, I cherished five wishes. I wished:
O, that I might be inaugurated as a king. This was my first wish, and it has been fulfilled.
Further, I wished: Might the Holy Buddha, the Perfect One, appear on earth while I rule and
might he come to my kingdom. This was my second wish and it is fulfilled now. Further I
wished: Might I pay my respects to him. This was my third wish and it is fulfilled now.
The fourth wish was: Might the Blessed One preach the doctrine to me, and this is fulfilled
now.
"The greatest wish, however, was the fifth wish: Might I understand the doctrine of
the Blessed One. And this wish is fulfilled too.
"Glorious Lord! Most glorious is the truth preached by the Tathagata! Our Lord, the
Buddha, sets up what has been overturned; he reveals what has been hidden; he points out the
way to the wanderer who has gone astray; he lights a lamp in the darkness so that those who
have eyes to see may see. I take my refuge in the Buddha. I take my refuge in the Dharma. I
take my refuge in the Sangha."
The Tathagata, by the exercise of his virtue and by wisdom, showed his unlimited
spiritual power. He subdued and harmonized all minds. He made them see and accept the truth,
and throughout the kingdom the seeds of virtue were sown.
SENIYA BIMBISARA, the king, having taken his refuge in the Buddha, invited the
Tathagata to his palace, saying: "Will the Blessed One consent to take his meal with me
tomorrow together with the fraternity of bhikkhus?" The next morning the king announced to
the Blessed One that it was time for taking food: "You are my most welcome guest, Lord of
the world, come; the meal is prepared."
The Blessed One having donned his robes, took his alms-bowl and, together with a
great number of bhikkhus, entered the city of Rajagaha. Sakka, the king of the Devas,
assuming the appearance of a young Brahman, walked in front, and said: "He who teaches
self-control with those who have learned self-control; the redeemer with those whom he has
redeemed; the Blessed One with those to whom he has given peace, is entering Rajagaha Hail
to the Buddha, our Lord! Honor to his name and blessings to all who take refuge in him."
Sakka intoned this stanza:
"Blessed is the place in which the Buddha walks,
And blessed the ears which hear his talks;
Blessed his disciples, for they are
The tellers of his truth both near and far.
"If all could hear this truth so good
Then all men's minds would eat rich food,
And strong would grow men's brotherhood."
When the Blessed One had finished his meal, and had cleansed his bowl and his hands,
the king sat down near him and thought:
"Where may I find a place for the Blessed One to live in, not too far from the town
and not too near, suitable for going and coming, easily accessible to all people who want to
see him, a place that is by day not too crowded and by night not exposed to noise, wholesome
and well fitted for a retired life? There is my pleasure-garden, the bamboo grove Veluvana,
fulfilling all these conditions. I shall offer it to the brotherhood whose head is the
Buddha."
The king dedicated his garden to the brotherhood, saying: "May the Blessed One
accept my gift." Then the Blessed One, having silently shown his consent and having
gladdened and edified the Magadha king by religious discourse, rose from his seat and went
away.
AT that time Sariputta and Moggallana, two Brahmans and chiefs of the followers of
Sanjaya, led a religious life. They had promised each other: "He who first attains Nirvana
shall tell the other one."
Sariputta seeing the venerable Assaji begging for alms, modestly keeping his eyes to
the ground and dignified in deportment, exclaimed: "Truly this samana has entered the right
path; I will ask him in whose name he has retired from the world and what doctrine he
professes." Being addressed by Sariputta, Assaji replied: "I am a follower of the Buddha,
the Blessed One, but being a novice I can tell you the substance only of the
doctrine."
Said Sariputta: "Tell me, venerable monk; it is the substance I want." And Assaji
recited the stanza:
"Nothing we seek to touch or see
Can represent Eternity.
They spoil and die: then let us find
Eternal Truth within the mind."
Having heard this stanza, Sariputta obtained the pure and spotless eye of truth and
said: "Now I see clearly, whatsoever is subject to origination is also subject to cessation.
If this be the doctrine I have reached the state to enter Nirvana which heretofore has
remained hidden from me." Sariputta went to Moggallana and told him, and both said: "We will
go to the Blessed One, that he, the Blessed One, may be our teacher."
When the Buddha saw Sariputta and Moggallana coming from afar," he said to his
disciples, These two monks are highly auspicious." When the two friends had taken refuge in
the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, the Holy One said to his other disciples: "Sariputta,
like the first-born son of a world-ruling monarch, is well able to assist the king as his
chief follower to set the wheel of the law rolling."
Now the people were annoyed. Seeing that many distinguished young men of the kingdom
of Magadha led a religious life under the direction of the Blessed One, they became angry
and murmured: "Gautama Sakyamuni induces fathers to leave their wives and causes families to
become extinct." When they saw the bhikkhus, they reviled them, saying: "The great Sakyamuni
has come to Rajagaha subduing the minds of men. Who will be the next to be led astray by
him?"
The bhikkhus told it to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One said: "This murmuring,
bhikkhus, will not last long. it will last seven days. If they revile you, answer them with
these words: 'It is by preaching the truth that Tathagatas lead men. Who will murmur at the
wise? Who will blame the virtuous? Who will condemn self-control, righteousness, and
kindness?" And the Blessed One proclaimed:
"Commit no wrong, do only good,
And let your heart be pure.
This is the doctrine Buddhas teach,
And this doctrine will endure."
AT this time there was Anathapindika, a man of unmeasured wealth, visiting
Rajagaha. Being of a charitable disposition, he was called "the supporter of orphans and the
friend of the poor." Hearing that the Buddha had come into the world and was stopping in the
bamboo grove near the city, he set out on that very night to meet the Blessed One.
And the Blessed One saw at once the sterling quality of Anathapindika's heart and
greeted him with words of religious comfort. And they sat down together, and Anathapindika
listened to the sweetness of the truth preached by the Blessed One. And the Buddha said:
"The restless, busy nature of the world, this, I declare, is at the root of pain. Attain
that composure of mind which is resting in the peace of immortality. Self is but a heap of
composite qualities, and its world is empty like a fantasy.
"Who is it that shapes our lives? Is it Isvara, a personal creator? If Isvara be the
maker, all living things should have silently to submit to their maker's power. They would
be like vessels formed by the potter's hand; and if it were so, how would it be possible to
practice virtue? If the world had been made by Isvara there should be no such thing as
sorrow, or calamity, or evil; for both pure and impure deeds must come from him. If not,
there would be another cause beside him, and he would not be self-existent. Thus, you see,
the thought of Isvara is overthrown.
"Again, it is said that the Absolute has created us. But that which is absolute
cannot be a cause. All things around us come from a cause as the plant comes from the seed;
but how can the Absolute be the cause of all things alike? If it pervades them, then,
certainly, it does not make them.
"Again, it is said that Self is the maker. But if self is the maker, why did it not
make things pleasing? The causes of sorrow and joy are real and touchable. How can they have
been made by self?
"Again, if we adopt the argument that there is no maker, our fate is such as it is,
and there is no causation, what use would there be in shaping our lives and adjusting means
to an end? Therefore, we argue that all things that exist are not without cause. However,
neither Isvara, nor the absolute, nor the self nor causeless chance, is the maker, but our
deeds produce results both good and evil according to the law of causation.
"Let us, then, abandon the heresy of worshiping Isvara and of praying to him; let us
no longer lose ourselves in vain speculations or profitless subtleties; let us surrender
self and all selfishness, and as all things are fixed by causation, let us practice good so
that good may result from our actions."
And Anathapindika said: "I see that you are the Buddha, the Blessed One the
Tathagata, and I wish to open to the my whole mind. Having listened to my words advise me
what I shall do. My life is full of work, and having acquired great wealth, I am surrounded
with cares. Yet I enjoy my work, and apply myself to it with all diligence. Many people are
in my employ and depend on the success of my enterprises.
"Now, I have heard your disciples praise the bliss of the hermit and denounce the
unrest of the world. 'The Holy One,' they say, 'has given up his kingdom and his
inheritance, and has found the path of righteousness, thus setting an example to all the
world how to attain Nirvana.' My heart yearns to do what is right and to be a blessing to my
fellows. Let me then ask you, Must I give up my wealth, my home, and my business
enterprises, and, like yourself, go into homelessness in order to attain the bliss of a
religious life?"
