A DISCOURSE ON HEMAVATA SUTTA This Hemavata Sutta is really a short piece, and so it is apt to be overlooked by many. In fact, it is the second of the sermons of the Buddha, for it was delivered after the Dhammacakka Sutta, the first of the Buddha’s sermons. Only after this sermon was the well-known Anattalakkha¼a delivered. This sutta was delivered on the night of the same day on which the Dhammacakka Sutta was delivered. This sutta is suitable to every person. The dialogue between Hemavata deva and Sætægiri deva contains descriptions of the admirable attributes of the Buddha, and also the ways of conduct for those who are members of the Buddha’s sæsanæ (area of teachings). The woman who overheard the dialogue between the two devas was so adoring of the attributes of the Buddha that she became a sotæpan although she had not yet learnt of the Buddha’s attainment of Buddhahood. Now, if the audience of my lecture were to reach realization of the Dhamma like that woman, it would be really good because the woman heard only a short dialogue whereas my audience would be hearing a discourse which will last over two hours daily for three or four days. My audience would be learning more from an elaborate discourse than what the woman had learnt from a short dialogue. My audience could possibly acquire at least some pæramø for attaining the stage of sotæpan, if not sotæpan hood. How long ago did the Buddha deliver this sermon? He had administered the cool, soothing water of Dhamma to human beings devas and brahmæs for forty five years after he had delivered his first sermon of Dhammacakka Sutta before he passed into Nibbæna. From the time of His passing to this day is a period of 2506 years. So adding the forty-five years of his life as a teacher to the length of that period, the length of time that had passed since the Hemavata Sutta is 2551 years. Being as old as the Dhammacakka sutta, it must be taken as one of the earliest sermons delivered by the Buddha. At the end of the full moon day of the month of Kason 2551 years ago, the Buddha attained Buddha-hood, and for seven times seven days he stayed on at the seven nearby places. After 49 days following the attainment of Buddha-hood, the Buddha went to Migadævun jungle near the city of Baneres (modern name: Væræ¼asø) for the purpose of delivering His first sermon to the five hermits (the pañca vaggø). The date of the first sermon was the full moon day of the month of Waso, 2551 years ago. The time was the evening when the reddened ball of the sun was about to sink into the western horizon while the yellowish disc of the full moon was rising from the eastern horizon. It was then that the Buddha began the delivery of His Dhammacakka sutta. Myriads of devas and brahmæs assembled around the Buddha to listen to His first sermon. Of the five human beings, the pañca vaggø, the oldest one, Ashin Kondañña had attained to the stage of sotæpanna whereas eighteen crones of brahmæs and numberless devas had attained the realization of the Dhamma, according to Milinda pañhæ. Among the celestial audience was a deva Sætægiri, named after Sata mountain which was his residence. He was highly gratified to hear the Dhammacakka Sutta, but he was not certain about the presence of his friend, Hemavata deva, and after looking around, he found that his friend was absent. He was anxious to see his friend present because he thought to himself that after the last sermon of the preceding Buddha, Kassapa, myriads of world-periods past, this was the first time a similar sermon was heard, and so he wished to have his friend, Hemavata, to be present in the audience, and was wondering why the latter had not come to hear the first sermon. Sætægiri had failed to attain realization of the Dhamma owing to such distraction. Concentrated attention is essential To attain realization of the Dhamma while listening to a sermon, one must have a settled mind, for it is only through concentrated attention and with a settled mind could one attain samædhi and only samædhi could make for insight. If the mind wanders during the sermon over domestic, economic and other secular affairs. Samædhi will not be attained. If anxiety sets in it is all for the worse. if distraction and anxiety crop up, the essence of the Dhamma will slip, and as samædhi is lacking, there will be no insight and if one cannot attain insight for vipassanæ, how can one attain realization of Dhamma? Concentrated attention while listening to a sermon is, therefore, an important factor. The way to conduct oneself while listening to a sermon is described in Kassapa saµyutta as follows: Proper way of listening to a sermon A sermon must be attended to with a motive of profit, meaning that in a commercial transaction a good and fair bargain must be struck with due care, that in harvesting crops due care must be exercised so that not a grain of corn, not a single string of beans, as the case may be, should be left behind. That utmost care with which gold and gems must be kept needs no special mention. In the same way, in attending a sermon-meeting one must listen carefully so that not a word of the preacher is missed and one must also try to realize the meaning of each and every word uttered. According to that treatise, the listener must listen carefully, with full mental involvement, and words of the Dhamma must be adhered to in practice. That is the proper way of attending to a sermon. If one attends to a sermon in this way, one’s mind will be calm and absorbed in the sermon; one will be free from interference, and thus attain purity of mind. At such moments there occurred many instances of realization of the Dhamma after the sermon on the four Noble Truths was heard. The attainment of redemption from the samsæra by Ashin kondañña and the devas and brahmæs when the sermon of the Dhammacakka was heard on that day, was due to their concentrated attention to the Buddha’s words. In this instance, Sætægiri might have missed some of the words as he had been thinking about his friend Hemavata. If had not missed the words, he might have pondered deeply upon the meaning of the words. It appears that he did not quite understand the sermon as he had been wondering why his friend had not