SO for a time the World-Honoured dwelt in the Deer Park of Isipatana,
and men came eagerly to hear him, for his teachings resembled none they
had heard as yet and delivered them from the yoke of priests in
teachings and beliefs which if they could not inwardly accept made them
very sorely afraid of the anger of the Gods and compelled much
ceremonial and expiation.
But He, who has thus Attained, the Tathagata, taught them thus:
“No priest, no God, can deliver a man. By himself is evil done, by
himself he endures the shame and pain. By himself and his own will and
struggle he becomes pure. There is none can save a man but himself—No,
none in heaven or earth. It is he himself who must walk the Way: The
Enlightened can but show it. Therefore where and how can a priest aid
you?”
And this appeared to them a most wonderful doctrine, inspiring with
great courage and resolution, and looking upon each other they said:
“If it be thus, and a man holds deliverance in the hollow of his hand,
it can be done. To-day, brother, let us take the first step.”
And so the Exalted One taught them to break the fetter of the delusion
of self—the delusive belief that the individual self is real and
self-existent. For to abide contented in the prison of this apparent
self not looking forward to its expansion into the Universal self is the
shadow of egoism and egoism is the mother of sin.
And he broke off them the fetter of the belief that outward
righteousness of conduct will deliver a man, or that safety lies in
rites and ceremonies, for truly a man can never say within himself, “I
have placated the Gods and may now go my way in peace.”
Now at this time there was in the great city of Benares, a noble youth
named Yasas, son of a rich man, master of one of the city guilds, and on
this son his parents had lavished every good thing. He possessed a house
of cool shades for summer, and another for the season of the rains. And
his houses were full of delicately beautiful dancing girls, jewelled and
perfumed, and what pleasure was absent, whether of food or wines, or
music or any other?—None indeed, for the rich merchants dwell in luxury
resembling that of kings.
And at first all this was good to him and he asked no more; but
fulfilled every desire on the instant. There are men so embruted that
this will content them until bodily power fails, but the noble youth
Yasas was not of these.
And suddenly in the midst of his pleasures deep loathing fell upon him
and secret disgust because he had sounded the utmost of pleasure and no
more or better remained, and it was like vomit in his mouth, revolting
to his soul.
And one night as he lay among his women, and they, abandoned to sleep,
surrounded him, lovely as maidens of Mount Sumeru, he leaned against his
silken cushions and the hall became hateful to him and he could no more
endure it, but rose softly and put on his gilded shoes and went out into
the midnight gardens where dripping dew impearled every leaf and blossom
and glittered in pure moonlight, and the cool and calm were excellent.
And he walked under the black and white light and dark of a long path by
trees whose carven leaves hung like sculptured stone in the stillness of
the air and their shadows flitted like dreams over his robes and face as
he went, meditating upon the unspeakable weariness and distaste that
filled him and the uncomforted wretchedness of youth that in all the
world can find no good. And he said aloud:
“O my heart, how oppressive it is! O, my soul, the speechless weariness!
Who in all the world shall show me any good.”
So, in his walking, he came to the gate of the garden and it stood wide
open and the porter lay drowned in sleep, his face hidden from the
moonlight, and there was none to see who came or went, and Yasas
wandered on through dewy ways and silver pools of moonlight, not knowing
where he went, having fled the house because he could no longer endure
his despair. And as he came at last to the Deer Park of Isipatana the
darkness began to thin for dawn.
And so it was that the Lord had risen from sleep and walked beneath the
trees of Isipatana in meditation and he saw a young man coming, and in
the great stillness heard him say:
“O my grief, how deep is my wretchedness,” and he pitied him, for he
himself had been a rich young man, and he knew his heart.
So, taking his seat, the Blessed One said aloud:
“Sir, you are weary, but I hold in my hand a life that is neither
grievous nor wretched. Sit down beside me and hear the Law. This
doctrine, Yasas, is not oppressive. This is not afflicting.”
And Yasas seeing beneath the trees a young man of royal bearing and
beauty like to but surpassing his own, yet robed as a monk, was
startled. Nor could he refuse, and he took off his gilded shoes and
having saluted the stranger with courtesy sat down beside him, and in
the quiet of the coming dawn, the Blessed One spoke. And first he spoke
of the misery, worthlessness and ruin of lust, of the strong calm of
renunciation, of the high way of the Law, and as he heard, in place of
burning disgust there flowed into the heart of Yasas the refreshing
streams of wisdom, as when a man sets hot and travel-worn feet in the
coolness of a pellucid lake. And there was that fruit of former births
within the noble youth which drew him to high things, even as a pure
silken fabric is with ease dyed a noble colour.