And the Buddha replied: "The bliss of a religious life is attainable by every one
who walks in the noble eightfold path. He that cleaves to wealth had better cast it away
than allow his heart to be poisoned by it; but he who does not cleave to wealth, and
possessing riches, uses them rightly, will be a blessing to his fellows. It is not life and
wealth and power that enslave men, but the cleaving to life and wealth and power. The
bhikkhu who retires from the world in order to lead a life of leisure will have no gain, for
a life of indolence is an abomination, and lack of energy is to be despised. The Dharma of
the Tathagata does not require a man to go into homelessness or to resign the world, unless
he feels called on to do so; but the Dharma of the Tathagata requires every man to free
himself from the illusion of self, to cleanse his heart, to give up his thirst for pleasure,
and lead a life of righteousness. And whatever men do, whether they remain in the world as
artisans, merchants, and officers of the king, or retire from the world and devote
themselves to a life of religious meditation, let them put their whole heart into their
task; let them be diligent and energetic, and, if they are like the lotus, which, although
it grows in the water, yet remains untouched by the water, if they struggle in life without
cherishing envy or hatred, if they live in the world not a life of self but a life of truth,
then surely joy, peace, and bliss will dwell in their minds."
ANATHAPINDIKA rejoiced at the words of the Blessed One and said: I dwell at
Savatthi, the capital of Kosala, a land rich in produce and enjoying peace. Pasenadi is the
king of the country, and his name is renowned among our own people and our neighbors. Now I
wish to found there a vihara which shall be a place of religious devotion for your
brotherhood, and I pray you kindly to accept it."
The Buddha saw into the heart of the supporter of orphans; and knowing that
unselfish charity was the moving cause of his offer, in acceptance of the gift, the Blessed
One said: "The charitable man is loved by all; his friendship is prized highly; in death his
heart is at rest and full of joy, for he suffers not from repentance; he receives the
opening flower of his reward and the fruit that ripens from it. Hard it is to understand: By
giving away our food, we get more strength, by bestowing clothing on others, we gain more
beauty; by donating abodes of purity and truth, we acquire great treasures.
"There is a proper time and a proper mode in charity; just as the vigorous warrior
goes to battle, so is the man who is able to give. He is like an able warrior a champion
strong and wise in action. Loving and compassionate he gives with reverence and banishes all
hatred, envy, and anger.
"The charitable man has found the path of salvation. He is like the man who plants a
sapling, securing thereby the shade, the flowers, and the fruit in future years. Even so is
the result of charity, even so is the joy of him who helps those that are in need of
assistance; even so is the great Nirvana. We reach the immortal path only by continuous acts
of kindliness and we perfect our souls by compassion and charity."
Anathapindika invited Sariputta to accompany him on his return to Kosala and help
him in selecting a pleasant site for the vihara.
ANATHAPINDIKA, the friend of the destitute and the supporter of orphans, having
returned home, saw the garden of the heir-apparent, Jeta, with its green groves and limpid
rivulets, and thought: "This is the place which will be most suitable as a vihara for the
brotherhood of the Blessed One." And he went to the prince and asked leave to buy the
ground. The prince was not inclined to sell the garden, for he valued it highly. He at first
refused but said at last, "If you can cover it with gold, then, and for no other price,
shall you have it." Anathapindika rejoiced and began to spread his gold; but Jeta said:
"Spare yourself the trouble, for I will not sell." But Anathapindika insisted. Thus they
contended till they resorted to the magistrate.
Meanwhile the people began to talk of the unwonted proceeding, and the prince,
hearing more of the details and knowing that Anathapindika was not only very wealthy but
also straightforward and sincere, inquired into his plans. On hearing the name of the
Buddha, the prince became anxious to share in the foundation and he accepted only one-half
of the gold, saying: "Yours is the land, but mine are the trees. I will give the trees as my
share of this offering to the Buddha."
Then Anathapindika took the land and Jeta the trees, and they placed them in trust
of Sariputta for the Buddha. After the foundations were laid, they began to build the hall
which rose loftily in due proportions according to the directions which the Buddha had
suggested; and it was beautifully decorated with appropriate carvings. This vihara was
called Jetavana, and the friend of the orphans invited the Lord to come to Savatthi and
receive the donation. And the Blessed One left Kapilavatthu and came to Savatthi.
While the Blessed One was entering Jetavana, Anathapindika scattered flowers and
burned incense, and as a sign of the gift he poured water from a golden dragon decanter,
saying, "This Jetavana vihara I give for the use of the brotherhood throughout the world."
The Blessed One received the gift and replied: "May all evil influences be overcome; may the
offering promote the kingdom of righteousness and be a permanent blessing to mankind in
general, to the land of Kosala, and especially also to the giver."
Then the king Pasenadi, hearing that the Lord had come, went in his royal equipage
to the Jetavana vihara and saluted the Blessed One with clasped hands, saying: "'Blessed is
my unworthy and obscure kingdom that it has met with so great a fortune. For how can
calamities and dangers befall it in the presence of the Lord of the world, the Dharmaraja,
the King of Truth. Now that I have seen your sacred countenance, let me partake of the
refreshing waters of your teachings. Worldly profit is fleeting and perishable, but
religious profit is eternal and inexhaustible. A worldly man, though a king, is full of
trouble, but even a common man who is holy has peace of mind."
Knowing the tendency of the king's heart, weighed down by avarice and love of
pleasure, the Buddha seized the opportunity and said: "Even those who, by their evil karma,
have been born in low degree, when they see a virtuous man, feel reverence for him. How much
more must an independent king, on account of merits acquired in previous existences, when
meeting a Buddha, conceive reverence for him. And now as I briefly expound the law, let the
Maharaja listen and weigh my words, and hold fast that which I deliver!
"Our good or evil deeds follow us continually like shadows. That which is most
needed is a loving heart! Regard your people as men do an only son. Do not oppress them, do
not destroy them; keep in due check every member of your body, forsake unrighteous doctrine
and walk in the straight path. Exalt not yourself by trampling down others, but comfort and
befriend the suffering. Neither ponder on kingly dignity, nor listen to the smooth words of
flatterers.
There is no profit in vexing oneself by austerities, but meditate on the Buddha and
weigh his righteous law. We are encompassed on all sides by the rocks of birth, old age,
disease, and death, and only by considering and practicing the true law can we escape from
this sorrow-piled mountain. What profit, then, in practicing iniquity?
"All who are wise spurn the pleasures of the body. They loathe lust and seek to
promote their spiritual existence. When a tree is burning with fierce flames, how can the
birds congregate therein? Truth cannot dwell where passion lives. He who does not know this,
though he be a learned man and be praised by others as a sage, is beclouded with ignorance.
To him who has this knowledge true wisdom dawns, and he will beware of hankering after
pleasure. To acquire this state of mind, wisdom is the one thing needful. To neglect wisdom
will lead to failure in life. The teachings of all religions should center here, for without
wisdom there is no reason.
"This truth is not for the hermit alone; it concerns every human being, priest and
layman alike. There is no distinction between the monk who has taken the vows, and the man
of the world living with his family. There are hermits who fall into perdition, and there
are humble householders who mount to the rank of rishis. Hankering after pleasure is a
danger common to all; it carries away the world. He who is involved in its eddies finds no
escape. But wisdom is the handy boat, reflection is the rudder. The slogan of religion calls
you to overcome the assaults of Mara, the enemy.
"Since it is impossible to escape the result of our deeds, let us practice good
works. Let us guard our thoughts that we do no evil, for as we sow so shall we reap. There
are ways from light into darkness and from darkness into light. There are ways, also, from
the gloom into deeper darkness, and from the dawn into brighter light. The wise man will use
the light he has to receive more light. He will constantly advance in the knowledge of
truth.
"Exhibit true superiority by virtuous conduct and the exercise of reason; meditate
deeply on the vanity of earthly things, and understand the fickleness of life. Elevate the
mind, and seek sincere faith with firm purpose; transgress not the rules of kingly conduct,
and let your happiness depend, not on external things, but on your own mind. Thus you will
lay up a good name for distant ages and will secure the favor of the Tathagata."
The king listened with reverence and remembered all the words of the Buddha in his
heart.
WHEN the Buddha was staying at the Veluvana, the bamboo grove at Rajagaha, he
addressed the brethren thus: "Whether Buddhas arise, priests, or whether Buddhas do not
arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution of being that all
conformations are transitory. This fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has
discovered and mastered it, he announces, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains
and makes it clear that all conformations are transitory.
