What Makes the Buddha So Great?

What Makes the Buddha So Great?

by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

(courtesy by Mallika Rajapaksha)

1.  WISDOM AND COMPASSION

Unlike many enthusiastic missionaries who aggressively proselytize their faith, the Buddha never forced people to accept his teachings. He never force-fed the Dhamma down anyone’s throat. Instead, the Buddha encouraged potential followers to examine carefully what he had to offer, even though he knew the Dhamma would be of definite benefit to all.

He viewed the world and the people in it as a beautiful lake covered with lotus flowers. Some lotus buds are buried beneath the lake’s mud. Some have only begun to poke their heads out of the mud. Others buds have arisen half-way, some three-quarters of the way. Others have poked through the lake’s surface, ready to bloom in the warm light of the sun.

The Buddha saw that we are all at different stages of spiritual development. Only those whose spiritual faculties have matured and who are ready to realize the truth would benefit quickly from his teaching. Some need more instruction. Others would take much longer to even get to the point of being able to listen to Dhamma. Others may enjoy reading and talking about the Dhamma, listening to talks, analyzing, debating, even writing doctoral dissertations on aspects of the Buddha’s teachings, without ever once tasting an iota of the peace that comes from putting the Dhamma into practice.

This is the reality of the world. With this realistic understanding of humankind, the Buddha began his mission. He knew that those with mature spiritual faculties would voluntarily search out the Dhamma welcoming it with a deep pleasure like a thirsty and hungry person traveling through a desert. He knew that until such time as individuals got to this stage they might be skeptical and even deny his teachings and criticize him and his disciples.

The Buddha always respected people’s freedom of choice. He knew that any forced conversion was unethical and immoral and would eventually result in regret for the convert. He knew that religion is something sacred and personal – that it sticks with you only if you accept it out of personal conviction. “Just as a goldsmith cuts, burns, hammers and runs every test he knows to check a piece of metal to confirm that it is gold, a wise person must personally examine these teachings very carefully before he accepts them,” the Buddha said. He knew that many of those who initially denied and even defied and rejected him and his teachings would eventually became his followers. So, he calmly, peacefully, mindfully and compassionately carried on very cordial and friendly discussion with anybody who came to defy him. The Upāli Sutta contains a classic paradigm of this.

II. Four Months Probation

The Buddha was not anxious to grab at the chance of having just any person become one of his followers, however. In the Vinaya, the body of guidelines for life as a monk or nun, he set down a rule that required a four-month probationary period for anyone coming from another religious tradition who wished to enter the order of monks. During this period, fellow bhikkhus are to observe the applicant’s behavior and take into account whether the person is seriously devoted to the Buddha-dhamma or not, whether the person is discreet not impudent, and whether they are easily supportable, peace-loving and sincere. At the same time, the potential monk would have enough time to think very carefully about whether the life of a Buddhist monk was the right choice. Only after this careful investigation and agreed to by both parties could such a person be ordained as a novice monk.

When Seniya, the Dog-duty Ascetic expressed his desire to enter the order of Sangha, the Buddha said to him:

It is easy to get upset when somebody hastily and baselessly accuses us of wrongdoing. How should one respond? It may be that the person making these charges is operating on misinformation or a misunderstanding. If initially we feel we are innocent of these claims against us, we might examine our own mind and conscience to see whether, in truth, the accusation has any validity. When a person comes to realize there is no basis for these accusations then there would be no reason to be disturbed. They might be curious instead. What is the reason for these charges?

Notice that if the first reaction is losing our temper we would not know how best to respond to the accuser. But if the accused were to listen patiently, to allow the mind to be calm and collected, then he or she would be in a better position to talk to the person and discover the real reason for these accusations. In this way, we even may be able to help the accuser understand his own mental state. On many an occasion, the Buddha set wonderful examples for us to emulate in this fashion.

2. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

How do you know which teachings you should follow? The instructions given here in the Kālāma Sutta are unaffected by time and as wonderful as when first spoken by the Buddha 2,600 years ago. They can even apply to any teachings you are considering, to help make up your mind when confused about what to accept and what to reject. The criterion you should use for making a decision is given here.