And the Lord saw this, and knowing his heart elate and ready he then set
before him the Four Noble Truths of Sorrow and the Noble Eightfold Path,
and the eyes of Yasas were opened and conquering joy possessed him, and
the sun rose within and without him in splendour, and it was day.
Then Yasas arose and said:
“It is impossible that I should return to my former life for I see it
now unreal and foolish, a tale told by a madman signifying nothing. Let
me receive from the Lord ordination and admission to the Order that I
may spend eternity in acquiring knowledge.”
And the Blessed One answered:
“Come, monk. The Doctrine is well taught. Lead henceforward a new life.”
So he was received into the Order.
And presently his father, the rich guild-master, came running, eagerly
asking whether the Exalted One had seen his son pass that way. And thus
he fell into talk with the Tathagata, (even with Him who has thus
Attained) and he too became ensnared by that great Presence and great
Doctrine as a bee with perfumed mogra blossoms, for sweet, sweet is the
Truth to them who are akin to it; and last he exclaimed:
“Wonderful, great sir, most wonderful! This truly is showing the way to
the lost and setting a lamp in darkness. I take refuge in the Lord, the
Law, and the Assembly. May the Lord take me as a lay-disciple
henceforth, while my life lasts.”
And he was accepted, and looked upon his son, now divested of jewels and
clad in the yellow robe with bared shoulder, and the Exalted One said to
him:
“Is it possible, householder, that Yasas, the noble youth should return
to a worldly life of lusts and pleasure?”
And he replied:
“Sir, it is not possible. It is gain to Yasas the noble youth, that his
mind should be set free. Will the Exalted One consent this day to take
food with me, with Yasas beside him as a younger brother?”
And the Buddha by silence gave his consent. So were these two freed from
the bonds of desire and entered into the Peace. For they knew the Truth,
and this was their desire.
“From the unreal lead me to the real,
From darkness to light.
From death to immortality.”
And of the light companions of Yasas, many, allured to the teaching by
his joy, heard and were glad and followed, and many more, too many to
tell, women as well as men (for the Blessed One welcomed women also,
regarding neither sex nor caste) sought the Deer Park of Isipatana and
followed the Law.
And these are the commandments they accepted, and be it understood that
the first five only are binding upon laymen and women, but the whole ten
are binding on the Brotherhood, and they may not marry nor take upon
them the householder’s life while they are a part of the Order.
1. Thou shalt not destroy life.
2. Thou shalt not take what is not given.
3. Thou shalt abstain from unchastity.
4. Thou shalt not lie nor deceive.
5. Thou shalt abstain from intoxicating drinks.
6. Thou shalt eat temperately and not after noon.
7. Thou shalt not behold dancing, singing, music, or plays.
8. Thou shalt not wear garlands, perfumes, ornaments and
adornments.
9. Thou shalt not use high nor luxurious beds.
10. Thou shalt not accept gold and silver.
And now, when sixty of the disciples had attained complete
enlightenment, it came into the mind of the Blessed One that the time
was come to send them forth into the world to spread the high Doctrine,
and he said to them:
“See now!—You have passed the river and reached the shore of peace, and
for you birth and death are no more, being one with the Unchanging. Go
then through every country, teach those who have not heard. Make known
the Teaching, lovely in its origin, its progress, and most lovely in its
consummation. Make it known both in the spirit and the letter, Go!—each
one travelling by himself (But later they went two together) rescue and
receive. I too will go—for the work is begun.”
But Yasas he would not send out into the world for his aged parents had
need of him in Benares.
Then the sixty having in all reverence received his commands went forth,
for in those days books were not and each man was a book of the Law, and
the Lord himself went on to Gayasisa, followed by many who had been
ascetics. And great joy went with them and a shining peace, for like a
swelling wave exaltation lifted their souls so that each looking on the
other was glad.
It was at Gayasisa that the Exalted One uttered the great Fire teaching.
And the cause of it was this. As he and his disciples sat on the
Elephant Rock near Gaya, with the wide and pleasant valley of Rajagriha
outspread beneath them, a jungle fire broke out across the valley and
they watched it, and thus spoke the World-Honoured; drawing a lesson as
they looked.
“Everything about and within us, brethren, is on fire, and how? The
senses are afire with passion, hate and illusion. The mind with its
perceptions and sensations is afire with passion, hate and illusion,
betrayed and deceived every way. Every approach by which a man beholds
and comes in contact with life is afire with passion and illusion, and
these all in turn supply fuel to the burning. And the wise and noble
disciple, perceiving this, is indifferent to the lies of the senses and
the sensations arising from them whether pleasant or unpleasant. He is
indifferent to mental perceptions whether pleasant or unpleasant. And
this indifference extinguishes the fire and cools its ashes and deprives
it of fuel and thus frees him from passion and illusion, and being free
he recognizes his freedom. He clings no more to the individual and
selfish self. Rebirth is destroyed, the life of pure duty and love is
lived, and the world has no more wherewith to tempt him.”