"Whether Buddhas arise, priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact
and a fixed and necessary constitution of being, that all conformations are suffering. This
fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mastered it, he
announces, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains and makes it clear that all
conformations are suffering.
"Whether Buddhas arise, priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact
and a fixed and necessary constitution of being, that all conformations are lacking a self.
This fact a Buddha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mastered it, he
announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses, minutely explains and makes it clear
that all conformations are lacking a self."
And on another occasion the Blessed One dwelt at Savatthi in the Jetavana, the
garden of Anathapindika. At that time the Blessed One edified, aroused, quickened and
gladdened the monks with a religious discourse on the subject of Nirvana. And these monks
grasping the meaning, thinking it out, and accepting with their hearts the whole doctrine,
listened attentively. But there was one brother who had some doubt left in his heart. He
arose and clasping his hands made the request: "May I be permitted to ask a question?" When
permission was granted he spoke as follows:
"The Buddha teaches that all conformations are transient, that all conformations are
subject to sorrow, that all conformations are lacking a self. How then can there be
Nirvana, a state of eternal bliss?"'
And the Blessed One, this connection, on that occasion, breathed forth this solemn
utterance: "There is, monks, a state where there is neither earth, nor water, nor heat, nor
air; neither infinity of space nor infinity of consciousness, nor nothingness, nor
perception nor non-perception; neither this world nor that world, neither sun nor moon. It
is the uncreate. That, monks, I term neither coming nor going nor standing; neither death
nor birth. It is without stability, without change; it is the eternal which never originates
and never passes away. There is the end of sorrow.
"It is hard to realize the essential, the truth is not easily perceived; desire is
mastered by him who knows, and to him who sees aright all things are naught. There is,
monks, an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed. Were there not, monks, this unborn,
unoriginated, uncreated, unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born,
originated, created, formed. Since, monks, there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated and
unformed, therefore is there an escape from the born, originated, created, formed."
THE Buddha's name became famous over all India and Suddhodana, his father, sent
word to him saying: "I am growing old and wish to see my son before I die. Others have had
the benefit of his doctrine, but not his father nor his relatives." And the messenger said:
"World-honored Tathagata, your father looks for your coming as the lily longs for the rising
of the sun."
The Blessed One consented to the request of his father and set out on his journey to
Kapilavatthu. Soon the tidings spread in the native country of the Buddha: "Prince
Siddhattha, who wandered forth from home into homelessness to obtain enlightenment, having
attained his purpose, is coming back."
Suddhodana went out with his relatives and ministers to meet the prince. When the
king saw Siddhattha, his son, from afar, he was struck with his beauty and dignity, and he
rejoiced in his heart, but his mouth found no words to utter. This, indeed, was his son;
these were the features of Siddhattha. How near was the great samana to his heart, and yet
what a distance lay between them! That noble muni was no longer Siddhattha, his son; he was
the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Holy One, Lord of truth, and teacher of mankind.
Suddhodana the king, considering the religious dignity of his son, descended from his
chariot and after saluting his son said: "It is now seven years since I have seen you. How I
have longed for this moment!"
Then the Sakyamuni took a seat opposite his father, and the king gazed eagerly at
his son. He longed to call him by his name, but he dared not. "Siddhattha," he exclaimed
silently in his heart, "Siddhattha, come back to your aged father and be his son again!" But
seeing the determination of his son, he suppressed his sentiments, and, desolation overcame
him. Thus the king sat face to face with his son, rejoicing in his sadness and sad in his
rejoicing. Well might he be proud of his son, but his pride broke down at the idea that his
great son would never be his heir.
"I would offer you my kingdom," said, the king, "but if I did, you would account it
but as ashes."
And the Buddha said: "I know that the king's heart is full of love and that for his
son's sake he feels deep grief. But let the ties of love that bind him to the son whom he
lost embrace with equal kindness all his fellow-beings, and he will receive in his place a
greater one than Siddhattha; he will receive the Buddha, the teacher of truth, the preacher
of righteousness, and the peace of Nirvana will enter into his heart."
Suddhodana trembled with joy when he heard the melodious words of his son, the
Buddha, and clasping his hands, exclaimed with tears in his eyes: "Wonderful in this
change! The overwhelming sorrow has passed away. At first my sorrowing heart was heavy, but
now I reap the fruit of your great renunciation. It was right that, moved by your mighty
sympathy, you shouldst reject the pleasures of royal power and achieve your noble purpose in
religious devotion. Now that you have found the path, you can preach the law of immortality
to all the world that yearns for deliverance." The king returned to the palace, while the
Buddha remained in the grove before the city.
ON next morning the Buddha took his bowl and set out to beg his food. And the news
spread abroad: "Prince Siddhattha is going from house to house to receive alms in the city
where he used to ride in a chariot attended by his retinue. His robe is like a red clod, and
he holds in his hand an earthen bowl."
On hearing the strange rumor, the king went forth in great haste and when he met his
son he exclaimed: "Why do you thus disgrace me? Don't you know that I can easily supply you
and your bhikkhus with food?" And the Buddha replied: "It is the custom of my
race."
But the king said: "How can this be? You are descended from kings, and not one of
them ever begged for food."
"Great king," rejoined the Buddha you and your race may claim descent from kings; my
descent is from the Buddhas of old. They, begging their food, lived on alms." The king made
no reply, and the Blessed One continued: "It is customary, king, when one has found a hidden
treasure, for him to make an offering of the most precious jewel to his father. Suffer me,
therefore, to open this treasure of mine which is the Dharma, and accept from me this gem":
And the Blessed One recited the following stanza:
"Arise from dreams and delusions,
Awaken with open mind.
Seek only Truth. Where you find it,
Peace also you will find."
Then the king conducted the prince into the palace, and the ministers and all the
members of the royal family greeted him with great reverence, but Yasodhara, the mother of
Rahula, did not make her appearance. The king sent for Yasodhara, but she replied: "Surely,
if I am deserving of any regard, Siddhattha will come and see me."
The Blessed One, having greeted all his relatives and friends, asked: "Where is
Yasodhara?" And on being informed that she had refused to come, he rose straightway and went
to her apartments.
"I am free, the Blessed One said to his disciples, Sari putta and Moggallana, whom
he had bidden to accompany him to the princess's chamber; "the princess, however, is not as
yet free. Not having seen me for a long time, she is exceedingly sorrowful. Unless her grief
be allowed its course her heart will cleave. Should she touch the Tathagata, the Holy One,
you must not prevent her."
Yasodhara sat in her room, dressed in mean garments, and her hair cut. When Prince
Siddhattha entered, she was, from the abundance of her affection, like an overflowing
vessel, unable to contain her love. Forgetting that the man whom she loved was the Buddha,
the Lord of the world, the preacher of truth, she held him by his feet and wept
bitterly.
Remembering, however, that Suddhodana was present, she felt ashamed, and rising,
seated herself reverently at a little distance.
The king apologized for the princess, saying: "This arises from her deep affection,
and is more than a temporary emotion. During the seven years that she has lost her husband,
when she heard that Siddhattha had shaved his head, she did likewise; when she heard that he
had left off the use of perfumes and ornaments, she also refused their use. Like her husband
she had eaten at appointed times from an earthen bowl only. Like him she had renounced high
beds with splendid coverings, and when other princes asked her in marriage, she replied that
she was still his. Therefore, grant her forgiveness."
And the Blessed One spoke kindly to Yasodhara, telling of her great merits
inherited from former lives. She had indeed been again and again of great assistance to him.
Her purity, her gentleness, her devotion had been invaluable to the Bodhisattva when he
aspired to attain enlightenment, the highest aim of mankind. And so holy had she been that
she desired to become the wife of a Buddha. This, then, is her karma, and it is the result
of great merits. Her grief has been unspeakable, but the consciousness of the glory that
surrounds her spiritual inheritance increased by her noble attitude during her life, will be
a balm that will miraculously transform all sorrows into heavenly joy.
MANY people in Kapilavatthu believed in the Tathagata and took refuge in his
doctrine, among them Nanda Sidhattha's half-brother, the son of Pajapati; Devadatta, his
cousin and brother-in-law; Upali the barber; and Anuruddha the philosopher. Some years later
Ananda, another cousin of the Blessed One, also joined the Sangha.