turned up; he had been thinking that his friend had been under the spell of pleasures and enjoying them so that he was absent, and so he, Sætægiri, had not come to the realization of the Dhamma. In reference to the thinking of Sætægiri about his friend, there is the mention of Hemavata as being under the spell of pleasures, or in other words, “being beguiled by worldly pleasures” True the worldly pleasures, do beguile though they do not have any intrinsic values. Some persons cannot come to attend this sermon-meeting because they are being beguiled by worldly pleasures. To such people, the practice of the Dhamma is a far cry. They usually think that the Dhamma can be practised later and that, for the present, making a living, making headway in life and enjoying the pleasures of life, are more urgent. That, indeed, is the beguilement of the worldly pleasures (kæmagu¼a). But what is really urgent and important is to practise the Dhamma. Such practice can be made only within the fold of the Buddha’s Sæsanæ whereas worldly pleasure can be sought anywhere at any a time. It is, therefore advisable to pay more attention to the practice of the Dhamma after having acquired sufficient means of livelihood. By the practice of the Dhamma, one could attain to one of the stages of spiritual achievement and thus escape from the dangers of the four planes of existence of niriya (hell). Even if one cannot yet attain to the stages of magga and phala, one can become involved in the dhamma and continue making good deeds (kusala). Thus, one could be reborn as a human being, or get to the spiritual planes of devas or ascend the higher planes of existence and obtain the benefits of a higher state of existence. If, however, one wasted one’s time in the affairs of secular life, one would be ill-equipped for a good life in the next existence. Therefore, thinking that the worldly pleasures are more important and urgent, though they really are not, is due to the beguilement of the worldly pleasures. It is in fact, an illusion. Sætægiri was giving a thought to his absent friend and letting his mind wander during the Buddha’s discourse. That is why he had missed the chance of realization of the Dhamma. After the Buddha’s discourse on the Dhammacakka, Sætægiri left the assembly to invite his friend. Sætægiri was a leading warrior deva. and so when he went out he was accompanied by his five hundred warrior-attendants with chariots drawn by elephants, horses and gallons (huge and powerful birds). At the same time Hemavata was on his way to his friend Sætægiri to invite him to a celestial festival of flowers-wonderful flowers that were then in full bloom in Himalayan mountains. he too, came in full force with his warrior-attendants and chariots. Of course, they were both making an aerial journey, Hemavata heading for the south and Sætægiri heading for the north. They met over the city of Ræjagiri. When the two friends met, Hemavata said: “Friend Sætægiri, the Himalayas are now full of flowers as never before. So I have come to invite you to a feast to celebrate the occasion.” Sætægiri asked his friend why the Himalayas were so unusually abloom. Hemavata said he did not know the reason. Then Satagiri said: “The Himalayas are not alone in being so unusually abloom; flowers bloom as abundantly and as resplendently everywhere else. The reason is none other than that Sammæsambuddha has attained enlightenment for two months now. Today He delivered His first sermon, The Dhamacakka Sutta and all the flowers of all the trees on this earth blossomed forth by way of making obeisance to the Enlightened One. I remembered you very much while I was attending the sermon-meeting and so I have now come to invite you to it.” The woman who overheard the two devas While the two devas were conversing, a rich man’s daughter, named Kæli, was enjoying the breeze after having opened a window of her boudoir. The month of Waso at Ræjagiri City, a hot month as it is here at Mandalay or Shwebo. Kæli was then in her family way, and was feeling hot. So she opened the window and was exposing herself to the breeze when heard the two devas overhead. She then lent a very attentive ear to their conversation. She could make out that the conversation was not between two human beings and thought that it must be between two celestial beings. She must have been about sixteen or seventeen, for in India in these days girls were married early and got into family way for the first time at that age. The child she was carrying was none other than a future disciple of the Buddha, Sonakutikanna Thera, who was bestowed upon with etadagga (distinction) for his excellent reading skill. Sætægiri said “Friend Hemavata, this day is the fifteenth day of the month, a sabbath day, and is bright at night with celestial light. This day is the day on which the Buddha delivered His first sermon, and so the trees are in full bloom not only in the Himalayan region but in the environment of the Sata mountain. Not only in these regions but also all over the world, the flowers blossom by way of making obeisance to the Buddha on this auspicious occasion. The devas and brahmæs attending the sermon-meeting are so numerous that the world is aglow with celestial lights. And in the east, the full moon shines clearly along with asahli planet. This night is therefore, full of light from all these sources, and is a sacred one.” The world must have been so beautiful with blossoms and celestial lights in all-seeing eyes of the devas. Even to human eyes it must have been beautiful. Incidentally, once I went on a pilgrimage to the Kyaiktiyoe pagoda. It was the night of the 14th day of Tabodwe (February) in 1293 (Myanmar Era.) The moon was nearly full and shining clearly. Looking out from mountain range, I found the hills and valleys all around beautiful under the flooded moonlight. Some trees were full of flowers, the trees standing on the mountain slopes made for the scenic beauty of the panorama. Now, from the view of the devas, the entire world must have been very beautiful indeed on that day of the first sermon. So Sætægiri invited his friend Hemavata to go to make obeisance to the Buddha. “Let us now go to make obeisance to our great teacher, the