One might think that when the Buddha asks us not to believe anything in the list of conditions he mentions here, that he was not sure what he himself was teaching. He surely knew what he was talking about. Since he is as clear as clear can be in his teaching, he spoke without any hesitation. The teaching of the Buddha shines when open, not when hidden. He wanted to expose his teaching to people and challenged them to test it with whatever measure they could apply. This freedom of inquiry was encouraged by the Buddha with an impartial attitude towards all spiritual paths, including his own. His guidance in this sutta will assist spiritual seekers in not being gullible. “Gullible” comes from two Pāli words: “gali” (swallowing) plus “balīso” (bait) = swallowing the bait. The Buddha asked people not to be “galibalīso,” but to use their intelligence instead when considering which religion to follow.

The Buddha pointed out that (i) Faith, (ii) Approval, (iii) Oral tradition, (iv) Reasoned consideration, and (v) Reflective acceptance are the basis people generally use as their criteria to justify the validity of their religion. Each of them either is valid or invalid.

(i)        Most people follow religions on faith. What they believe may be true or may not be true. Even though they may lay their life down for their faith they cannot vouch that what they believe is 100 percent true. Their faith could be very strong. This does not prove anything. It is mere faith. It may, however, be possible that it is true and factual. The believer does not have a way to prove that it is true and everything else is false.

(ii)       If you accept a set of beliefs you like, they may or may not be true. You don’t know. They may just appeal to your temperament. It might just be something you have been looking to obtain: “Well, this is what I have been looking for and for a long time. I finally found it. I love it. I want to promote it. It pleases me immensely.” You may even go out of your way to persuade others to accept it. You might say: “It works for me perfectly well. I am sure it would work for you as well.” This, of course, is not the proof that what you like is foolproof. It may be correct; it may be false.

(iii)      Following oral tradition may also prove powerfully attractive. There might even be a convincing, well-preserved, unbroken lineage of teachers. Every letter of the original message may have been preserved. Nobody, however, has a way of verifying the validity of such teachings. The first teacher might have been confused and issued a convincing-sounding pronouncement. All his followers might be following this original confused message, thinking it must be the truth as it has been handed down through time. This is like a line of blind men. The first may think he is following his instinct. Others following him may think the first one knows where he is leading them. So, those in the middle don’t really see where they are going. The last one thinks that the ones in front of him are following those before them and they all know where they are going. But, in fact, the first, the last and those in the middle may be lost. They are simply following one another blindly. And yet they all trust each other. They may be going in right direction or the wrong direction. But there is no way that they can verify this.

(iv).     You may accept a set of beliefs thinking that it appeals to logic and reason. You don’t know whether what you have accepted is true or not. Once accepted, you use your own logic to justify its validity. Using logic you can prove anything you want. All you need is to follow the steps of logic.

(v)       Also you may reflect on something you are inclined to accept. You don’t know whether it is true or false. You have a certain emotional inclination towards it. After some period of reflection you decide to accept these beliefs and very sincerely follow them without any further question. You might say to yourself, “Well, I have not accepted this naively seeing its superficial appearance. I spent quite lot of time thinking about it before I accepted it. Now, I am settled in my decision.”

Whether you accepted religious views out of faith, out of inclination, as oral tradition, with reasoned cogitation, or reflective acceptance, these views may be empty, hollow and false. But something else may not be fully accepted out of faith, out of inclination, as oral tradition, with reasoned cogitation, or reflective acceptance, yet it may be factual, true, and unmistaken.

“[Under these conditions] it is not proper for a wise man who preserves truth to come to the definite conclusion: ‘Only this is true, anything else is wrong,’” said the Buddha.

How to preserve the truth?

“If a person has faith, Bhāradvāja, he preserves truth when he says: ‘My faith is thus’; but he does not yet come to the definite conclusion: ‘Only this is true, anything else is wrong.’ In this way, Bhāradvāja, there is the preservation of truth; in this way he preserves truth; in this way we describe the preservation of truth. But as yet there is no discovery of truth.”

This is the same thing if you say, “This is my inclination. This my oral tradition; these are my reasons; I carefully reflected on this.” To this extent you preserve the truth. But if you say, “Only this is true, anything else is wrong,” you don’t preserve the truth.

