Category: Mahabodhi Mission

From The Jātakas: Birth Stories of the Bodhisatta

[herein paraphrased]

Once while residing in Jetavana Grove, the Teacher told this story on observing the precepts of uposatha.

Once the king of Magadha, at constant war with the king of Anga, obtaining the help of the Naga king who dwelt in the river Campa, defeated his rival. Thereafter he held an annual festival in honour of the Naga king.

The Bodhisatta, a very poor man, saw Campeyyas splendor on his way to the feast and longed for a like greatness. As a result, after death, he was born in the Naga world where he became king under the name of Campeyya.

Realizing what had happened, he felt disgust at his position as a Naga and made many attempts to observe religious vows, hoping, in this way, to gain release. But he was foiled in his efforts by his consort Sumana.

At last he came to the world of men, where he kept fast on uposatha days, lying on an ant hill. There he was taken captive by a snake charmer who tortured him in various ways and took him about, exhibiting him for gain. By certain tokens of which Campeyya had earlier warned her, Sumana knew that her husband had been taken captive and, after much searching, she discovered him just as the snake charmer was about to give a performance before Uggasena, king of Benares.

The whole story was then revealed, and the snake charmer set Campeyya free, on the command of Uggasena. That Uggasena might be convinced of the truth of the story, he was invited to the Naga world, where he and his retinue were lavishly entertained.

”You, who have acquired magical powers and great potency, have all the pleasures of the senses at your disposal. Nāga king, why do you proclaim the human realm better than this?”

”Nowhere but in the realm of humans is there purity and self-control. Having attained human birth I will make an end death and rebirth.”

The story was related by the Teacher in connection with the observance of uposatha vows.

“In this way the wise abandoned the nāga realm and kept the uposatha. Devadatta was the snake charmer and Sariputta was Uggasena. Rahulamata was Sumana. I was the nāga king, Campeyya.”

Glossary:

nāga: legendary beings, part snake and part human, endowed with supernatural powers. 
uposatha: day of purification and observation of the precepts, falling on day of new moon, full moon, and quarter moon. 

Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, SN 56:11, V 420-424

Herein abridge and wherein the Blessed One, after his enlightenment, gives his first discourse…

Thus was heard [on the occasion when]

The Blessed One dwelling at Bārānasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana addressed the five monks present at his first discourse.

“ … These two extremes should not be followed… the pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures… and the pursuit of self-mortification… Without veering toward either of these extremes, the Tathāgta awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.”

The Noble Eightfold Path

“That middle way… is this Noble Eightfold Path that is; right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration… That middle way… gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.”

The Four Noble Truths

“This then is the noble truth…

1. …Of suffering: birth is suffering, as are illness, death, union with what is displeasing, separation from what is pleasing, not getting what one wants… in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering
2. …Of the origin of suffering… [in brief] craving… craving for sensual pleasure, for existence, for extermination
3. …To the cessation of suffering… the cessation of that craving… freedom from it, nonattachment
4. …Of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path”

Three Phases, Twelve Modes

“[This is the noble truth of suffering]: thus, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, penetration, and light.”
[This noble truth of suffering is to be fully understood ]
[This noble truth of suffering has been fully understood ]

[This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering]
[This noble truth of the origin of suffering is to be fully abandoned]
[This noble truth of the origin of suffering has been fully abandoned]

[This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering]
[This noble truth of the cessation of suffering is to be fully realized]
[This noble truth of the cessation of suffering has been fully realized]

[This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering]
[This noble truth of the the way leading to the cessation of suffering is to be fully developed ]
[This noble truth of the the way leading to the cessation of suffering has been fully developed]

“…[Only] when my knowledge and vision of the Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment… ‘Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence.’”

The Wheel of the Dhamma

…There arose in the Venerable Kondañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma: “Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.”

[The many devas] raised a cry, “At Bārānasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana, this unsurpassed wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped.”

Then the Blessed One said, “Kondañña has indeed understood! Kondañña has indeed understood!”

A pith guide on the practice of making full use of the opportunity offered by human existence in the cycle of life and death [samsarā].

Herein “The Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States [Bar do]”

Homage to the Peaceful and Wrathful Victorious Ones.

Alas!  Now, as the intermediate state of living arises before me,
Shedding indolence for which life has no time,
I will enter without distraction on the path of study, reflection, and meditation.
Taking sense perception and the nature of the mind as the path,
I will train in manifesting the three enlightened dimensions.
Now that I have obtained a precious human body,
I do not have leisure to remain in the ways of distraction.

Now, as the intermediate state of dreams arises before me,
Shedding the corpse-like sleep of uncaring ignorance,
I will relax in the natural state of undistracted presence,
Recognizing dreams, I will train in generating and transforming them
And with clarity, having overcome beast-like slumber,
I will treasure the practice of integrating sleep and clear light.

Now, as the intermediate state of [samādhi] meditation arises before me,
Shedding the multitude of distractions and fantasies,
I will rest in the state beyond limitations without grasping or losing focus,
And achieve stability in the practice of generation and completion,
Now free of all activity, practicing single-mindedly,
I will not be swayed by deceptive emotions.

Now as the intermediate state of the moment before death arises before me,
Shedding all attachment, grasping, and compulsion,
I will remain without distraction in the state in which the meaning of the oral teaching is clear,
And transfer my pure awareness into the unborn expanse of space.
As soon as I separate from the amalgam of flesh and blood,
I will recognize my body as an ephemeral illusion.

Now, as the intermediate state of [dharmatā] reality arises before me,
Shedding all feelings of terror and fear, I will recognize whatever appears as natural manifestations of my own pure awareness.
Knowing that sound, light, and rays are apparitions of the intermediate state.
Now that I have come to this crucial point,
I will not fear the host of peaceful and wrathful deities that emanate from myself.

Now that the intermediate state of rebirth rises before me,
I will maintain a strong resolve,
And determinedly unite with propensities of my past and good deeds.
I will block the womb entrances and recall the methods of reversal.
This is the moment when steadfastness and pure vision are vital.
I renounce all jealousy and meditate on my spiritual teacher with his consort.

Accomplished master have spoken these words:
“Because of indifference, thinking that death will never come,
Bewitched by the meaningless activities of this life,
If you were to return empty-handed, would not all your aspirations be confounded?”
“Recognize what you truly need is [dharma]!
So why not practice [dharma] from this moment on?”

It is also said [by the siddhas]
“If [one does not take their guru’s] teaching to heart,
[Does one] not become [one’s] own betrayer?”

skandha. (Pali,  khandha; Tibetan,  phung po). In Sanskrit, lit. “heap,” viz., “aggregate,” or “aggregate of being”; one of the most common categories in Buddhist literature for enumerating the constituents of the person. According to one account, the Buddha used a grain of rice to represent each of the many constituents, resulting in five piles or heaps. The five skandhas are materiality or form (RŪPA), sensations or feeling (VEDANĀ), perception or discrimination (SAṂJÑĀ), conditioning factors (SAṂSKĀRA), and consciousness (VIJÑĀNA). Of these five, only rūpa is material; the remaining four involve mentality and are collectively called “name” (NĀMA), thus the compound “name-and-form” or “mentality-and-materiality” (NĀMARŪPA). However classified, nowhere among the aggregates is there to be found a self (ĀTMAN). Yet, through ignorance (AVIDYĀ or MOHA), the mind habitually identifies one or another in this collection of the five aggregates with a self. This is the principal wrong view (DṚṢṬI), called SATKĀYADṚṢṬI, that gives rise to suffering and continued existence in the cycle of rebirth (SAṂSĀRA). Continue reading “The Five Aggregates”