Ananda was a man after the heart of the Blessed One; he was his most beloved
disciple, profound in comprehension and gentle in spirit. And Ananda remained always near
the Blessed Master of truth, till death parted them.
On the seventh day after the Buddha's arrival in Kapilavatthu, Yasodhara dressed
Rahula, now seven years old, in all the splendor of a prince and said to him: "This holy
man, whose appearance is so glorious that he looks like the great Brahma, is your father. He
possesses four great mines of wealth which I have not yet seen. Go to him and entreat him to
put you in possession of them, for the son ought to inherit the property of his
father."
Rahula replied: "I know of no father but the king. Who is my father?" The princess
took the boy in her arms and from the window she pointed out to him the Buddha, who happened
to be near the palace, partaking of food.
Rahula then went to the Buddha, and looking up into his face said without fear and
with much affection: "My father!" And standing near him, he added: "Samana, even your shadow
is a place of bliss!"
When the Tathagata had finished his repast, he gave blessings and went away from the
palace, but Rahula followed and asked his father for his inheritance. No one prevented the
boy, nor did the Blessed One himself.
Then the Blessed One turned to Sariputta, saying: "My son asks for his inheritance.
I cannot give him perishable treasures that will bring cares and sorrows, but I can give him
the inheritance of a holy life, which is a treasure that will not perish."
Addressing Rahula with earnestness, the Blessed One said: "Gold and silver and
jewels are not in my possession. But if you are willing to receive spiritual treasures, and
art strong enough to carry them and to keep them, I shall give you the four truths which
will teach you the eightfold path of righteousness. Do you desire to be admitted to the
brotherhood of those who devote their life to the culture of the heart seeking for the
highest bliss attainable?"
Rahula replied with firmness: "I do. I want to join the brotherhood of the
Buddha."
When the king heard that Rahula had joined the brotherhood of bhikkhus he was
grieved. He had lost Siddhattha and Nanda, his sons, and Devadatta, his nephew. But now that
his grandson had been taken from him, he went to the Blessed One and spoke to him. And the
Blessed One promised that from that time forward he would not ordain any minor without the
consent of his parents or guardians.
LONG before the Blessed One had attained enlightenment, self-mortification had been
the custom among those who earnestly sought for salvation. Deliverance of the soul from all
the necessities of life and finally from the body itself, they regarded as the aim of
religion. Thus, they avoided everything that might be a luxury in food, shelter, and
clothing, and lived like the beasts in the woods. Some went naked, while others wore the
rags cast away on cemeteries or dung-heaps.
When the Blessed One retired from the world, he recognized at once the error of the
naked ascetics, and, considering the indecency of their habit, clad himself in cast-off
rags.
Having attained enlightenment and rejected all unnecessary self-mortifications, the
Blessed One and his bhikkhus continued for a long time to wear the cast-off rags of
cemeteries and dung-heaps. Then it happened that the bhikkhus were visited with diseases of
all kinds, and the Blessed One permitted and explicitly ordered the use of medicines, and
among them he even enjoined, whenever needed, the use of unguents. One of the brethren
suffered from a sore on his foot, and the Blessed One enjoined the bhikkhus to wear
foot-coverings.
Now it happened that a disease befell the body of the Blessed One himself, and
Ananda went to Jivaka, physician to Bimbisara, the king. And Jivaka, a faithful believer in
the Holy One, ministered to the Blessed One with medicines and baths till the body of the
Blessed One was completely restored.
At that time, Pajjota, king of Ujjeni, was suffering from jaundice, and Jivaka, the
physician to king Bimbisara, was consulted. When King Pajjota had been restored to health,
he sent to Jivaka a suit of the most excellent cloth. And Jivaka said to himself: "This
suit is made of the best cloth, and nobody is worthy to receive it but the Blessed One, the
perfect and holy Buddha, or the Magadha king, Senija Bimbisara."
Then Jivaka took that suit and went to the place where the Blessed One was; having
approached him, and having respectfully saluted the Blessed One, he sat down near him and
said: "Lord, I have a boon to ask of the Blessed One." The Buddha replied: "The Tathagatas,
Jivaka, do not grant boons before they know what they are."
Jivaka said: "Lord, it is a proper and unobjectionable request."
"Speak, Jivaka, said the Blessed One.
"Lord of the world, the Blessed One wears only robes made of rags taken from a
dung-heap or a cemetery, and so also does the brotherhood of bhikkhus. Now, Lord, this suit
has been sent to me by King Pajjota, which is the best and most excellent, and the finest
and the most precious, and the noblest that can be found. Lord of the world, may the Blessed
One accept from me this suit, and may he allow the brotherhood of bhikkhus to wear lay
robes."
The Blessed One accepted the suit, and after having delivered a religious discourse,
he addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Henceforth you shall be at liberty to wear either cast-off
rags or lay robes. Whether you are pleased with the one or with the other, I will approve of
it."
When the people at Rajagaha heard, The Blessed One has allowed the bhikkhus to wear
lay robes, those who were willing to bestow gifts became glad. And in one day many
thousands of robes were presented at Rajagaha to the bhikkhus.
WHEN Suddhodana had grown old, he fell sick and sent for his son to come and see
him once more before he died; and the Blessed One came and stayed at the sick-bed, and
Suddhodana, having attained perfect enlightenment, died in the arms of the Blessed
One.
And it is said that the Blessed One, for the sake of preaching to his mother
Maya-devi, ascended to heaven and dwelt with the devas. Having concluded his pious mission,
he returned to the earth and went about again, converting those who listened to his
teachings.
YASODHARA had three times requested of the Buddha that she might be admitted to the
Sangha, but her wish had not been granted. Now Pajapati, the foster-mother of the Blessed
One, in the company of Yasodhara, and many other women, went to the Tathagata entreating him
earnestly to let them take the vows and be ordained as disciples.
The Blessed One, foreseeing the danger that lurked in admitting women to the Sangha,
protested that while the good religion ought surely to last a thousand years it would, when
women joined it, likely decay after five hundred years; but observing the zeal of Pajapati
and Yasodhara for leading a religious life he could no longer resist and assented to have
them admitted as his disciples.
Then the venerable Ananda addressed the Blessed One thus: "Are women competent,
venerable Lord, if they retire from household life to the homeless state, under the doctrine
and discipline announced by the Tathagata, to attain to the fruit of conversion, to attain
to a release from a wearisome repetition of rebirths, to attain to saintship?" The Blessed
One declared: "Women are competent, Ananda, if they retire from household life to the
homeless state, under the doctrine and discipline announced by the Tathagata, to attain to
the fruit of conversion, to attain to a release from a wearisome repetition of rebirths, to
attain to saintship.
"Consider, Ananda, how great a benefactress Pajapati has been. She is the sister of
the mother of the Blessed One, and as foster-mother and nurse, reared the Blessed One after
the death of his mother. So, Ananda, women may retire from household life to the homeless
state, under the doctrine and discipline announced by the Tathagata."
Pajapati was the first woman to become a disciple of the Buddha and to receive the
ordination as a bhikkhuni.
THE bhikkhus came to the Blessed One and asked him: "Tathagata, our Lord and
Master, what conduct toward women do you prescribe to the samanas who have left the
world?"
The Blessed One said: "Guard against looking on a woman. If you see a woman, let it
be as though you saw her not, and have no conversation with her. If, after all, you must
speak with her, let it be with a pure heart, and think to yourself, 'I as a samana will live
in this sinful world as the spotless leaf of the lotus, unsoiled by the mud in which it
grows.'
"If the woman be old, regard her as your mother, if young, as your sister, if very
young, as your child. The samana who looks on a woman as a woman, or touches her as a woman,
has broken his vow and is no longer a disciple of the Tathagata. The power of lust is great
with men, and is to be feared withal; take then the bow of earnest perseverance, and the
sharp arrow-points of wisdom. Cover your heads with the helmet of right thought, and fight
with fixed resolve against the five desires. Lust beclouds a man's heart, when it is
confused with woman's beauty, and the mind is dazed.
"Better far with red-hot irons bore out both your eyes, than encourage in yourself
sensual thoughts, or look on a woman's form with lustful desires. Better fall into the
fierce tiger's mouth, or under the sharp knife of the executioner, than dwell with a woman
and excite in yourself lustful thoughts.