Here you are honest. You don’t say definitively what you have accepted and are following is the only truth and what anybody else has accepted and follows is wrong and false. If you say so you are fooling yourself. You are saying something that you don’t know to be true. You have not yet discovered the truth.

How to discover the truth?

Experiencing suffering in life you search for someone who can help you. Suppose you have heard that there is an excellent, learned and honest teacher. You know him only by his reputation. You have not listened to anything he has said. People talk very highly of him. As you have heard a great deal of him, you build up your faith in him. Even though you have faith in him, you don’t accept anything nor do you reject anything. You decide to go and meet him.

You go there to investigate him, to verify what you have heard of him. You associate with him and observe his behavior. You can see him walking, sitting, standing, lying down, eating, drinking, and wearing robes. Then you listen to what he teaches people. You ask questions. When you run these tests, you can come to know whether this venerable teacher is full of greed, hatred or delusion.

If you notice he is wearing fancy robes and is surrounded by luxuries then you know he is person weighed down with desire. If you notice him criticizing people, particularly his opponents, you know him as full of resentment. If he shouts at the residents or visitors, you know he is an angry person. If he encourages others to do harmful things and speak in harmful ways then you know he is full of anger. When you ask a question, instead of giving the right answer according to Dhamma, if he rambles or beats around the bush you know he is a confused person. Instead of explaining Dhamma, if he simply talks about his lineage, his teachers, his gurus, the glories of his tradition, you know that he does not know Dhamma. He is simply a confused person.

On the other hand, if he simple, gentle and content, wanting little, if he speaks calmly and peacefully with loving friendliness and compassion, you know he is a well-trained person. When you ask him a Dhamma question and if he answers according to the Buddha-dhamma, you know that he knows Dhamma. When you ask him a question on meditation and if he answers it in a way that encourages you to practice meditation, you know that he is a meditator. If he does not encourage anybody to do anything harmful you know that he is noble person without anger. The longer you associate with him, keeping eyes, ears and mind open, the more you like him. If he explains deep Dhamma in a clear language so that you can understand it very clearly, you know that he has a good and clear knowledge of Dhamma. Just as before, if you observe his verbal and physical behavior you can come to certain conclusion with regard to his mental state.

His verbal behavior does not seem to have been affected by greed. His physical behavior does not seem to be affected by greed. The Dhamma he teaches is very profound. He makes deep and difficult Dhamma simple and easy to understand. This Dhamma he teaches is peaceful and sublime, unattainable by mere reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. This Dhamma cannot easily be taught by one affected by greed. This Dhamma cannot easily be taught by one affected by hate. This Dhamma cannot easily be taught by one affected by delusion.

When a seeker has investigated such a teacher and has seen that he is purified from states based on delusion, then he places faith in him. Filled with faith, he visits him more often and pays respect to him; having paid respect to him, he gives ear; when he gives ear, he hears the Dhamma; having heard the Dhamma, he memorizes it and examines the meaning of the teachings he has memorized. When he examines their meaning, he gains a reflective acceptance of those teachings; when he has gained a reflective acceptance of those teachings, zeal springs up; when zeal has sprung up, he applies his will; having applied his will, he scrutinizes; having scrutinized, he strives; resolutely striving, he realizes the supreme truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom. In this way, the person discovers truth.

Finally, how to arrive at truth?

“The final arrival at truth lies in the repetition, development, and cultivation of those same things.

“The important factor that helps most to arrive at truth is striving. Then the person must scrutinize. To scrutinize Dhamma one must apply one’s will. In order to apply will one must arouse zeal.

“A reflective acceptance of the teachings is most helpful for zeal, Bhāradvāja. If one does not gain a reflective acceptance of the teachings, zeal will not spring up; but because one gains a reflective acceptance of the teachings, zeal springs up. That is why a reflective acceptance of the teachings is most helpful for zeal.

“Examination of the meaning is most helpful for a reflective acceptance of the teachings. There must be something to examine. If one memorizes a teaching, one will examine its meaning. Hearing the Dhamma is most helpful for memorizing the teachings. You cannot hear if you don’t listen mindfully, paying total undivided attention to what you hear. In order to listen you should have respect for the teacher or the speaker. Only by frequent visiting do you build up your respect for the teacher. When you observe those wonderful qualities in the teacher you are prompted to go there more frequently. The more you visit him more you listen to his teaching. When have respect for the teacher you urge yourself to remember every word the teacher says. But you simply don’t swallow blindly everything you have memorized. You mindfully investigate, examine and scrutinize the meaning of what you have memorized. Faith is most helpful for visiting. If faith in a teacher does not arise, one will not visit him.”