And many heard and accepted the teaching and found peace, having seen
that behind this false world of illusion created by the senses lies the
true world of things as they are.
And from Gaya, the World-Honoured, followed by his disciples, went
onward to the city of Rajagriha, the chief town of King Bimbisara, and
with him went Kassapa, a great disciple, and wise, who had been a
worshipper of the pure element of the sacrificial fire until he had
heard the teaching of the Buddha, and so great and wise was this man
that many of the people of Rajagriha doubted which was the Master and
which the disciple. But the Exalted One willing to honour the disciple
addressed him thus in presence of the King and people.
“Welcome, great Master, welcome! Rightly have you distinguished Law,
winning the highest wisdom. And now, as a wealthy noble displays his
treasures to bring forgetfulness of sorrow to those who love beauty, so
do you!”
And it is told that immediately Kassapa, composing himself into ecstasy,
was raised up in the air before the eyes of all and this wonderful sight
drew their eyes in adoration of so mighty a marvel, so that with
different mouths but in language one they magnified the Buddha,
exclaiming:
“Let the World-Honoured be our teacher. We are his disciples.”
And perceiving them eager to hear, he addressed them on the false self
the lying, that is nothing but claims all within and without as fuel for
its greed.
Hear and be wise.
“The mind, the thought and all the senses are subject to the law of life
and death, and, understanding the self and the transient things of which
it is compounded and how the thought and senses act, there is no room
left for this individual _I_ nor any ground for this _I_, for it is this
belief in _I_ which gives rise to all sorrows binding us as with cords
to the world of illusion. But when a wise man knows there is no such _I_
and that it does not exist, the bonds are severed.
“Of those who believe in this false _I_, some say it endures beyond
death some say it perishes. Grievous is the error of both. For if they
say this _I_ is perishable, then all the fruit of their striving
perishes and there is no hereafter, and who can call this deliverance?
“And if they say this greedy _I_ is immortal, then in the midst of all
life and death in this world of illusion there is but one identity that
is not born and does not die—even this greedy _I_. And if the one
immortal thing is this greedy _I_ which arrogates all to itself then is
it the one thing in the whole Universe that is self-perfect, and there
is no need of high and noble deeds,—this greedy self is lord and master
of all, and what need to strive for what is already done? For if this
greedy _I_ is lasting and imperishable then can it never be changed.
“But when a man has learned there is _no_ greedy _I_, that it does not
exist, that it can do nothing, is but an illusion, then, freed, he
passes on to the wider outlook, the nobler knowledge, and he passes on
also in other lives the same yet not the same, as the shoot springs from
the seed, and the seed is not the shoot, not one and yet not different.
Such is the birth of all that lives. Learn therefore that this _I_ does
not exist, and the illusion of it conceals That which Is.”
So the World-Honoured, the Happy One, great and glad, addressed the King
and people, and very joyfully they heard, understanding that in the
egoism of the _I_ lives all curse, all ignorance.
And the King became a lay follower and throughout his life was faithful
and many of the noble young men about him believed also, and many of the
people.
It was here too, in happy Rajagriha, that the Perfect One, gained the
two greatest of his Arhats, his perfected saints, and thus it befell.
On a day to be remembered, it so chanced that Assaji, a disciple, walked
in the streets, collecting alms of food in his bowl, and he walked in
the shade, in the yellow robe, one shoulder bare, composed and with
majesty, musing as he went. And he was thus observed by a young Brahman
of noble birth who was studying spiritual things in the city under a
teacher, and when he saw him the dignity of his serene presence moved
the heart of the Brahman Sariputta, and he thought:
“Surely this is one who has already attained the way of purity! I will
go and ask him in whose name he has renounced the world and by what Law.
Not yet, for he is collecting alms, but presently.”
Therefore he watched, and when the venerable Assaji had received food
from the householders he turned back, and Sariputta approached him with
a courteous salutation, which having concluded, he said:
“Friend, your eyes are shining, your colour pure and clear. Great is
your composure. In whose name have you renounced the world and who is
your honourable Master?”
“Friend, my master is the Son of the Sakya House, the descendant of
Kings; I am but a novice. As yet I cannot tell the great heights of the
Law, but in a few words I can give its spirit.”
“Be it so, friend. Instruct me.”
And musing a moment, Assaji said this:
“The Perfected One teaches how existences apparently separate are
dependent upon One Cause, how they depend upon one another, their
apparent separateness springing from ignorance and illusion as its
cause, and how these existences can be ended and the Truth of Unity
appear. This is the teaching of the Son of the Sakyas.”