"A woman of the world is anxious to exhibit her form and shape, whether walking,
standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when represented as a picture, she desires to captivate
with the charms of her beauty, and thus to rob men of their steadfast heart. How then ought
you to guard yourselves? By regarding her tears and her smiles as enemies, her stooping
form, her hanging arms, and her disentangled hair as toils designed to entrap man's heart.
Therefore, I say, restrain the heart, give it no unbridled license."
VISAKHA, a wealthy woman in Savatthi who had many children and grandchildren, had
given to the order the Pubbarama or Eastern Garden, and was the first in Northern Kosala to
become a matron of the lay sisters.
When the Blessed One stayed at Savatthi, Visakha went up to the place where the
Blessed One was, and tendered him an invitation to take his meal at her house, which the
Blessed One accepted. And a heavy rain fell during the night and the next morning; and the
bhikkhus doffed their robes to keep them dry and let the rain fall on their
bodies.
When on the next day the Blessed One had finished his meal, she took her seat at his
side and spoke thus: "Eight are the boons, Lord, which I beg of the Blessed One."
Said the Blessed One: "The Tathagatas, Visakha, grant no boons till they know what
they are." Visakha replied: "Befitting, Lord, and unobjectionable are the boons I
ask."
Having received permission to make known her requests, Visakha said: "I desire,
Lord, through all my life long to bestow robes for the rainy season on the Sangha, and food
for incoming bhikkhus, and food for outgoing bhikkhus, and food for the sick, and food for
those who wait on the sick, and medicine for the sick and a constant supply of rice milk for
the Sangha, and bathing robes for the bhikkhunis, the sisters." Said the Buddha: "But what
circumstance is it, Visakha, that you have in view in asking these eight boons of the
Tathagata?"
Visakha replied: "I gave command, Lord, to my maidservant, saying, 'Go, and announce
to the brotherhood that the meal is ready.' And the maid went, but when she came to the
vihara, she observed that the bhikkhus had doffed their robes while it was raining, and she
thought: 'These are not bhikkhus, but naked ascetics letting the rain fall on them. So she
returned to me and reported accordingly, and I had to send her a second time. Impure, Lord,
is nakedness, and revolting. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring
to provide the Sangha my life long with special garments for use in the rainy
season.
"As to my second wish, Lord, an incoming bhikkhu, not being able to take the direct
roads, and not knowing the place where food can be procured, comes on his way tired out by
seeking for alms. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide
the Sangha my life long with food for incoming bhikkhus. Thirdly, Lord, an outgoing bhikkhu,
while seeking about for alms, may be left behind, or may arrive too late at the place
whither he desires to go, and will set out on the road in weariness.
"Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food, his sickness may
increase on him, and he may die. Fifthly, Lord, a bhikkhu who is waiting on the sick will
lose his opportunity of going out to seek food for himself. Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu
does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase on him, and he may
die.
"Seventhly, Lord, I have heard that the Blessed One has praised rice-milk, because
it gives readiness of mind, dispels hunger and thirst; it is wholesome for the healthy as
nourishment, and for the sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha my
life long with a constant supply of rice-milk.
"Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunis are in the habit of bathing in the river Achiravati
with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and naked. And the courtesans, Lord,
ridicule the bhikkhunis, saying, 'What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity
when you are young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you obtain both
worldly pleasure and religious consolation.' Impure, Lord, is nakedness for a woman,
disgusting, and revolting. These are the circumstances, Lord, that I had in view."
The Blessed One said: "But what was the advantage you had in view for yourself,
Visakha, in asking the eight boons of the Tathagatha?"
Visakha replied: "Bhikkhus who have spent the rainy seasons in various places will
come, Lord, to Savatthi to visit the Blessed One. And on coming to the Blessed One they will
ask, saying: 'Such and such a bhikkhu, Lord, has died. What, now, is his destiny?' Then will
the Blessed One explain that he has attained the fruits of conversion; that he has attained
arahatship or has entered Nirvana, as the case may be.
"And I, going up to them, will ask, "Was that brother, Sirs, one of those who had
formerly been at Savatthi?' If reply to me, He has formerly been at Savatthi then shall I
arrive at the conclusion, For a certainty did that brother enjoy either the robes for the
rainy season, or the food for the incoming bhikkhus, or the food for the outgoing bhikkhus,
or the food for the sick, or the food for those that wait on the sick, or the medicine for
the sick, or the constant supply of rice-milk.'
"Then will gladness spring up within me; thus gladdened, joy will come to me; and so
rejoicing all my mind will be at peace. Being thus at peace I shall experience a blissful
feeling of content; and in that bliss my heart will be at rest. That will be to me an
exercise of my moral sense, an exercise of my moral powers, an exercise of the seven kinds
of wisdom! This Lord, was the advantage I had in view for myself in asking those eight boons
of the Blessed One."
The Blessed One said: "It is well, it is well, Visakha. You have done well in asking
these eight boons of the Tathagata with such advantages in view. Charity bestowed on those
who are worthy of it is like good seed sown on a good soil that yields an abundance of
fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are
like seed deposited in a bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it
were, the growth of merits." And the Blessed One gave this thanks to Visakha:
"Noble woman of an upright life,
Disciple of the Blessed One, you give
Unstintedly in purity of heart.
"You spread joy, assuage pain,
And verily your gift will be a blessing
As well to many others as to you."
WHEN Seniya Bimbisara, the king of Magadha, was advanced in years, he retired from
the world and led a religious life. He observed that there were Brahmanical sects in
Rajagaha keeping sacred certain days, and the people went to their meeting-houses and
listened to their sermons. Concerning the need of keeping regular days for retirement from
worldly labors and religious instruction, the king went to the Blessed One and said: "The
Parivrajaka, who belong. to the Titthiya school, prosper and gain adherents because they
keep the eighth day and also the fourteenth or fifteenth day of each half-month. Would it
not be advisable for the reverend brethren of the Sangha also to assemble on days duly
appointed for that purpose?"
The Blessed One commanded the bhikkhus to assemble on the eighth day and also on the
fourteenth or fifteenth day of each half-month, and to devote these days to religious
exercises.
A bhikkhu duly appointed should address the congregation and expound the Dharma. He
should exhort the people to walk in the eightfold path of righteousness; he should comfort
them in the vicissitudes of life and gladden them with the bliss of the fruit of good deeds.
Thus the brethren should keep the Uposatha. Now the bhikkhus, in obedience to the rule laid
down by the Blessed One, assembled in the vihara on the day appointed, and the people went
to hear the Dharma, but they were greatly disappointed, for the bhikkhus remained silent and
delivered no discourse.
When the Blessed One heard of it, he ordered the bhikkhus to recite the Patimokkha,
which is a ceremony of disburdening the conscience; and he commanded them to make confession
of their trespasses so as to receive the absolution of the order. A fault, if there be one,
should be confessed by the bhikkhu who remembers it and desires to be cleansed, for a fault,
when confessed, shall be light on him.
And the Blessed One said: "The Patimokkha must be recited in this way: Let a
competent and venerable bhikkhu make the following proclamation to the Sangha: "May the
Sangha hear me Today is Uposatha, the eighth, or the fourteenth or fifteenth day of the
half-month. If the Sangha is ready, let the Sangha hold the Uposatha service and recite the
Patimokkha. I will recite the Patimokkha.' And the bhikkhus shall reply: 'We hear it well
and we concentrate well our minds on it, all of us.' Then the officiating bhikkhu shall
continue: 'Let him who has committed an offense confess it; if there be no offense, let all
remain silent; from your being silent I shall understand that the reverend brethren are free
from offenses. As a single person who has been asked a question answers it, so also, if
before an assembly like this a question is solemnly proclaimed three times, an answer is
expected: if a bhikkhu, after a threefold proclamation, does not confess an existing offense
which he remembers, he commits an intentional falsehood. Now, reverend brethren, an
intentional falsehood has been declared an impediment by the Blessed One. Therefore, if an
offense has been committed by a bhikkhu who remembers it and desires to become pure, the
offense should be confessed by the bhikkhu; and when it has been confessed, it is treated
duly.'"
WHILE the Blessed One dwelt at Kosambi, a certain bhikkhu was accused of having
committed an offense, and, as he refused to acknowledge it, the brotherhood pronounced
against him the sentence of expulsion.