Buddha of the noble and glorious lineage of Gotama.” said Sætægiri to his friend, Hemavata. Continuing, he said the great teacher, Siddhattha of the Gotama lineage of the Sakkya clan, had practised the Dhamma in Uruvela forest for six years and had become the Enlightened One possessing the nine incomparable attributes beginning with the attribute of Arahaµ. Now, I will explain briefly the nine attribute of the Enlightened One. Arahaµ means “deserving”. What is the Buddha deserving of? He is deserving of special adoration and worship. People in the world worship various objects. Some worship trees, some worship forests, mountains, oceans, the sky, the sun, the moon, the planets. some worship various kinds of devas: some worship god in heaven, some worship brahmæ. And among men too, some worship the headman of the various sects and denominations. Now, then, why do people worship? Because they want to be free from dangers and disasters. Everybody wants to be free from dangers and disasters and wants to be prosperous, healthy long-lived, rich. Not only human beings, devas also want to want to be prosperous. People want to make greater achievements than their skill can do, so they depend on the devas of all sorts, such as, tree and mountain spirits. They worship and make offerings to them. Some imagine a super-powerful being who creates the world and its people and things, and worship that imagined being. There is, however, no one who has ever come across such a being and can describe his appearances. These people worship that being because someone in the past was reported to have said that he had seen that being. That person might have been dreaming. Each religionist worships in accordance with his or her beliefs from generation to generation without being critical. Even in this age of scientific inquiry, traditional beliefs have remained. In fact, there are no grounds for holding that those who pray to be saved from adversity will be so saved by praying alone. If the gods or God could save these prayerful people all of them would be rich, healthy and prosperous. But such is not the case. Those who do not pray may become rich. As a matter of fact, those who work without praying in any line of profitable trade and occupation have become rich and prosperous. Every person is rewarded for his work according to its worth. It is obvious that idlers do not get rich. It is one’s own effort that gives the reward, and prosperity is not due to worship of the gods. The Buddha did not say, “Venerate me, and I will save you.” He said that one would enjoy the fruits of one’s own deeds and misdeeds. But one can gain an especial merit if one makes adoration to a person who possesses a full measure of morality (søla) and other noble qualities. If the merit thus gained finds an occasion to give of the reward, the adorer will get the reward during his lifetime, but it is also certain that the reward will be gained in the course of the series of existences. So said the Buddha. If the adoration is made to a person who had no qualities that would make him noble and holy, such an adoration is futile. It is like keeping bricks and gravels instead of precious stones thinking that they are precious. How can you expect to get the price of precious stones if you sell bricks and gravels? If, however, you keen real precious stones, then you can sell them at their standard prices. In the same way, if you make adoration to noble and holy persons, you will gain the kind of merit you expect to get. As for the Buddha, He is the highest among those possessing søla and other noble qualities. So if the devas, Brahmæs and human beings make adoration to the Buddha, they will gain merit and receive rich rewards ranging from the benefits of human and celestial lives to the realization of Nibbæna. Such benefits are gained not because the Buddha gives them but they are gained from the merit accruing from adoration to the Buddha. So the Buddha had gained the appellation of Arahaµ the one deserving of the adoration of human and celestial beings. This is a noble appellation. Thus Sætægiri praised the Buddha. The other meaning of Arahaµ is “to be far from something,” What is it far from? The meaning is that the Buddha is far from defilement of the mind, kilesæ. Beings in all planes of existences hanker after things that are desirable, or in other words, they have greed (lobha). They become angry when they come across things that excite their anger (dosa) and are under delusion or mistaken notions (moha). On the contrary, the Buddha is far away and clear of lobha, dosa and moha. That is the reason why the Buddha deserves the noble appellation of Arahaµ. The next is Sammæsambuddha attribute. Sammæ means “truthfully”: saµ means “by oneself”; Buddha means “knowing”. So the term means “knowing the truth (the Dhamma) fully by oneself.” The Buddha had earlier receive tutelage of Ælæra and Udaka, hermits in samatha and vipassanæ, but when He attained the Buddhahood, He did so not with the knowledge gained from these hermits but by methods evolved by Himself with His own insight. He did make His own efforts to gain the jhænas of ænæpæna; He perceived paticcasamuppæda with His own insight; He judged the state of rþpa and næma (physical and mental phenomena) by His own insight, and eventually became Buddha. This is briefly about the Buddha’s realisation of the Truth all by Himself. That is the reason why the Buddha deserves the noble appellation of Sammæsambuddha. When the Buddha attained Buddhahood, He gained full knowledge of the past, the present and the future: He knew immediately whatever He gave His thought to. There is nothing He did not know. For the reason that He knew everything full and completely all the Dhamma, the Buddha is deserving of the noble appellation of “Buddha” Thus said Sætægiri in praise of the “Buddha.” Sætægiri told his friend, Hemavata that the noble attributes of the Buddha were so numerous that one could not count and explain them for myriads of years to do full justice to them. Then he invited his friend to the Buddha’s sermon-meeting. After hearing out his friend, Hemavata made an examination of the points in order to determine whether the one referred to by