And as he heard these words, suddenly their implications and how they
affect all within and without us and the whole Universe, flashed into
the clear vision of Sariputta, and he understood as a consequence:
“Whatever is subject to the law of beginning that also is subject to the
law of decay, and how should the _I_ be excepted? There is but one
Unchanging, motionless and eternal.”
And deeply moved, he said to Assaji:
“If the teaching were nothing else but this you have at any rate
overpassed suffering. That which many ages have not seen is revealed to
us now.”
And leaving Assaji, who pursued his way in peace, Sariputta hastened
with winged feet to his friend and fellow-student Moggalana, and
Moggalana seeing him cried out.
“Your eyes are shining. Your colour is pure and clear. Have you then
found deliverance from death?”
“I have found it. I have found it.”
And standing there breathless he told him of Assaji and his words, and
on the great mind of Moggalana, strong in clear perception, flashed also
the truth of the nonentity of the greedy _I_, and unable to delay,
panting for the truth, they left the ascetic who taught them, and
hurried to the wood where the Perfect One taught sitting among his
disciples, and when he saw the two young Brahmans approach full of
eagerness and awe, he said to those about him. “Welcome these two, for
they shall be my greatest—the one unsurpassed for wisdom, the other for
supernormal power.”
And he himself welcomed them with joy, seeing that they would stand
about him as bright stars about the moon.
So when they had told him their case and heard his words, he said:
“Come, monks, the Doctrine is well taught! Lead henceforward the pure
life for the extinction of suffering,” and thus received them to be his
own.
And shortly after this he founded the Sangha, the Brotherhood formally,
and drew up the first code for its governance.
And the number of his followers grew and increased mightily, for not
only the people but many of the noble youths of the Kingdom of Maghada
joined themselves to this most noble young man, the Son of the Sakyas,
so much so that some of the people were angry and said:
“The ascetic Gotama is come to bring childlessness and widowhood and the
decay of families,” and they made a verse that was repeated in the
streets:
“The great monk has come through the wood-ways:
he sits on the hill,
And whom will he steal from us next,
for he takes whom he will?”
And his disciples hearing this verse went to the Exalted One and
repeated it, dwelling on the anger of some of the people. But the
Perfect One smiled, for the young monks were angry.
“Seven days will this excitement last, monks, and for that time only.
But if they taunt you with that verse, reply with this:
“The heroes, the Perfect Ones, lead by the Truth:—
and who calls it amiss?
If the Buddha persuades by the truth, will ye
blame him for this?”
And the disciples smiled also and were content, and in seven days it was
forgotten, and still the great and lowly flocked to hear.
Now of the people who flocked to him many desired signs and wonders that
so they might be convinced of the truth, but these were not given in
that manner and the Blessed One forbade his disciples to exalt
themselves thus. For there is nothing but the taintless beauty of Law
throughout the worlds, and the wise know there is no miracle at all, but
only a higher law, not known to the ignorant, which in its action
appears to them strange and a miracle. Yet did our Lord teach that for
the instructed there are the powers, since to them in their higher
consciousness the bonds of time and space and form exist no more. But it
is useless and perilous to expose these mysteries before the ignorant
who can but see in them the breaking of the law, and see it either with
fear or greed. Therefore he taught that those who have attained should
be wise and silent in knowledge where the occasion does not demand
speech or action, and very rarely can they be demanded, for each stage
has its own knowledge and cannot rise to the knowledge of a
consciousness above its own. Hence all this foolish talk of miracle and
the like. But for those who know even in part the fetters are
broken:—the binding fetters of form, time and space. And of such a case
the Lord told this story, while he rested at one time at Jetavana:
“There was a faithful, noble, joyful disciple who desired to hear again
the words of Him who has thus Attained, and he came in the evening to
the river Aciravati, hoping to cross by the ferry. But so it was that
the boatman had himself gone to hear the great words and there was no
ferry. Then, joyful in meditating on the Light, and lost of all else,
that faithful disciple walked on the water of the river, and his feet
made no holes in the water, and he went as if on dry land. But suddenly
in the middle of the river he saw waves, and his joy sank and his feet
with it, for fear entered his soul and fear is a fetter of the world of
form, so that he immediately became subject to it. But again he
strengthened his inmost self in meditation on the Enlightened One, and
again he walked on the water and so came to Jetavana and saluted the
Blessed One, and took his seat respectfully beside him, and the Lord
asked: ‘Disciple, did you come with little fatigue by the road? Have you
lacked for food?’ And he replied:
“Lord, in my joyful meditation I received support so that I walked on
the water and did not sink, and thus have I come to Jetavana as though I
walked on dry land.”
And the Lord said: “So also has it been in past lives.”
For he taught that though there are times and seasons for the powers to
be manifested to the ignorant, they are very few.