The Gospel of Buddha Part 10

And the Blessed One addressed Ka.s.sapa and said: "Thou seest the truth, but acceptest it not because of the envy that dwells in thy heart. Is envy holiness? Envy is the last remnant of self that has remained in thy mind. Thou art not holy, Ka.s.sapa; thou hast not yet entered the path." 15

And Ka.s.sapa 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 tin. Blessed One." 16

And the Blessed One said: "Thou, Ka.s.sapa, art chief of the Jatilas. Go, then, first and inform them of thine intention, and let them do as thou thinkest fit." 17

Then Ka.s.sapa 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 ye think best." 18

And the Jatilas replied: "We have conceived a profound affection for the great Sakyamuni, and if thou wilt join his brotherhood, we will do likewise." 19

The Jatilas of Uruvela now flung their paraphernalia of fire-worship into the river and went to the Blessed One. 20

Nadi Ka.s.sapa and Gaya Ka.s.sapa, brothers of the great Uruvela Ka.s.sapa, 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. 21

The Blessed One, seeing that the Jatilas of Nadi and Gaya, who had practised severe austerities and worshipped fire, were now come to him, preached a sermon on fire, and said: 22

"Everything, O Jatilas, is burning. The eye is burning, all the senses are burning, thoughts are burning. They are burning with the fire of l.u.s.t. There is anger, there is ignorance, there is hatred, and as long as the fire finds inflammable things upon 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 n.o.ble 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 pa.s.sion and become free. He will be delivered from selfishness and attain the blessed state of Nirvana." 23

And the Jatilas rejoiced and took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. 24

XX

THE SERMON AT RAJAGAHA.

And the Blessed One having dwelt some time in Uruvela went forth to Rajagaha, accompanied by a great number of bhikkhus, many of whom had been Jatilas before; and the great Ka.s.sapa, chief of the Jatilas and formerly a fireworshipper, went with him. 1

When the Magadha king, Seniya Bimbisara, heard of the arrival of Gotama 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 counsellors and generals and came to the grove where the Blessed One was. 2

There they saw the Blessed One in the company of Ka.s.sapa, the great religious teacher of the Jatilas, and they were astonished and thought: "Has the great Sakyamuni placed himself under the spiritual direction of Ka.s.sapa, or has Ka.s.sapa become a disciple of Gotama?" 3

And the Tathagata, reading the thoughts of the people, said to Ka.s.sapa: "What knowledge hast thou gained, O Ka.s.sapa, and what has induced thee to renounce the sacred fire and give up thine austere penances?" 4

Ka.s.sapa 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 worshipping the fire." 5

The Buddha, perceiving that the whole a.s.sembly was ready as a vessel to receive the doctrine, spoke thus to Bimbisara the king: 6

"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. 7

"Some say that the self endures after death, some say it perishes. Both are wrong and their error is most grievous. 8

"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. 9

"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 ident.i.ty 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. The self would be lord and master, and there would be no use in perfecting the perfect; moral aims and salvation would be unnecessary. 10

"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. 11

"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-gla.s.s 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. 12

"Ye that are slaves of the self and toil in its service from morn until night, ye that live in constant fear of birth, old age, sickness, and death, receive the good tidings that your cruel master exists not. 13

"Self is an error, an illusion, a dream. Open your eyes and awaken. See things as they are and ye will be comforted. 14

"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. 15

"He who has found there is no self will let go all the l.u.s.ts and desires of egotism. 16

"The cleaving to things, covetousness, and sensuality inherited from former existences, are the causes of the misery and vanity in the world. 17

"Surrender the grasping disposition of selfishness, and you will attain to that calm state of mind which conveys perfect peace, goodness, and wisdom." 18

And the Buddha breathed forth this solemn utterance: 19

"Do not deceive, do not despise Each other, anywhere.

Do not be angry, nor should ye Secret resentment bear; For as a mother risks her life And watches o'er her child, So boundless be your love to all, So tender, kind and mild. 20

"Yea, cherish good-will right and left, All round, early and late, And without hindrance, without stint, From envy free and hate, While standing, walking, sitting down, Whate'er you have in mind, The rule of life that's always best Is to be loving-kind. 21

"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 lovingkindness. As the light of the moon is sixteen times stronger than the light of all the stars, so lovingkindness is sixteen times more efficacious in liberating the heart than all other religious accomplishments taken together. 22

"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." 23

When the Enlightened One had finished his sermon, the Magadha king said to the Blessed One: 24

"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. 25

"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. 26

"I take my refuge in the Buddha. I take my refuge in the Dharma.

I take my refuge in the Sangha." 27

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. 28

XXI

THE KING'S GIFT.

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 to-morrow together with the fraternity of bhikkhus?" 1

The next morning Seniya Bimbisara, the king, announced to the Blessed One that it was time for taking food: "Thou art my most welcome guest, O Lord of the world, come; the meal is prepared." 2

And the Blessed One having donned his robes, took his alms-bowl and, together with a great number of bhikkhus, entered the city of Rajagaha. 3