his friend was really a Buddha. So he put questions to his friend, and Sætægiri gave his answers. At that time the masters of several sects such as Puræ¼a Kassapa, Makkhali Gosæla and four others were making the claim that each of them was the Buddha. it was, therefore, necessary to make an examination of this nature. “Friend Sætægiri, can your Teacher keep his mind in good disposition? That is, is your Teacher well disposed to all the beings without any discrimination?” “Friend Sætægiri, in his world there are many who claim to be Buddhas. May I ask you: Can your Buddha remain impartial to his disciples and disciples of others as well, and keep his mind in good disposition toward all living beings? Can he have mettæ (goodwill) toward all and wish them for their well being and happiness? Can he have kindness and pity on all alike?” This was the question that should be put because in some who claimed to be the Buddha there was partiality, extending mettæ and Karu¼æ (loving-kindness and pity) only to those who followed them and made adoration to them, saying that they would save only those who adored them and would punish others who did not. They said that those who did not follow them and adore them would be relegated to hell. Such claimants to Buddahood should not be regarded as real Buddhas for a real Buddha would keep His mind in good disposition toward all living beings. Hemavata continued: “Friend, can your Buddha control his mind and remain neutral in reaction to what is pleasant and also to what is unpleasant?” In this world people are pleased when they come in contact with pleasant things and enjoy them, and are displeased and cannot control their dislike when they come in contact with unpleasant things. They are angry and disappointed, and cannot control their anger. In fact, they let their minds follow the sensations and cannot control their minds. But a real Buddha can control His mind. Hemavata’s question is an importance one. Now, as for people, they let their minds go after senses and sensations. They smile if anything evokes a smile, curl their lips in contempt if a thing invites contempt. They laugh at funny things and weep over things that move them to tears, things that are sad. They desist from going to an undesirable place at first but later, when the temptation makes and urgent push, they go to such places. In the same way, they are tempted to say and do things they should not say or do after a short period of resistance. This is what is called letting one’s mind follow the sensations. Let alone others, some of the yogøs were disappointed because they could not make progress in their meditational work and were giving it up and making preparations to leave when their mentors had to stop them by giving them admonitions. Then when they were so persuaded, and when they resumed their meditational work and accordingly made progress, they were pleased. But there are some yogøs who would not be persuaded, and went home. That also is an instance of letting the mind follow the sensations. There are still other instances of some yogøs, attaining the stage of nibbidæñæ¼a (insight into wearisome condition), who became disappointed because they fond things wearisome, and went home. If such yogøs had continued with their work they would have attained full insight. But they could not control their mind and had given up. What a loss! however, most of the yogøs listened to the admonitions of their meditational mentors and managed to control their minds. In secular life, too, there are many things over which one could control one’s mind. the Buddha’s message was for control of the mind. It is found that those who have attended to the Dhama can control their minds considerably. But those who have not, and are outside the influence of the Dhamma are found to be without a sense of shame or fear and do or say what they like. Hemavata, therefore, asked his friend if his Buddha was the one who could control his mind. That is quite a relevant question. It is important to put searching questions. Once at a food-offering ceremony at a house, a certain Sayædaw told me that he was questioned by an American visitor. The questions were incisive and searching, and the Sayædaw said that it was quite an ordeal to be so questioned. Yet this Sayædaw was well known as conversationalist. The visitor asked the Sayædaw how long the latter had practised the Dhamma and what æræmana (perceptions) he had had. The Sayædaw said such questions were embarrassing. But to me, such questions were justified because an intelligent enquirer in to the Dhamma would put such searching questions to the one who ought to know. To a seventy-year old monk who had the reputation of deep learning the enquirer should put such searching questions regarding the monk’s personal experiences in the meditational practice. The important thing is to be able to make bold and definitive replies to such questions and not to be embarassed. Hemavata was no ordinary person. He was formerly, during the time of Kassapa Buddha, a venerable monk teaching five hundred disciples. That is why he had asked questions relevant to the attributes of a Buddha. Sætægiri was also a venerable monk at that time who had entered the holy Order together with Hemavata and taught five hundred disciples like the latter. To the questions put by Hemavata, his friend Sætægiri gave a graphic answer thus: “Friend Hemavata, our teacher, the Buddha has the attribute of looking upon all beings with the same attitude and also of having full control of His mental disposition on good as well as bad sensations.” This was Sætægiri’s answer. He meant to say that the Buddha’s disposition toward all beings was based on the principle that they were all alike and equal, whether they were those who adored him or those who did not. There were His close disciples who had gained enlightenment because they had heard His sermon on Dhammacakka and also just ordinary disciples who simply made adoration to His and His Dhamma, thus becoming disciples who were within the fold of His sæsana. Of course, there were those who were outside the Buddha’s sæsanæ and there were also followers of Mæra, who were actively opposing the Buddha. “Our teacher, the