So, the Buddha has not discarded faith as something unimportant. He rather showed us a way to use faith as the seed or the base for building our investigation of Dhamma.[i]

3. DIVINELY DWELLING HERE

The Buddha has instructed us how to make a heaven of our life in this world. If we decide to make it into a hell we can do that, too. It all depends on what we do with our mind. If we cleanse our mind of hatred and learn to live in friendliness through our every thought, word and deed we find friends everywhere. With a friendly attitude, what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think are pleasant. When we move about with friendliness, whether standing, sitting, walking or lying down, we find everyone around us is our friend. We are their friends. We feel that friends surround us.

When we are among friends we feel secure and protected. When we are friendly we don’t hurt anybody through thoughts, words or deeds. Whenever we talk about people we can talk as if we are talking about our very dear friends. Later, we don’t regret saying good things about others. Our heart becomes soft and gentle. This improves our health. We sleep better, do not suffer from nightmares and awake in a better frame of mind. We will be pleasant to human beings; we will be pleasant to non-human beings; we will be protected by deities; we will not be affected by the poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion; we will not be burnt by the fire of greed, hatred, and delusion; we will not be affected by the weapons of greed, hatred, and delusion.

When we meditate we gain concentration faster. Our countenance will be pleasant. We will die with a clear state of mind and if we do not attain a higher level of mundane attainment or supra-mundane attainment then we will be reborn in the Brahma realm after death. If everybody were to practice thoughts of friendliness everybody would feel the same way. If everybody spoke with friendliness, everybody could share peaceful talk. If everybody acted with friendliness, there would be peace in the world.

We can abstain from all kinds of violence, starting with the violence of using abusive language. We abstain from swearing, cursing and insulting others. In such a fashion, we will not be a threat to anybody on earth. Even were others to insult, assault and abuse us we would not retaliate. We can protect the weak, innocent and desolate. We are able to protect and respect just laws. We are able to maintain peace and harmony in our family, society and country. For this reason, in this discourse the Buddha says, “This is called divinely dwelling here.” This is how we make heaven on earth.

4. TATHĀGATAPOWER

It is not the body that attains enlightenment, but the mind. The Buddha became so supreme due to his mental power. He proved from his experiment with his own body and mind that the mind can be trained to work over matter. Through systematic training in meditation he made the body as light as the mind. It is reported in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta that he informed Venerable Ānanda that he had practiced thirty-seven enlightenment factors so powerfully that if he wished he could have lived full lifespan of human beings in his time (120 years). His mind was so pure and powerful that he knew how to postpone his death for another forty years if he wished. Some of the mental powers listed below are mind-boggling. In this age of science and technology, people question how it is possible for someone to do all this. The fact of the matter is:

(i) These days, people depend so much on technology that some cannot do even simple arithmetical sum without using a calculator. They have lost touch with the power of their own minds.

(ii) Most skeptics who ask this question are totally unfamiliar with our mental capacity.

(iii) We will not ever completely understand the power of the mind if we don’t meditate, training the mind systematically, reaching its untapped and immeasurable potential resources.

A friend of mine recently told me a story of his dog. Whenever his wife looked at the dog after she had decided to bathe him, the dog slowly snuck out of the room. “This happened not once or twice, but every time she thought of bathing our dog,” he said. How does the dog even know the woman has decided to bathe him?

Human beings have made their lives so complex and noisy that their intuition and mental capacities have become blunted or atrophied. Consequently, they even don’t know that they have untapped potential deeply locked in the depths of the mind.

