Life of Buddha (Selections)
Samuel Beal (1883) - Life of Buddha III
Scripture Selection
Tathâgata piously composed and silent, radiant with glory, shedding
light around, with unmatched dignity advanced alone, as if surrounded by
a crowd of followers. Beside the way he encountered a young Brahman
whose name was Upâka; struck with the deportment of the Bhikshu, he
stood with reverent mien on the roadside. Joyously he gazed at such an
unprecedented sight, and then, with closed hands, he spake as
follows:--"The crowds who live around are stained with sin, without a
pleasing feature, void of grace, and the great world's heart is
everywhere disturbed; but you alone, your senses all composed, with
visage shining as the moon when full, seem to have quaffed the water of
the immortals' stream. The marks of beauty yours, as the great man's,
the strength of wisdom, as an all-sufficient, independent king's; what
you have done must have been wisely done: what then your noble tribe and
who your master?" Answering he said, "I have no master; no honorable
tribe; no point of excellence; self-taught in this profoundest doctrine,
I have arrived at superhuman wisdom. That which behooves the world to
learn, but through the world no learner found, I now myself and by
myself have learned throughout; 'tis rightly called Sambodhi. That
hateful family of griefs the sword of wisdom has destroyed; this then is
what the world has named, and rightly named, the 'chiefest victory.'
Through all Benares soon will sound the drum of life, no stay is
possible--I have no name--nor do I seek profit or pleasure. But simply
to declare the truth; to save men from pain, and to fulfil my ancient
oath, to rescue all not yet delivered. The fruit of this my oath is
ripened now, and I will follow out my ancient vow. Wealth, riches, self
all given up, unnamed, I still am named 'Righteous Master.' And bringing
profit to the world, I also have the name 'Great Teacher'; facing
sorrows, not swallowed up by them, am I not rightly called 'Courageous
Warrior?' If not a healer of diseases, what means the name of 'Good
Physician?' Seeing the wanderer, not showing him the way, why then
should I be called 'Good Master-guide?' Like as the lamp shines in the
dark, without a purpose of its own, self-radiant, so burns the lamp of
the Tathâgata, without the shadow of a personal feeling. Bore wood in
wood, there must be fire; the wind blows of its own free self in space;
dig deep and you will come to water; this is the rule of self-causation.
All the Munis who perfect wisdom, must do so at Gayâ; and in the Kâsi
country they must first turn the Wheel of Righteousness." The young
Brahman Upâka, astonished, breathed the praise of such strange doctrine,
and called to mind like thoughts he had before experienced; lost in
thought at the wonderful occurrence, at every turning of the road he
stopped to think; embarrassed in every step he took, Tathâgata
proceeding slowly onwards, came to the city of Kâsi. The land so
excellently adorned as the palace of Sakradevendra; the Ganges and
Baranâ, two twin rivers flowed amidst; the woods and flowers and fruits
so verdant, the peaceful cattle wandering together, the calm retreats
free from vulgar noise, such was the place where the old Rishis dwelt.
Tathâgata, glorious and radiant, redoubled the brightness of the place;
the son of the Kaundinya tribe, and next Dasabalakâsyapa, and the third
Vâshpa, the fourth Asvagit, the fifth called Bhadra, practising
austerities as hermits, seeing from far Tathâgata approaching, sitting
together all engaged in conversation, said: "This Gautama, defiled by
worldly indulgence, leaving the practice of austerities, now comes again
to find us here, let us be careful not to rise in salutation, nor let us
greet him when he comes, nor offer him the customary refreshments.
Because he has broken his first vow, he has no claim to
hospitality"--for men on seeing an approaching guest by rights prepare
things for his present and his after wants. They arrange a proper
resting-couch, and take on themselves care for his comfort. Having
spoken thus and so agreed, each kept his seat, resolved and fixed. And
now Tathâgata slowly approached, when, lo! these men unconsciously,
against their vow, rose and invited him to take a seat; offering to take
his robe and Pâtra. They begged to wash and rub his feet, and asked him
what he required more; thus in everything attentive, they honored him
and offered all to him as teacher. They did not cease however to address
him still as Gautama, after his family. Then spake the Lord to them and
said: "Call me not after my private name, for it is a rude and careless
way of speaking to one who has obtained Arhat-ship; but whether men
respect or disrespect me, my mind is undisturbed and wholly quiet. But
you--your way is not so courteous: let go, I pray, and cast away your
fault. Buddha can save the world; they call him, therefore, Buddha.