Buddha is equally well disposed to all beings, with no discrimination, giving out His meta, Karu¼æ (sympathy) to all,” said Sætægiri. The time was at the commencement of the Buddha’s sæsanæ. In terms of later situations, it may be said that the Buddha was equally well disposed to those who were His devout followers giving Him the four essential needs of a bhikkhþ as well as to the bræhmins and heretics who were dead against Him. The Buddha adopted the same attitude toward His arch-enemy, Devedatta, as toward his own son Ræhulæ, having regard for both of them as beings. The Buddha did not act partially toward anyone: He disseminated his loving-kindness and sympathy to all beings. So Sætægiri replied, “Our teacher, the Buddha, is full of tædiguna, the attribute of a well-balanced attitude to all beings in all planes of existence.” When one takes into consideration the partiality, people in this world have toward those near to them and those far from them, toward the insiders and the outsiders, one cannot but be full of adoration for the Buddha. Partiality is manifest in every sphere of human activity. To those whom we favour, we go all the way to giving them all the help we can, with concessions and condo nations. To those against us, however, we have no desire to render any help; even to those who have not given us any help, though they may not be opposed to us, we render help grudgingly if we are called upon to do something for them. Attitude towards one and all as alike and equal is a rarity. Leave aside outsiders, we cannot adopt an evenness of mind to all the members of our own family. Let alone ordinary human beings, even those, in other religions, who are worshipped as gods have seldom adopted an attitude recognizing equality of all beings. You will come across gods who say, in effect. “I will save only my followers and relegate the others to hell.” Compared to such gods the Buddha is very adorable. The Buddha wished all beings happy in the same way as He wished His son, Ræhulæ, to be happy; he wished all beings to attain nibbænæ just as He wished Ræhulæ to attain nibbænæ He had the same pity and sympathy for all beings as he had for Ræhulæ. It is difficult for people to adopt an attitude of equality to all. But in the case of the Buddha and when He disseminated mahækaru¼æ (great pity and sympathy). He did disseminate it to all beings in all planes of existence. According to Patisambhidamagga, perceiving in all beings the miseries of old age, illness and death, in graded succession, leading to the state of impermanence, a great pity arose in the mind of the Buddha. The Buddha, surveying entire planes of existence, perceived the piteous state, and so great pity arose in His mind. It is like a man of kindly disposition having taken pity on persons in great distress. The pity of the ordinary persons is just ordinary; there is not much depth in it worth speaking. The pity taken by the Buddha, however, was by far the deepest, by far the most widespread. The Buddha took pity on mankind for the present state of distress, perceiving that in the next existence a particular being would be reborn in the nether regions of niriya, tiricchæna and peta. His pity was even greater. Also perceiving that a being would suffer from old age, illness and death in all the series of existences to come, the Buddha took pity on one and all. Now, look at the life of man. After coming to existence as a man, he has to acquire knowledge for earning his livelihood, and after attaining twenty years of age, he is obliged to take up a job and work on and on till he becomes old and decrepit, and then he suffers from illness of many kinds and at last, unable to get the diseases cured, he dies. Men are just living their lives without being actually aware of the slow and gradual deterioration of their bodies and the onset of disease of one kind or another till at the last moment when nothing can be done to cure the disease, death is at hand. Then only do they realize the sad fact. The members of the family of the dying person do their best to nurse him and allay his suffering but there is really nothing that can be done, and surrounded by weeping relatives, he passes away. For a few months the relatives remember him and feel sad but later they begin to forget him. That, in sum, is the life of man: that is just one stage in the unending stream of existences. The same pattern applies to his next existence; the gradual deterioration of the body, the onset of old age and disease and the eventual death. This the Buddha perceived: He surveyed millions of ailing beings and dying beings, and the sorrows of those who are near and dear top them, and a great pity arose in Him. “Millions upon millions” is the usual current term, but in reality the number is countless-If the history of a being’s existence were to be illustrated pictorially, the pictures so depicted would fill the entire surface of the earth and more space would be needed. The pictures of the being’s birth, old age, illness and death were perceived by the Buddha who felt a great pity for that being; that was how the great pity, or Mahækaru¼æ, arose in Him. Thus we may learn: “Man’s impermanence is driving him to old age, illness and death. The Buddha foresaw that unless He saved the beings from the disasters of old age, illness and death by making them follow His teachings and working out their own salvation, these beings would continue to be involved in the cycle of existences and suffer in the nether regions. So, the Buddha felt pity for all beings in all planes of existence as He had felt for his own son Ræhulæ. Thus said Sætægiri in reply to Hemavata’s first query; “All the sentient beings in all the planes of existence are helpless; they have no one to look to for protection and care. Thus, the Buddha felt a great pity, mahækaru¼æ, for all beings.” In the present life of men there are, however, persons to whom they can look to for help and support, such as parents for their children, children for their parents in old age, teachers for their disciples, disciples for their teachers, and relatives for mutual help and support. But such help and support are just ordinary. Real help and support cannot be