The Gospel of Buddha Part 16

Visakha replied: "Befitting, Lord, and un.o.bjectionable are the boons I ask." 6

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 upon 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." 7

Said the Buddha: "But what circ.u.mstance is it, O Visakha, that thou hast in view in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata?" 8

And Visakha replied: 9

"I gave command, Lord, to my maid-servant, 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 circ.u.mstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha my life long with special garments for use in the rainy season. 10

"As to my second wish, Lord, an incoming bhikkhu, not being able to take the direct roads, and not knowing the places where food can be procured, comes on his way tired out by seeking for alms.

It was this circ.u.mstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha my life long with food for incoming bhikkhus. 11

"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. 12

"Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die. 13

"Fifthly, Lord, a bhikkhu who is waiting upon the sick will lose his opportunity of going out to seek food for himself. 14

"Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die. 15

"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. 16

"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 chast.i.ty when you are young? When you are old, maintain chast.i.ty then; thus will you obtain both worldly pleasure and religious consolation.' Impure, Lord, is nakedness for a woman, disgusting, and revolting. 17

"These are the circ.u.mstances, Lord, that I had in view." 18

The Blessed One said: "But what was the advantage you had in view for yourself, O Visakha, in asking the eight boons of the Tathagatha?" 19

Visakha replied: 20

"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. 21

"And I, going up to them, will ask, 'Was that brother, Sirs, one of those who had formerly been at Savatthi?' If they 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 upon the sick, or the medicine for the sick, or the constant supply of rice-milk.' 22

"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." 23

The Blessed One said: "It is well, it is well, Visakha. Thou hast done well in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata with such advantages in view. Charity bestowed upon 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 pa.s.sions are like seed deposited in a bad soil. The pa.s.sions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits." 24

And the Blessed One gave thanks to Visakha in these verses: 25

"O n.o.ble woman of an upright life, Disciple of the Blessed One, thou givest Unstintedly in purity of heart. 26

"Thou spreadest joy, a.s.suagest pain, And verily thy gift will be a blessing As well to many others as to thee." 27

x.x.xV.

THE UPOSATHA AND PATIMOKKHA.

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. 1

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 t.i.tthiya 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 a.s.semble on days duly appointed for that purpose?" 2

And the Blessed One commanded the bhikkhus to a.s.semble on the eighth day and also on the fourteenth or fifteenth day of each half-month, and to devote these days to religious exercises. 3

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. 4

Now the bhikkhus, in obedience to the rule laid down by the Blessed One, a.s.sembled 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. 5

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 trespa.s.ses so as to receive the absolution of the order. 6

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. 7

And the Blessed One said: "The Patimokkha must be recited in this way: 8

"Let a competent and venerable bhikkhu make the following proclamation to the Sangha: 'May the Sangha hear me! To-day 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.' 9

"And the bhikkhus shall reply: 'We hear it well and we concentrate well our minds on it, all of us.' 10

"Then the officiating bhikkhu shall continue: 'Let him who has committed an offence, confess it; if there be no offence, let all remain silent; from your being silent I shall understand that the reverend brethren are free from offences. 11

'As a single person who has been asked a question answers it, so also, if before an a.s.sembly 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 offence which he remembers, he commits an intentional falsehood. 12

'Now, reverend brethren, an intentional falsehood has been declared an impediment by the Blessed One. Therefore, if an offence has been committed by a bhikkhu who remembers it and desires to become pure, the offence should be confessed by the bhikkhu, and when it has been confessed, it is treated duly.'" 13

x.x.xVI.

THE SCHISM.

While the Blessed One dwelt at Kosambi, a certain bhikkhu was accused of having committed an offence, and, as he refused to acknowledge it, the brotherhood p.r.o.nounced against him the sentence of expulsion. 1

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 offence, friends; this is no reason for a sentence of expulsion. I am not guilty. The verdict is unconst.i.tutional and invalid. Therefore I consider myself still as a member of the order. May the venerable brethren a.s.sist me in maintaining my right." 2

Those who sided with the expelled brother went to the bhikkhus who had p.r.o.nounced the sentence, saying: "This is no offence"; while the bhikkhus who had p.r.o.nounced the sentence replied: "This is an offence." 3

Thus altercations and quarrels arose, and the Sangha was divided into two parties, reviling and slandering each other. 4

And all these happenings were reported to the Blessed One. 5

Then the Blessed One went to the place where the bhikkhus were who had p.r.o.nounced the sentence of expulsion, and said to them: "Do not think, O bhikkhus, that you are to p.r.o.nounce 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 p.r.o.nounce 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 p.r.o.nounce a sentence of expulsion against a brother merely because he refuses to see his offence." 6