Towards all living things, with equal heart he looks as children, to
call him then by his familiar name is to despise a father; this is sin."
Thus Buddha, by exercise of mighty love, in deep compassion spoke to
them; but they, from ignorance and pride, despised the only wise and
true one's words. They said that first he practised self-denial, but
having reached thereby no profit, now giving rein to body, word, and
thought, how by these means, they asked, has he become a Buddha? Thus
equally entangled by doubts, they would not credit that he had attained
the way. Thoroughly versed in highest truth, full of all-embracing
wisdom, Tagâgata on their account briefly declared to them the one true
way; the foolish masters practising austerities, and those who love to
gratify their senses, he pointed out to them these two distinctive
classes, and how both greatly erred. "Neither of these," he said, "has
found the way of highest wisdom, nor are their ways of life productive
of true rescue. The emaciated devotee by suffering produces in himself
confused and sickly thoughts, not conducive even to worldly knowledge,
how much less to triumph over sense! For he who tries to light a lamp
with water, will not succeed in scattering the darkness, and so the man
who tries with worn-out body to trim the lamp of wisdom shall not
succeed, nor yet destroy his ignorance or folly. Who seeks with rotten
wood to evoke the fire will waste his labor and get nothing for it; but
boring hard wood into hard, the man of skill forthwith gets fire for his
use. In seeking wisdom then it is not by these austerities a man may
reach the law of life. But to indulge in pleasure is opposed to right:
this is the fool's barrier against wisdom's light. The sensualist cannot
comprehend the Sûtras or the Sâstras, how much less the way of
overcoming all desire! As some man grievously afflicted eats food not
fit to eat, and so in ignorance aggravates his sickness, so can he get
rid of lust who pampers lust? Scatter the fire amid the desert grass,
dried by the sun, fanned by the wind--the raging flames who shall
extinguish? Such is the fire of covetousness and lust. I, then, reject
both these extremes: my heart keeps in the middle way. All sorrow at an
end and finished, I rest at peace, all error put away; my true sight
greater than the glory of the sun, my equal and unvarying wisdom,
vehicle of insight--right words as it were a dwelling-place--wandering
through the pleasant groves of right conduct, making a right life my
recreation, walking along the right road of proper means, my city of
refuge in right recollection, and my sleeping couch right meditation;
these are the eight even and level roads by which to avoid the sorrows
of birth and death. Those who come forth by these means from the slough,
doing thus, have attained the end; such shall fall neither on this side
or the other, amidst the sorrow-crowd of the two periods. The tangled
sorrow-web of the three worlds by this road alone can be destroyed; this
is my own way, unheard of before; by the pure eyes of the true law,
impartially seeing the way of escape, I, only I, now first make known
this way; thus I destroy the hateful company of Trishnâ's host, the
sorrows of birth and death, old age, disease, and all the unfruitful
aims of men, and other springs of suffering. There are those who warring
against desire are still influenced by desire; who whilst possessed of
body, act as though they had none; who put away from themselves all
sources of true merit--briefly will I recount their sorrowful lot. Like
smothering a raging fire, though carefully put out, yet a spark left, so
in their abstraction, still the germ of 'I,' the source of great sorrow
still surviving, perpetuates the suffering caused by lust, and the evil
consequences of every kind of deed survive. These are the sources of
further pain, but let these go and sorrow dies, even as the seed of corn
taken from the earth and deprived of water dies; the concurrent causes
not uniting, then the bud and leaf cannot be born; the intricate bonds
of every kind of existence, from the Deva down to the evil ways of
birth, ever revolve and never cease; all this is produced from covetous
desire; falling from a high estate to lower ones, all is the fault of
previous deeds. But destroy the seed of covetousness and the rest, then
there will be no intricate binding, but all effect of deeds destroyed,
the various degrees of sorrow then will end for good. Having this, then,
we must inherit that; destroying this, then that is ended too; no birth,
old age, disease, or death; no earth, or water, fire, or wind. No
beginning, end, or middle; and no deceptive systems of philosophy; this
is the standpoint of wise men and sages; the certain and exhausted
termination, complete Nirvâna. Such do the eight right ways declare;
this one expedient has no remains; that which the world sees not,
engrossed by error I declare, I know the way to sever all these
sorrow-sources; the way to end them is by right reason, meditating on
these four highest truths, following and perfecting this highest wisdom.
This is what means the 'knowing' sorrow; this is to cut off the cause of
all remains of being; these destroyed, then all striving, too, has
ended, the eight right ways have been assayed.
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