5. BUDDHA’S HUMILITY:

A sure sign of the Buddha’s wisdom is expressed by his humility. In spite of his fame, popularity, honor and respect, he remained so humble that when Pukkusāti met him the Buddha did not introduce himself. He exhibited his noble behavior by seeking permission from the innkeeper and Pukkusāti who already was in the inn before the Buddha entered it. They could not see each other in the dark. When they talked they heard each other’s voices. As Pukkusāti was listening to the Buddha’s explanation of the elements, slowly and surely Pukkusāti’s eye of wisdom began to open and he saw the Buddha through his teaching in the dark. This is why the Buddha said: “He who sees the Dhamma sees the Buddha.” This is true even today. We don’t need the Buddha to drop by our house to see him. If we mindfully and carefully practice the Dhamma, we can see the Buddha through his teaching. In the end, Pukkusāti was so pleased with the Buddha that he became his disciple.

The term “homeless one” used in this discourse is quite distasteful in today’s materialistic society to be “homeless” is a disgrace. In ancient India all the holy ones were “homeless.” Homelessness was almost an honorable and respectful noble quality, exemplifying a holy life.

The Buddha’s Response to Sāriputta’s Remark:

One day, venerable Sāriputta said to the Buddha: “Venerable sir, I have such confidence in the Blessed One that I believe there has not been nor ever will be, nor exists at present, another ascetic or Brahmin more knowledgeable than the Blessed One with respect to enlightenment.”

The Buddha responded that this statement was very lofty. “Have you now, Sāriputta, encompassed with your mind the minds of all the Arahants, the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, arisen in the past and known thus: ‘These Blessed Ones were of such virtue, or of such qualities, or of such wisdom, or of such dwellings, or of such liberation?’”

He asked him the same question with regard to the future Buddhas and the present one. Of course, the answer was “no.” As Venerable Sāriputta did not make any meaningless statements, he gave his reason for saying what he did.

Rāhula’s ordination:

When Rāhula was ordained king, Suddhodana asked the Buddha not to ordain children without their parents’ consent. He worded his statement in very strong terms:

“Lord, when the Blessed One went forth from our home into homelessness, I suffered no little pain. Then there was Nanda. Now Rāhula is gone. This is too much. Love for our children cuts into the outer skin, it cuts into the inner skin, it cuts into the sinews, it cuts into the bones, it reaches the marrow and lodges there. Therefore, it would be good if the Venerable Ones did not give the going-forth without the parents’ consent.” The Buddha accepted this plea from the king and stated it as a rule in the monks’ code of discipline.

Here the Buddha was so humble and considerate that he did not protest. He laid down a rule from that time on not to ordain anybody without their parents’ approval.

Kāpaṭhika’s interruption:

While some senior brahmins were conversing with the Blessed One at one time, a young, shaven-headed, sixteen-year-old teenager named Kāpathika, repeatedly broke in and interrupted their talk. Then the Blessed One rebuked him and asked him not to interrupt the talk of these very senior brahmins: “You should wait until the talk is finished.”

When this was said, the brahmin Cankı said to the Blessed One: “Let not Master Gotama rebuke the brahmin student Kāpathika. He is very learned, he has a good delivery, he is wise; he is capable of taking part in this discussion with Master Gotama.”

Here again the Buddha simply listened to the Brahmin Canki and carried on the conversation from that point on with Kāpathika. The Buddha was always ready to listen to reason.

6. UNDECLARED

The Buddha taught us what we need for our liberation. Our life is short, as brief as a dew-drop and quick to pass as lightning. We don’t have time to know everything in the entire universe. There are countless questions. Even one hundred years are too short to get answers to all our questions. Out of thousands of questions related to spiritual inquiry, ten were frequently listed in Buddhist texts. When somebody asked the Buddha these questions, most of the time he observed silence. Occasionally, he answered. When he did speak of them, he said that they are to be known as the questions that the Buddha set aside or left unanswered.

The reason is that answers to those questions would not lead to dispassion, detachment, cessation of suffering and the attainment of liberation. They would instead distract from the key task at hand and not deal with the source of our suffering. The Buddha’s mission was to teach the world what suffering is and how to eliminate it. This is the summary of his teaching.

The second reason he did not answer such questions is that by answering any of them he did not want to fall into one kind of speculative view or another. In the ensuing discussions, we can see how the Buddha wisely dealt with these questions.

7. UNATTACHED TO DHAMMA

Much religious fanaticism ends in violence. Narrow-minded and aggressive proselytizers arise from fanaticism. When we blindly adhere to a belief system, viewings others as heathen or infidels, we become incapable of knowing how other people feel. We conclude we are right and everybody else is wrong. We must be careful not to become overly attached in this way to one’s religion.