Now, that bhikkhu was erudite. He knew the Dharma, had studied the rules of the
order, and was wise, learned, intelligent, modest, conscientious, and ready to submit
himself to discipline. And he went to his companions and friends among the bhikkhus, saying:
"This is no offense, friends; this is no reason for a sentence of expulsion. I am not
guilty. The verdict improper and invalid. Therefore I consider myself still as a member of
the order. May the venerable brethren assist me in maintaining my right."
Those who sided with the expelled brother went to the bhikkhus who had pronounced
the sentence, saying: "This is no offense"; while the bhikkhus who had pronounced the
sentence replied: "This is an offense." Thus altercations and quarrels arose, and the Sangha
was divided into two parties, reviling and slandering each other.
All these happenings were reported to the Blessed One. Then the Blessed One went to
the place where the bhikkhus were who had pronounced the sentence of expulsion, and said to
them: "Do not think, bhikkhus, that you are to pronounce expulsion against a bhikkhu,
whatever be the facts of the case, simply by saying: 'It occurs to us that it is so, and
therefore we are pleased to proceed thus against our brother.' Let those bhikkhus who
frivolously pronounce a sentence against a brother who knows the Dharma and the rules of the
order, who is learned, wise, intelligent, modest, conscientious, and ready to submit himself
to discipline, stand in awe of causing divisions. They must not pronounce a sentence of
expulsion against a brother merely because he refuses to see his offense."
Then the Blessed One rose and went to the brethren who sided with the expelled
brother and said to them: "Do not think, bhikkhus, that if you have given offense you need
not atone for it, thinking: 'We are without offense.' When a bhikkhu has committed an
offense, which he considers no offense while the brotherhood consider him guilty, he should
think: 'These brethren know the Dharma and the rules of the order; they are learned, wise,
intelligent, modest, conscientious, and ready to submit themselves to discipline; it is
impossible that they should on my account act with selfishness or in malice or in delusion
or in fear.' Let him stand in awe of causing divisions, and rather acknowledge his offense
on the authority of his brethren."
Both parties continued to keep Uposatha and perform official acts independently of
one another; and when their doings were related to the Blessed One, he ruled that the
keeping of Uposatha and the performance of official acts were lawful, unobjectionable, and
valid for both parties. For he said: "The bhikkhus who side with the expelled brother form a
different communion from those who pronounced the sentence. There are venerable brethren in
both parties. As they do not agree, let them keep Uposatha and perform official acts
separately."
And the Blessed One reprimanded the quarrelsome bhikkhus, saying to them: "Loud is
the voice which worldings make; but how can they be blamed when divisions arise also in the
Sangha? Hatred is not appeased in those who think: 'He has reviled me, he has wronged me,
he has injured me.' For not by hatred is hatred appeased. Hatred is appeased by not-hatred.
This is an eternal law.
"There are some who do not know the need of self-restraint; if they are quarrelsome
we may excuse their behavior. But those who know better, should learn to live in concord. If
a man finds a wise friend who lives righteously and is constant in his character, he may
live with him, overcoming all dangers, happy and mindful.
"But if he finds not a friend who lives righteously and is constant in his
character, let him rather walk alone, like a king who leaves his empire and the cares of
government behind him to lead a life of retirement like a lonely elephant in the forest.
With fools there is no companionship. Rather than to live with men who are selfish, vain,
quarrelsome, and obstinate let a man walk alone."
And the Blessed One thought to himself: "It is no easy task to instruct these
headstrong and infatuate fools." And he rose from his seat and went away.
WHILE the dispute between the parties was not yet settled, the Blessed One left
Kosambi, and wandering from place to place he came at last to Savatthi. In the absence of
the Blessed One the quarrels grew worse, so that the lay devotees of Kosambi became annoyed
and they said: "These quarrelsome monks are a great nuisance and will bring on us
misfortune. Worried by their altercations the Blessed One is gone, and has selected another
abode for his residence. Let us, therefore, neither salute the bhikkhus nor support them.
They are not worthy of wearing yellow robes, and must either propitiate the Blessed One, or
return to the world."
And the bhikkhus of Kosambi, when no longer honored and no longer supported by the
lay devotees, began to repent and said: "Let us go to the Blessed One and let him settle the
question of our disagreement." Both parties went to Savatthi to the Blessed One. And the
venerable Sariputta, having heard of their arrival, addressed the Blessed One and said:
"These contentious, disputatious, and quarrelsome bhikkhus of Kosambi, the authors of
dissensions, have come to Savatthi. How am I to behave, Lord, toward those
bhikkhus."
"Do not reprove them, Sariputta, said the Blessed One, "For harsh words do not serve
as a remedy and are pleasant to no one. Assign separate dwelling-places to each party and
treat them with impartial justice. Listen with patience to both parties. He alone who weighs
both sides is called a muni. When both parties have presented their case, let the Sangha
come to an agreement and declare the re-establishment of concord."
Pajapati, the matron, asked the Blessed One for advice, and the Blessed One said:
"Let both parties enjoy the gifts of lay members, be they robes or food, as they may need,
and let no one receive preference over any other."
The venerable Upali, having approached the Blessed One, asked concerning the
re-establishment of peace in the Sangha: "Would it be right, Lord, said he, that the Sangha,
to avoid further disputations, should declare the restoration of concord without inquiring
into the matter of the quarrel?"
The Blessed One said: "If the Sangha declares the reestablishment of concord without
having inquired into the matter, the declaration is neither right nor lawful. There are two
ways of re-establishing concord; one is in the letter, and the other one is in the spirit
and in the letter.
"If the Sangha declares the re-establishment of concord without having inquired into
the matter, the peace is concluded in the letter only. But if the Sangha, having inquired
into the matter and having gone to the bottom of it, decides to declare the re-establishment
of concord, the peace is concluded in the spirit and also in the letter. The concord
re-established in the spirit and in the letter is alone right and lawful."
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus and told them the story of Prince
Dighavu, the Long-lived. He said: "In former times, there lived at Benares a powerful king
whose name was Brahmadatta of Kasi; and he went to war against Dighiti, the Long-suffering,
a king of Kosala, for he thought, The kingdom of Kosala is small and Dighiti will not be
able to resist my armies." And Dighiti, seeing that resistance was impossible against the
great host of the king of Kasi, fled leaving his little kingdom in the hands of Brahmadatta;
and having wandered from place to place, he came at last to Benares, and lived there with
his consort in a potter's dwelling outside the town.
"The queen bore him a son and they called him Dighavu. When Dighavu had grown up,
the king thought to himself: 'King Brahmadatta has done us great harm, and he is fearing our
revenge; he will seek to kill us. Should he find us he will slay all three of us.' And he
sent his son away, and Dighavu having received a good education from his father, applied
himself diligently to learn all arts, becoming very skillful and wise.
"At that time the barber of King Dighiti dwelt at Benares, and he saw the king, his
former master, and being of an avaricious nature, betrayed him to King Brahmadatta. When
Brahmadatta, the king of Kasi, heard that the fugitive king of Kosala and his queen, unknown
and in disguise, were living a quiet life in a potter's dwelling, he ordered them to be
bound and executed; and the sheriff to whom the order was given seized King Dighiti and led
him to the place of execution.
"While the captive king was being led through the streets of Benares he saw his son
who had returned to visit his parents, and, careful not to betray the presence of his son,
yet anxious to communicate to him his last advice, he cried: 'Dighavu, my son! Be not
far-sighted, be not near-sighted, for not by hatred is hatred appeased; hatred is appeased
by not-hatred only.'
"The king and queen of Kosala were executed, but Dighavu their son bought strong
wine and made the guards drunk. When the night arrived he laid the bodies of his parents on
a funeral pyre and burned them with all honors and religious rites. When King Brahmadatta
heard of it, he became afraid, for he thought, Dighavu, the son of King Dighiti, is a wise
youth and he will take revenge for the death of his parents. If he espies a favorable
opportunity, he will assassinate me.'
"Young Dighavu went to the forest and wept to his heart's content. Then he wiped his
tears and returned to Benares. Hearing that assistants were wanted in the royal elephants'
stable, he offered his services and was engaged by the master of the elephants. And it
happened that the king heard a sweet voice ringing through the night and singing to the lute
a beautiful song that gladdened his heart. And having inquired among his attendants who the
singer might be, was told that the master of the elephants had in his service a young man of
great accomplishments, and beloved by all his comrades. They said He is wont to sing to the
lute, and he must have been the singer that gladdened the heart of the king.'