offered by anyone else. For instance, the children cannot help their parents from getting old. In the same way, the parents cannot help their children from getting on in years. The children cannot take out and share among themselves the ageing elements of their parents. So also, they cannot take out and share among themselves the ailing elements in order to render some relief to the ailing person. Of course, doctors and physicians can do something to some extent but in the case of incurable diseases they can do nothing effectively. They cannot avert oncoming death. Nor can the children and relatives and intimate friends of a dying person do anything to avert death. All they can do is to merely look on the dying person. People have died in this way. No help or support can be rendered to enable a being to free himself from old age, illness and death or from going to the nether regions after death. Only the Buddha could save the beings from these disasters by guiding them on the right path by His teachings and making them work according to the Dhamma. The method of such savings is like the method the physician applies in treating a patient to cure a disease, that is, by prescribing suitable medicine and forbidding him to take unsuitable food and do unsuitable actions. There was no method of working miracles by demanding: “Let him be cured”. If the patient did not follow the physician’s directions, the disease would not be cured. In the same way, the Buddha could only show the right path and give the right directions, and those who followed His instructions be saved from hell, old age, illness and death; in a word, such beings would be saved from the samsæra the endless cycle of existences. A Buddha came into being only after a lapse of many kappæ (eons.) and each Buddha lived only for a certain period in accordance with the general expectation of life in that particular era. It is, therefore, difficult to have an opportunity to hear the sermons of a Buddha. Though the Buddha had passed away, one could hear the discourses on His sermons delivered by learned and saintly monks and laymen, and work according to the instructions contained in them to enable the person concerned to save himself or herself from hell and further involvement in the samsæra. But such opportunity could not be obtained in every period of existence. In this world there are many faiths, and if one follows a false faith, then it is a dangerous risk because if one follows the wrong instructions and works for the wrong ends one will sink deeper and deeper into the whirlpool of samæra. As for the Buddha, He felt pity for all beings, irrespective of the faiths they were following. His pity for them was even greater, realising that so many beings in the various planes of existence were following the wrong path. Followers of wrong faith more pitiable The follower of a wrong faith is really more pitiable than others because although he has been seeking the right path to happiness and well being he mistakes the wrong path for the right one, and follows a path which leads him to more disasters the more he surges ahead. The followers of the Buddha should not feel complacent about having found the right path. They should work to attain at least one stage of salvation, for then only would they be sure of being saved from disasters. In the next existence they will not be with the present parents and teachers; they may be reborn of parents of other faiths. Then they will probably be placed on the wrong path. For that reason, the Buddha takes great pity on the beings who have no one able to save them from the disasters of old age illness and death, or from hell and from wrong faiths. And His pity is same and equal for all beings, with no discrimination. Q & A Between King Kawrabya and venerable RathapÆla In this world there are kings who have large armies to protect them and for such kings it may be said that they can place their reliance on them in worldly affairs. However, such kings, too, have to become old in due course, and no army of guards could protect him from old age, nor from illness and death when such disasters come to him. In the time of the Buddha there was an Arahat by the name of Rathapæla. He was the son of a rich man and a friend of king Kawrabya. One day the king asked the venerable monk why he had turned a monk. The venerable monk said in reply that he had turned a monk after he had heard the Buddha’s sermon relating to the helplessness of all sentient beings from the onslaughts of old age, illness and death. The king did not understand what helplessness meant. He said that as a king, he had large armies to protect him from all harm, and that he did not understand what was mend by having no one to help. Then the venerable Rathapæla said: “Oh King, did you ever suffer from serious illness? The king replied, “Yes, sir, I did,”” Then the venerable monk asked him if he could seek relief from that illness by asking his relatives to share the suffering with him. “That is impossible,” the king said, “I had to suffer all alone.” The venerable monk then said that was precisely what the Buddha meant when He said that all the beings were without anyone to help them or anyone to whom they could look for help and succor. So it is clear that even if one has many persons to help and protect him in worldly matters, one is utterly helpless in matters relating to old age, illness and death. According to the scriptures, in the world of living beings there is not one property which can be called one’s own because one has to leave everything when one dies and heads for a new existence. This fact the Buddha realised and His pity for all beings was great, or in other words, mahækaru¼æ arose in the mind of the Buddha. Ordinarily, people have what they call their personal and private property such as gold, silver, food, cattle, vehicles, etc,, but when one dies one has to leave all these things behind, nay, one’s body, too. Death may come today or tomorrow to anybody; so we cannot say that the time for such abdication is still far off. Even during one’s lifetime these worldly things could be stolen and taken away by force; they are not really one’s own possessions. One’s real possessions