Misunderstanding the Dhamma leads to wrong thoughts. Wrong thoughts lead to wrong speech, which leads to wrong action. That leads to wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong concentration. With such a mental state, one can commit all kinds of atrocities and crimes without hesitation. Human history is full of such unfortunate events.

So, attachment to one’s own religion can cause spiritual blindness. The Buddha cautioned us against these dangers.

When the Buddha declared he was going to pass away in three months, Venerable Ānanda made a request of him: “The Lord will not attain final Nibbāna until he has made some statement about the order of monks.”

Replying, the Buddha said:

“But, Ānanda, what does the order of monks expect of me? I have taught the Dhamma, Ānanda, making no ‘inner’ and ‘outer’; the Tathāgata has no ‘teacher’s fist’ in respect of doctrines. If there is anyone who thinks: ‘I shall take charge of the order,’ or ‘The order should defer to me,’ let him make some statement about the order, but the Tathāgata does not think in such terms. So why should the Tathāgata make a statement about the order?

“Therefore, Ānanda, you should live as islands unto yourselves, being your own refuge, with no on else as your refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as your refuge, with no other refuge. And how does a monk live as an island unto himself, being his own refuge, with no on else as his refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as his refuge, with no other refuge? Here, Ānanda, a monk abides contemplating the body as body, earnestly, clearly aware, mindful and having put away all hankering and fretting for the world, and likewise with regard to feeling, mind and mind-objects. That, Ānanda, is how a monk lives as an island unto himself… with no other refuge. And those who now in my time or afterwards live thus, they will become the highest, if they are desirous of learning.[ii]

“Keep to your own preserves, monks, to your ancestral haunts. If you do so, then Māra will find not lodgment or foothold. It is just the building-up of wholesome states that this merit increases.”[iii]

Here he exemplified what he has taught in the parable of raft, that we should not attach to anything.

8. THE TATHĀGATA

Billions of people have been born and died. How many of them brought peace and happiness to the world? The Buddha’s record in this respect is unique and impeccable. Nowhere in Buddhist history can we find a single incident in which the Buddha caused disharmony among any community. He is the embodiment of peace, compassion and wisdom. His unsurpassed comprehension of human nature is expressed in every sermon he delivered. When we mindfully investigate the Dhamma, we can see the Buddha speaking with the same compassion and wisdom. For this reason, the Buddha said: “He who sees the Dhamma sees me.” And: “He who sees me sees the Dhamma.”

There are records of misguided, so-called Buddhist leaders shedding the blood of people with the distorted perception that they could protect the Dhamma by eliminating their human enemies. It is unfair for anybody to point a finger at Buddhism or the Buddha for such unholy actions.

Birth brings growth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, grief and despair. Fortunately, the Buddha’s birth brought to the world peace, happiness and above all a perfect method of total liberation from sorrow, lamentation, grief and despair.

This liberation can be achieved here and now. We don’t have to die to attain liberation. We can attain it here and now if we scrupulously follow the instructions given in the Buddha’s teaching. In the Mahāsatipathāna Sutta, the Buddha gave assurance that we could even attain enlightenment in a maximum of seven years.

9. PERFECT MINDFULNESS

In the “Wonderful and Marvellous Discourse,” Venerable Ānanda reports in the presence of the Buddha that the Bodhisatta was born in the Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness; that he lived in the Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness; that he passed away in the Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness; that he entered into the queen Mahāmāyā’s womb with mindfulness and full awareness; that he stayed there in his mother’s womb for ten months with mindfulness and full awareness and that finally he was born with mindfulness and full awareness. It was this unbroken mindfulness that he maintained throughout his entire life, through self-mortification and the attainment of full enlightenment.[iv] Even after enlightenment he remained mindful and clearly aware of all phenomena. He then passed away with mindfulness and full awareness.[v]

Mindfully, he prepared himself to pass away. Māra invited him five times to pass away.