"The king summoned the young man before him and, being much pleased with Dighavu,
gave him employment in the royal castle. Observing how wisely the youth acted, how modest he
was and yet punctilious in the performance of his work, the king very soon gave him a
position of trust. Now it came to pass that the king went hunting and became separated from
his retinue, young Dighavu alone remaining with him. And the king worn out from the hunt
laid his head in the lap of young Dighavu and slept.
"Dighavu thought: 'People will forgive great wrongs which they have suffered, but
they will never be at ease about the wrong which they themselves have done. They will
persecute their victims to the bitter end. This King Brahmadatta has done us great injury;
he robbed us of our kingdom and slew my father and my mother. He is now in my power.
Thinking thus he unsheathed his sword. Then Dighavu thought of the last words of his father.
'Be not far-sighted, be not near-sighted. For not by hatred is hatred appeased. Hatred is
appeased by not-hatred alone.-Thinking thus, he put his sword back into the
sheath.
"The king became restless in his sleep and he awoke, and when the youth asked, 'Why
are you frightened, king?' he replied: 'My sleep is always restless because I often dream
that young Dighavu is coming on me with his sword. While I lay here with my head in your lap
I dreamed the dreadful dream again; and I awoke full of terror and alarm.' Then the youth,
laying his left hand on the defenseless king's head and with his right hand drawing his
sword, said: 'I am Dighavu, the son of King Dighiti, whom you have robbed of his kingdom and
slain together with his queen, my mother. I know that men overcome the hatred entertained
for wrongs which they have suffered much more easily than for the wrongs which they have
done, and so I cannot expect that you will take pity on me; but now a chance for revenge has
come to me.
"The king seeing that he was at the mercy of young Dighavu raised his hands and
said: 'Grant me my life, my dear Dighavu, grant me my life. I shall be forever grateful to
you.' And Dighavu said without bitterness or ill-will: 'How can I grant you your life,
king, since my life is endangered by you? I do not mean to take your life. It is you, king,
who must grant me my life."
"And the king said: 'Well, my dear Dighavu, then grant me my life, and I will grant
you your.' Thus, King Brahmadatta of Kasi and young Dighavu granted each other's life and
took each other's hand and swore an oath not to do any harm to each other.
"Then King Brahmadatta of Kasi said to young Dighavu: 'Why did your father say to
you in the hour of his death: "Be not far-sighted, be not near-sighted, for hatred is not
appeased by hatred. Hatred is appeased by not-hatred alone,"-what did your father mean by
that?'
"The youth replied: 'When my father, king, in the hour of his death said: 'Be not
far-sighted," he meant, Let 'Be not hatred go far. And when my father said near-sighted," he
meant, be not hasty to fall out with your friends. And when he said For not by hatred is
hatred appeased; hatred is appeased by not-hatred, he meant this: You have killed my father
and mother, king, and if I should deprive you of your life, then your partisans in turn
would take away my life; my partisans again would deprive your of their lives. Thus by
hatred, hatred would not be appeased. But now, king, you have granted me my life, and I have
granted you your; thus by not-hatred hatred has been appeased.'
"Then King Brahmadatta of Kasi thought: 'How wise is young Dighavu that he
understands in its full extent the meaning of what his father spoke concisely.' And the king
gave him back his father's kingdom and gave him his daughter in marriage."
Having finished the story, the Blessed One said: "Brethren, you are my lawful sons
in the faith, begotten by the words of my mouth. Children ought not to trample under foot
the counsel given them by their father; do you henceforth follow my admonitions. Then the
bhikkhus met in conference; they discussed their differences in mutual good will, and the
concord of the Sangha was re-established.
IT happened that the Blessed One walked up and down in the open air unshod. When
the elders saw that the Blessed One walked unshod, they put away their shoes and did
likewise. But the novices did not heed the example of their elders and kept their feet
covered.
Some of the brethren noticed the irreverent behavior of the novices and told the
Blessed One; and the Blessed One rebuked the novices and said: "If the brethren, even now,
while I am yet living, show so little respect and courtesy to one another, what will they do
when I have passed away?"
The Blessed One was filled with anxiety for the welfare of the truth; and he
continued: "Even the laymen, bhikkhus, who move in the world, pursuing some handicraft that
they may procure them a living, will be respectful, affectionate, and hospitable to their
teachers. Do you, therefore, bhikkhus, so let your light shine forth, that you, having left
the world and devoted your entire life to religion and to religious discipline, may observe
the rules of decency, be respectful, affectionate, and hospitable to your teachers and
superiors, or those who rank as your teachers and superiors. Your demeanor, bhikkhus, does
not conduce to the conversion of the unconverted and to the increase of the number of the
faithful. It serves, bhikkhus, to repel the unconverted and to estrange them. I exhort you
to be more considerate in the future, more thoughtful and more respectful."
WHEN Devadatta, the son of Suprabuddha and a brother of Yasodhara, became a
disciple, he cherished the hope of attaining the same distinctions and honors as Gautama
Siddhattha. Being disappointed in his ambitions, he conceived in his heart a jealous hatred,
and, attempting to excel the Perfect One in virtue, he found fault with his regulations and
reproved them as too lenient.
Devadatta went to Rajagaha and gained the ear of Ajatasattu, the son of King
Bimbisara. And Ajatasattu built a new vihara for Devadatta, and founded a sect whose
disciples were pledged to severe rules and self-mortification.
Soon afterwards the Blessed One himself came to Rajagaha and stayed at the Veluvana
vihara. Devadatta called on the Blessed One, requesting him to sanction his rules of greater
stringency, by which a greater holiness might be procured. "The body," he said, consists of
its thirty-two parts and has no divine attributes. It is conceived in sin and born in
corruption. Its attributes are liability to pain and dissolution, for it is impermanent. It
is the receptacle of karma which is the curse of our former existences; it is the dwelling
place of sin and diseases and its organs constantly discharge disgusting secretions. Its end
is death and its goal the charnel house. Such being the condition of the body it behooves us
to treat it as a carcass full of abomination and to clothe it in such rags only as have been
gathered in cemeteries or on dung-hills."
The Blessed One said: "Truly, the body is full of impurity and its end is the
charnel house, for it is impermanent and destined to be dissolved into its elements. But
being the receptacle of karma, it lies in our power to make it a vessel of truth and not of
evil. It is not good to indulge in the pleasures of the body, but neither is it good to
neglect our bodily needs and to heap filth on impurities. The lamp that is not cleansed and
not filled with oil will be extinguished, and a body that is unkempt, unwashed, and weakened
by penance will not be a fit receptacle for the light of truth. Attend to your body and its
needs as you would treat a wound which you care for without loving it. Severe rules will not
lead the disciples on the middle path which I have taught. Certainly, no one can be
prevented from keeping more stringent rules, if he sees fit to do so but they should not be
imposed on any one, for they are unnecessary."
Thus the Tathagata refused Devadatta's proposal; and Devadatta left the Buddha and
went into the vihara speaking evil of the Lord's path of salvation as too lenient and
altogether insufficient. When the Blessed One heard of Devadatta's intrigues, he said:
"Among men there is no one who is not blamed. People blame him who sits silent and him who
speaks, they also blame the man who preaches the middle path."
Devadatta instigated Ajatasattu to plot against his father Bimbisara, the king, so
that the prince would no longer be subject to him. Bimbisara was imprisoned by his son in a
tower, where he died, leaving the kingdom of Magadha to his son Ajatasattu.
The new king listened to the evil advice of Devadatta, and he gave orders to take
the life of the Tathagata. However, the murderers sent out to kill the Lord could not
perform their wicked deed, and became converted as soon as they saw him and listened to his
preaching. The rock hurled down from a precipice on the great Master split in twain, and the
two pieces passed by on either side without doing any harm. Nalagiri, the wild elephant let
loose to destroy the Lord, became gentle in his presence; and Ajatasattu, suffering greatly
from the pangs of his conscience, went to the Blessed One and sought peace in his
distress.