comprise one’s meritorious deeds, such as, giving of alms, observing the precepts and doing meditation. These cannot be stolen or robbed, and they can be taken along from one term of existence to another. Persons who are rich in meritorious deeds will obtain existences of well being. It is therefore necessary to strive to gain merit by doing dæna (alms-giving), søla (observing the precepts) and bhævanæ and vipassanæ (mindfulness and meditation), the last two being the most important. You should strive to do them just for one or two days if you can afford to do it only that long, for such a deed is valuable and can be done without incurring any expenses. Those who have had these things have something to fall back upon at the time of death. At the door of death one could die peacefully by doing meditation till the last breath and after death one would surely attain to the abode of the devas (celestial beings). So you should do assiduously these three meritorious deeds. The worldly property is not one’s own but it is common property. You have to leave it to your survivors who enjoy it after your death, and so if you are mentally attached to worldly property you will probably become peta (being of the nether regions undergoing untold sufferings and misery.) The Buddha perceived the helplessness of all beings and felt great pity for them. The Buddha also saw that beings were assailed by insatiable desires for worldly things and had thus become slaves of lust and greed, and so His pity for them was great. He saw that all beings were always hungered by ta¼hæ (lust), that they all hankered after good and pleasant things to satisfy their six senses, that they were never satisfied with long life and fame that they might have fortunately obtained, that they were never satisfied with all the best endowments their lives had offered them. Their wants multiply progressively, and these desires dominate all the aspects of their lives, and they are never satisfied. Now there are many millionaires in some countries. They have more money than they can spend, but their wants and desires have no ceilings; they are never satisfied. The kings have never stopped their imperialistic plans; they want more and more countries under their sway. It is said that the devas are much more greedy. The powerful ones usually have five hundred to one thousand celestial maidens in their harems, but they always want some more and are never satisfied. They are enjoying all the delights and pleasures of celestial life and yet they want more and are never satiated. So Sakka, the King of the Devas, likened them to the petas who are always hungry because they do not have anything to eat. So the Buddha saw that all beings were slaves of lust and greed and that moved Him to great pity. True, all beings are slaves of lust and greed. They serve their lust and greed even at the risk of their lives. They go out in search of the things their lust or greed urges them, and risk their lives to get them. They have to work daily for all their lives to satisfy their lust and greed, and after death and in the next existence, too, they remain slaves of the same master, ta¼ha. Then is no period of rest for them. In this world a slave may remain a slave only during his lifetime, but a slave of lust has an unending term of servitude till the time of salvation when one becomes an arahat and thus ends his stream of samsæra. Avijjæ (ignorance) colours all things as desirable things and ta¼hæ (lust) makes them seem delightful and urges all beings to strive to obtain them. They strive all their lives and are never satisfied with what they have acquired. They are always hungry, and there is no time of satisfaction and so they are always in a miserable state. This the Buddha perceived and was moved to great pity for all the beings in all the planes of existence. “Unsatiated, all beings
are slaves of lust.” “No real personal property, and all have to be abandoned.” There are the four points in the discourse between the venerable Ra¥¥hapala and king Kawrabya. The venerable monk said that the Buddha saw this deplorable plight of all beings and was moved to great pity. The Buddha said to Himself that there was no one except Him to save them. Thus Sætægiri said of the great pity the Buddha had for all beings without partiality or discrimination. “Besides, our teacher, the Buddha, can take with equanimity all the desirable as well as undesirable sensations,” continued Sætægiri. It was a reply to Hemavata’s question whether the Buddha could restrain His pleasure when in contact with pleasurable things and His anger at undesirable things, unlike other beings who are moved and swayed by sensations of all kinds. This was a pertinent question and the answer was apt. Nowadays, when a man asks one of his friends who seems unconcerned with religious matters to attend a discourse by his reverend teacher, the person so invited puts a rather impertinent question, thus: “What can your monk do? Is he adept in astrology, or can he do propitiations to enable me to become prosperous? Can he make arrangements to get a separated couple reconciled, or recover a lost property? Or can he make some propitiations for one to gain promotion in his position.?” This is quite an insolent question. This is not just a make-up case; I have learned of several instances of this kind from those who ought to know. Such questions are put by ignorant, irreverent persons. Hemavata’s question in this context was most pertinent, a wise one. At the time of the Buddha there were many who claimed to be Buddhas. Prominent among these pretenders were; 1. Puræ¼a