i.          The first time, Māra the Evil One said: “May the Blessed Lord now attain final Nibbāna, may the Well-Farer now attain final Nibbana. Now is the time for the Blessed Lord’s final Nibbāna. Because the Blessed Lord has said thus: ‘Evil One, I will not take final Nibbāna till I have monks and disciples who are accomplished, trained, skilled, learned, knowers of the Dhamma, trained in conformity with the Dhamma, correctly trained and walking in the path of the Dhamma, who will pass on what they have gained from their Teacher, teach it, declare it, establish it, expound it, analyse it, make it clear; till they shall be able by means of the Dhamma to refute false teachings that have arisen, and teach the Dhamma of wondrous effect.’”

ii.         And Mara went on: “And now the Blessed Lord has such monks and disciples. May the Blessed Lord now attain final Nibbāna, may the Well-farer now attain final Nibbāna. Now is the time for the Blessed Lord’s final Nibbāna. And the Blessed Lord has said: “Evil One, I will not take final Nibbāna till I have nuns and disciples who are accomplished, trained, skilled, learned, knowers of the Dhamma, trained in conformity with the Dhamma, correctly trained and walking in he path of the Dhamma, who will pass on what they have gained from their Teacher, teach it declare it, establish it, expound it, analyse it, make it clear; till they shall be able by means of the Dhamma to refute false teachings that have arisen, and teach the Dhamma of wondrous effect.”

Similarly, the Buddha said that he would not pass away until there are (iii) laymen disciples and (iv) laywomen disciples who are accomplished, trained, skilled, learned, knowers of the Dhamma, trained in conformity with the Dhamma, correctly trained and walking in he path of the Dhamma, who will pass on what they have gained from their Teacher, teach it declare it, establish it, expound it, analyse it, make it clear; till they shall be able by means of the Dhamma to refute false teachings that have arisen, and teach the Dhamma of wondrous effect.”

v.         Only until all these four classes of disciples were well established would the Buddha decide to pass away. [vi]

 

10. BUDDHA’S COMPASSION

Having long prepared himself to pass away, the Buddha most compassionately instructed Ānanda to console Cunda who gave the Buddha’s last meal. After eating it, the Buddha passed away.

11. DEFINITION OF GOOD AND EVIL

In defining good and evil, the Buddha did not allow that the end justified the means. Instead, taking a macrocosmic perspective, he taught that the intention motivating our actions was equally important. His moral standard was so high that invariably he advocated that whenever we think a thought or commit an action we should consider how it affects us as well as others. If an action is harmful to us, harmful to others and harmful to both then it is unwholesome. If, on the other hand, an action is beneficial to us, beneficial to others and beneficial to both then it is wholesome.

This is a universal definition of good and evil. This encompasses all possibilities of good and evil. One cannot say, within this broad perspective, that what is good to me may not be good to you. Or what is good to you may not be good to me. If it is good, it should be good to you as well as to me. It also should be good today and good tomorrow. Out of many discourses on this subject we selected Ambalaṭṭhika Rāhulovāda Sutta and Abhayarāja kumāra Sutta.

In defining and explaining what is wholesome and unwholesome action, the Buddha was not issuing commandments. He rather was describing what his disciples should do attain liberation from suffering. If a person does not want to follow his instruction, he is not condemning them to hell. He was, however, very clear in his instruction to Rāhula when he told him to speak the truth. To drive his point home easily and unmistakably, as an enlightened father the Buddha gave his very young son the simple and unforgettable simile of the pot of water:

12. THE BUDDHA DID NOT CREATE NOR DID HE INVENT

The Buddha’s greatness lay in the fact that he never claimed to be more than the Tathāgata. Who is the Tathāgata?

Referring to himself, the Buddha used this term. Since he came to this world in the same way all other previous Buddhas came, he is known as “Tathāgata.” Just as previous Buddhas, he attained enlightenment, taught Dhamma (the truth following which one attains full liberation from suffering); Vinaya (the code of discipline for both male and female ordained disciples); established four classes of disciples—Bhikkhus (male ordained disciples), Bhikkhunis (female ordained disciples), Upāsakas (unordained lay male followers) and Upāsikas (unordained lay female followers); and he attained parinibbāna just as the previous Buddhas did. So he is called ‘thus gone’ (tathā-gata).