The Blessed One received Ajatasattu kindly and taught him the way of salvation; but
Devadatta still tried to become the founder of a religious school of his own. Devadatta did
not succeed in his plans and having been abandoned by many of his disciples, he fell sick,
and then repented. He entreated those who had remained with him to carry his litter to the
Buddha, saying: "Take me, children, take me to him; though I have done evil to him, I am his
brother-in-law. For the sake of our relationship the Buddha will save me." And they obeyed,
although reluctantly.
And Devadatta in his impatience to see the Blessed One rose from his litter while
his carriers were washing their hands. But his feet burned under him; he sank to the ground;
and, having chanted a hymn on the Buddha, died.
ON one occasion the Blessed One entered the assembly hall and the brethren hushed
their conversation. When they had greeted him with clasped hands, they sat down and became
composed. Then the Blessed One said: "Your minds are inflamed with intense interest; what
was the topic of your discussion?"
And Sariputta rose and spake: "World-honored master, were the nature of man's own
existence. We were trying to grasp the mixture of our own being which is called Name and
Form. Every human being consists of conformations, and there are three groups which are not
corporeal. They are sensation, perception, and the dispositions; all three constitute
consciousness and mind, being comprised under the term Name. And there are four elements,
the earthy element, the watery element, the fiery element, and the gaseous element, and
these four elements constitute man's bodily form, being held together so that this machine
moves like a puppet. How does this name and form endure and how can it live?"
Said the Blessed One: "Life is instantaneous and living is dying. Just as a
chariot-wheel in rolling rolls only at one point of the tire, and in resting rests only at
one point; in exactly the same way, the life of a living being lasts only for the period of
one thought. As soon as that thought has ceased the being is said to have ceased. As it has
been said: 'The being of a past moment of thought has lived, but does not live, nor will it
live. The being of a future moment of thought will live, but has not lived, nor does it
live. The being of the present moment of thought does live, but has not lived, nor will it
live.'
"As to Name and Form we must understand how they interact. Name has no power of its
own, nor can it go on of its own impulse, either to eat, or to drink, or to utter sounds, or
to make a movement. Form also is without power and cannot go on of its own impulse. It has
no desire to eat, or to drink, or to utter sounds, or to make a movement. But Form goes on
when supported by Name, and Name when supported by Form. When Name has a desire to eat, or
to drink, or to utter sounds, or to make a movement, then Form eats, drinks, utters sounds,
makes a movement.
"It is as if two men, the one blind from birth and the other a cripple, were
desirous of going traveling, and the man blind from birth were to say to the cripple as
follows: 'See here! I am able to use my legs, but I have no eyes with which to see the rough
and the smooth places in the road.' And the cripple were to say to the man blind from birth
as follows: 'See here! I am able to use my eyes, but I have no legs with which to go forward
and back.' And the man blind from birth, pleased and delighted, were to mount the cripple on
his shoulders. And the cripple sitting on the shoulders of the man blind from birth were to
direct him, saying, 'Leave the left and go to the right; leave the right and go to the
left.'
"Here the man blind from birth is without power of his own, and weak, and cannot go
of his own impulse or might. The cripple also is without power of his own, and weak, and
cannot go of his own impulse or might. Yet when they mutually support one another it is not
impossible for them to go. In exactly the same way Name is without power of its own, and
cannot spring up of its own might, nor perform this or that action. Form also is without
power of its own, and cannot spring up of its own might, nor perform this or that action.
Yet when they mutually support one another it is not impossible for them to spring up and go
on.
"There is no material that exists for the production of Name and Form; and when
Name and Form cease, they do not go any whither in space. After Name and Form have ceased,
they do not exist anywhere, any more than there is heaped-up music material. When a lute is
played on, there is no previous store of sound; and when the music ceases it does not go any
whither in space. When it has ceased, it exists nowhere in a stored-up state. Having
previously been non-existent, it came into existence on account of the structure and stern
of the lute and the exertions of the performer; and as it came into existence so it passes
away. In exactly the same way, all the elements of being, both corporeal and non-corporeal
come into existence after having previously been non-existent; and having come into
existence pass away.
"There is not a self residing in Name and Form, but the cooperation of the
conformations produces what people call a man. Just as the word 'chariot' is but a mode of
expression for axle, wheels, the chariot-body and other constituents in their proper
combination, so a living being is the appearance of the groups with the four elements as
they are joined in a unit. There is no self in the carriage and there is no self in man.
Bhikkhus, this doctrine is sure and an eternal truth, that there is no self outside of its
parts. This self of ours which constitutes Name and Form is a combination of the groups with
the four elements, but there is no ego entity, no self in itself.
"Paradoxical though it may sound: There is a path to walk on, there is walking being
done, but there is no traveler. There are deeds being done, but there is no doer. There is a
blowing of the air, but there is no wind that does the blowing. The thought of self is an
error and all existences are as hollow as the plantain tree and as empty as twirling water
bubbles.
"Therefore, bhikkhus, as there is no self, there is no transmigration of a self; but
there are deeds and the continued effect of deeds. There is a rebirth of karma; there is
reincarnation. This rebirth, this reincarnation, this reappearance of the conformations is
continuous and depends on the law of cause and effect. Just as a seal is impressed on the
wax reproducing the configurations of its device, so the thoughts of men, their characters,
their aspirations are impressed on others in continuous transference and continue their
karma, and good deeds will continue in blessings while bad deeds will continue in
curses.
"There is no entity here that migrates, no self is transferred from one place to
another; but there is a voice uttered here and the echo of it comes back. The teacher
pronounces a stanza and the disciple who attentively listens to his teacher's instruction,
repeats the stanza. Thus the stanza is reborn in the mind of the disciple. The body is a
compound of perishable organs. It is subject to decay; and we should take care of it as of a
wound or a sore; we should attend to its needs without being attached to it, or loving it.
The body is like a machine, and there is no self in it that makes it walk or act, but the
thoughts of it, as the windy elements, cause the machine to work. The body moves about like
a cart. Therefore it is said:
"As ships are blown by wind on sails,
As arrows fly from twanging bow,
So, when the force of thought directs,
The body, following, must go.
"Just as machines are worked by ropes,
So are the body's gear and groove;
Obedient to the pull of mind,
Our muscles and our members move.
"No independent 'I' is here,
But many gathered mobile forces;
Our chariot is manned by mind,
And our karma is our horses.
"He only who utterly abandons all thought of the ego escapes the snares of the Evil
One; he is out of the reach of Mara. Thus says the pleasure-promising tempter:
"So long as to those things
Called 'mine, and 'I' and 'me'
Your hungry heart still clings-
My snares you cannot flee.
"The faithful disciple replies:
"Naught's mine and naught of me,
The self I do not mind!
Thus Mara, I tell you,
My path you can not find.
"Dismiss the error of the self and do not cling to possessions which are transient,
but perform deeds that are good, for deeds are enduring and in deeds your karma
continues.
"Since, then, bhikkhus, there is no self, there can not be any after life of a self.
Therefore abandon all thought of self. But since there are deeds and since deeds continue,
be careful with your deeds. All beings have karma as their portion: they are heirs of their
karma; they are sprung from their karma; their karma is their kinsman; their karma is their
refuge; karma allots beings to meanness or to greatness.
"Assailed by death in life last throes
On quitting all your joys and woes
What is your own, your recompense?
What stays with you when passing hence?
What like a shadow follows you
And will Beyond your heirloom be?
"it is deeds, your deeds, both good and bad;
Naught else can after death be had.
Your deeds are your, your recompense;
They are your own when going hence;
They like a shadow follow you
And will Beyond your heirloom be.
"Let all then here perform good deeds,
For future weal a treasure store;
There to reap crops from noble seeds,
A bliss increasing evermore."
THE Blessed One thus addressed the bhikkhus: "It is through not understanding the
four noble truths, bhikkhus, that we had to wander so long in the weary path of samsara,
both you and I.
"Through contact thought is born from sensation, and is reborn by a reproduction of
its form. Starting from the simplest forms, the mind rises and falls according to deeds, but
the aspirations of a Bodhisattva pursue the straight path of wisdom and righteousness, till
they reach perfect enlightenment in the Buddha.
"All creatures are what they are through the karma of their deeds done in former and
in present existences.
"The rational nature of man is a spark of the true light; it is the first step on
the upwa |
NOW THE Blessed One thought: "To whom shall I preach the doctrine first? My old
teachers are dead. They would have received the good news with joy. But my five disciples
are still alive. I shall go to them, and to them shall I first proclaim the gospel of
deliverance."