Kassapa, leader of a group; These six had their own respective following who believed in their divination of the past, present and future, and their following was fairly large. Hemavata, however, knew that these so-called great teachers did not have the ability of viewing things pleasant and unpleasant with equanimity. So he wanted to know whether or not his friend Sætægiri’s teacher was like them. Sætægiri gave him a categorical answer to that question. “What is the Buddha’s ability to have His mind in full control in respect of possible reaction to things unpleasant? The Buddha could view these things with mindful indifference, that is, rejecting both the pleasant and the unpleasant with an equal attitude of mind, of which He had full control. However beautiful and lovely a thing might be, the Buddha could view it to realise that it was after all undesirable. He could look at the beautiful lady, Mægandhø, and immediately see that she was made up of the 32 ko¥¥hæsa (parts of the body), having nothing that could be taken as pleasant and desirable. In the same way, He looked at the three beautiful daughters of Mæra and saw them as mere conglomerations of detestable rþpa (physical) elements.” Not only the Buddha, but his disciples, the Arahats, could view things in the same manner and keep their minds in full control. And even the non-Arahats, those who had been practising the meditation over the unpleasantness of material things (asubha-kamma¥¥hæna) could view physical elements in the same realistic manner. Once, in Sri Lanka, Mahæ Tissa Mahæthera of Cetiya Mountain looked at a laughing girl on his round for alms-food and saw the unpleasantness of the physical elements and thus gained jhæna, then via the jhæna stage to Arahathood. Those practising meditation and having reached the stage of bha³gañæ¼a will be able to view things in their incessant decay and thus, in their being unpleasant and undesirable. Ability to view unpleasant things as pleasant In viewing unpleasant things so that they became pleasant, the Buddha converted hateful beings into loveable ones by means of His mettæ (loving-kindness). He viewed such beings with karu¼æ (pity), and those beings became as loveable and pitiable as His own son, Ræhulæ and thus were free of unpleasant and undesirable elements in their looks. The Buddha viewed Devadata, who attempted His life by rolling down a large rock from Gijjhakutta Mountain on to Him, as kindly and lovingly as He viewed his son, Ræhulæ. He had for Devadatta, the same goodwill for the latter’s welfare as He had for His son, and thus turned the unpleasant into the pleasant. For this reason of viewing unpleasant things as pleasant, the Buddha picked up the sari from the dead body of Pu¼næ, a slave woman, and wore it as a robe without any feeling of disgust. For the same reason, too. He ate the cake from the folds of Mællikæ’s skirt without disgust, and also ate the leavings of a meal eater by a Brahmin named Pañcaggadæyaka without disgust. There is an instance of Mahækassapa Mahæthera’s freedom from the feeling of disgust. Once, the venerable Arahat stood for alms-food at the place where a leper was eating his meal. He did so to enable this leper to gain merit which would result in prosperity and happiness in his next existence. The leper eating his meal was so full of good volition for giving alms that he put the remainder of the food he had been eating into the alms-bowl of the venerable monk. In doing so, the leper unwittingly dropped one of his disease-eroded fingers into the bowl. The great Arahat knew of this but he did not remove the finger and are all the meal without any feeling of disgust. This is, an example of viewing the unpleasant thing as equal to anything considered pleasant in respect of the elements comprising it. All the arahats could view in this manner, not to say of the Buddha. The Buddha could also view the pleasant as well as the unpleasant with unconcern. The most important is to be able to feel unconcerned about the ailments occurring in one’s body. The Buddha felt pain because He was struck in the foot by a splinter from the rock Devadatta had rolled down from the mountain but He viewed the pain with unconcern. Also, during the last year of His life the Buddha suffered from a serious illness but He viewed the physical ailment with great unconcern. Not only the Buddha but the Arahats also could view pleasantness and unpleasantness with unconcern: This ability is an attribute called chalangupekkhæ. The yogøs who are practitioners of meditation and who have reached the stage of sa³khærupekkhæña¼a can ignore pleasantness and unpleasantness by taking cognizance of the fact and dismissing the cognition immediately. Such yogøs may be said to have acquired part of the attribute of the Buddha and the Arahats for temporary period. Those who have attained this stage should be glad about it. There are three kinds of evil intention (sa³kappa). (1)
Kæma sa³kappa, the intention of obtain desirable (2)
Byæpæda-sa³kappa, the intention to cause death (3) Vihimsa-sa³kappa; the intention to ill treat others. These are the three evil intentions which must be dismissed from one’s mind. Then there are three kinds of good intentions: (1) nekkhamma-sa³kappa, the intention to oppose lustfulness; (2) abyæpæda-sa³kapa, the intention to cause happiness and well being; (3) avihimsa-sa³kappa, the intention to have kindness. These are the three good intentions which must be acquired. The worldly persons have lust for pleasant things, and anger and desire for destruction and torture of things unpleasant. As for the Buddha, such evil thoughts were far removed. He was full of good intentions. He was free of lust for pleasant things, and also from desire for destruction and torture of things, unpleasant. In Him happened spontaneous feelings of kindness and goodwill for all beings and things irrespective of whether they were pleasant and desirable or unpleasant and abhorrent. His mind was always clear and well under control. In fine, the Buddha could control His mind and keep it at His own will by going into jhæna and phala samæpatti. He could keep it in the same condition of goodwill and loving kindness for a moment or for the entire day or for the entire week as long as He wished. So, Sætægiri said: “Our teacher, the Buddha, can keep His mind under control as regards the three evil wishes and the three good wishes, for He has His mind under full control.” The Buddha is adorable. He does not discriminate between those who have deep reverence for Him or those who are antagonistic to Him, and had mettæ and karu¼æ for all beings. He had good wishes for all pleasant and unpleasant alike, and was in full control of His mind. The Buddha is indeed adorable. (End of part one)
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