Although he was born from a woman’s womb (Mahāmāyā), he lived unsullied amid worldly affairs and yet totally and fully aware of all human conditions. His lifestyle enabled him to transcend all human conditions and be became liberated from them like any other previous Buddha.

In spite of his extraordinary attainment, he never clamed to be anything other than human. Nonetheless, he spoke of the Tathāgata as an extraordinary person (acchariya puggala). He discovered what was hidden, hidden even to himself, until he learned to overcome and eliminate ignorance. With the discovery of the truth (the Four Noble Truths), he declared to the world that what he realized can be realized by anybody else who follows the system he followed.

13. JUSTICE AND PATIENCE

In this last section, we would like to stress the Buddha’s fairness and patience. In settling disputes among the Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis, the Buddha always maintained his equanimity. As he came from a ruling family, he seems to have inherited the skill of overseeing and governing his immediate disciples and lay followers in general.

Whenever he settled a dispute he called upon the accused and witnesses. One of the witnesses would report a particular offense a bhikkhu or bhikkhuni had supposedly committed. The normal procedure was that the community of ordained sangha would advise the accused three times to refrain from committing a certain offense. If the accused did not refrain then one of the members of the ordained sangha would report the matter to the Buddha. Then, the Buddha would call for the accused. In the presence of the plaintiff and witnesses, the Buddha questioned the accused as to whether or not he or she had been committing the particular offense. When the accused admitted that they had committed the offense, the Buddha would admonish them. Then, he would teach Dhamma, pointing out the seriousness of the offense and how to avoid it in future. He emphasized that this holy life was for the purpose of liberation from suffering and how that particular offense would hinder their spiritual progress.

When somebody went to the Buddha and complained against the members of another religious order, the Buddha would say, “Enough, let me teach you Dhamma.”

He always listened to people whether they were his disciples or a total stranger. When he taught the Dhamma, some in the audience would listen attentively. Some might not listen mindfully, afflicted by monkey mind. The Buddha would not be upset with them. Some might listen well, remember what he taught, delighted with the teaching, and attain higher levels of enlightenment. The Buddha would still maintain his equanimity. Some blamed him, some praised him. In either case, he remained equanimous. He maintained the utmost patience.

In the humorous encounter with Akkosaka, we see how the Buddha faced an angry man with remarkable patience. As he had perfected patience, he showed how to exercise it when the occasion called for it.

In the Kakacūpama Sutta, the Buddha instructed Moliyaphagguna to practice patience even if some bandits were to sever his limbs one by one with a two-handle saw. If someone were tied to a tree by a group of bandits, what could the victim do? He can do nothing physically. He can hate the criminals for tying him to a tree and torturing him. Even in such situation the victim should not let hate enter his mind. This sutta elaborates that if the mind is filled with loving friendliness (Mettā), nobody can make one angry. Similes in the discourse drive his point home.

Elsewhere the Buddha has encouraged us, saying, “Bhikkhus I don’t ask you to do anything that you cannot do.” He said this from his own personal experience. If he were a divine being, he would not say this, for no human beings can do what divine beings do. Divine is divine and human is human. But human beings can create divine conditions in the human world if they follow the Buddha’s advice.

14. WE CAN SEE THE BUDDHA NOW:

In this last section, we would like to emphasize how we can see the Buddha here and now. His unsurpassed comprehension of human nature is expressed in every sermon he delivered. When we mindfully investigate the dhamma, even today we can see the Buddha speaking to us with the same compassion and wisdom. For this reason the Buddha said: “He who sees the Dhamma sees me.” Alternately also he said, “He who sees me sees the Dhamma.”

This is an impersonal unbiased Dhamma that severs everybody irrespective of religious affiliations. It is this Dhamma he taught us for forty-five years. He taught us to see Dhamma in us. Dhamma in us invites us to come and see. When we see Dhamma in us we can see the Buddha in us. Although the Buddha is in us we cannot see him at all until we see the entire Dhamma (Four Noble Truths) he taught us. When iron shutter of ignorance is removed we can Dhamma in us and we are living with the Buddha.

The Buddha completed his mission as an Enlightened One before his Mahaaparinibbāna. He established four strata of Buddhist community; delivered his message necessary and sufficient for us to follow without him, and finally took leave of all of us as the fully Enlightened One.