239 LESSON 26 04 2011 Khema Sutta With Khema
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LESSON 239
Khema
Sutta: With Khema
On one occasion the Blessed
One was staying near Savatthi at Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery. And on that occasion
the bhikkhuni Khema, wandering on tour among the Kosalans, had taken up
residence between Savatthi and Saketa at Toranavatthu. Then King Pasenadi Kosala, while traveling from Saketa to Savatthi,
took up a one-night residence between Savatthia and Saketa at Toranavatthu.
Then he addressed a certain man, “Come, now, my good man. Find out if in
Toranavatthu there’s the sort of brahman or contemplative I might visit
today.”
“As you say, sire,” the man replied to the king, but
having roamed all over Toranavatthu he did not see the sort of brahman or
contemplative the king might visit. But he did see the bhikkhuni Khema residing
in Toranavatthu. On seeing her, he went to King Pasenadi Kosala and on arrival
said to him, “Sire, in Toranavatthu there is no brahman or contemplative
of the sort your majesty might visit. But there is, however, a bhikkhuni named
Khema, a disciple of the Blessed One, worthy and rightly self-awakened. And of
this lady, this admirable report has spread about: ‘She is wise, competent,
intelligent, learned, a fluent speaker, admirable in her ingenuity.’ Let your
majesty visit her.”
Then King Pasenadi Kosala went to the bhikkhuni Khema and, on
arrival, having bowed down to her, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he
said to her, “Now then, lady, does the Tathagata exist after death?”
“That, great king, has not been declared by the Blessed
One: ‘The Tathagata exists after death.’”
“Well then, lady, does the Tathagata not exist after
death?”
“Great king, that too has not been declared by the Blessed
One: ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death.’”
“Then does the Tathagata both exist and not exist after
death?”
“That has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The
Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death.’”
“Well then, does the Tathagata neither exist nor not exist
after death?”
“That too has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The
Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’”
“Now, lady, when asked if the Tathagata exists after death,
you say, ‘That has not been declared by the Blessed One: “The Tathagata
exists after death.”‘ When asked if the Tathagata does not exist after
death… both exists and does not exist after death… neither exists nor does
not exist after death, you say, ‘That too has not been declared by the Blessed
One: “The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.”‘
Now, what is the cause, what is the reason, why that has not been declared by
the Blessed One?”
“Very well, then, great king, I will question you in return
about this very same matter. Answer as you see fit. What do you think great
king: Do you have an accountant or actuary or mathematician who can count the
grains of sand in the river Ganges as ’so many grains of sand’ or ’so many
hundreds of grains of sand’ or ’so many thousands of grains of sand’ or ’so
many hundreds of thousands of grains of sand’?”
“No, lady.”
“Then do you have an accountant or calculator or
mathematician who can count the water in the great ocean as ’so many buckets of
water’ or ’so many hundreds of buckets of water’ or ’so many thousands of
buckets of water’ or ’so many hundreds of thousands of buckets of water’?”
“No, lady. Why is that? The great ocean is deep, boundless,
hard to fathom.”
“Even so, great king, any
physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like
a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for
future arising. Freed from the classification of form, great king, the
Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘The Tathagata
exists after death’ doesn’t apply. ‘The Tathagata doesn’t exist after death
doesn’t apply. ‘The Tathagata both exists and doesn’t exist after death’ doesn’t
apply. ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor doesn’t exist after death’ doesn’t
apply.
“Any feeling… Any perception… Any mental fabrication…
“Any consciousness by
which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has
abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the
conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Freed from the
classification of consciousness, great king, the Tathagata is deep, boundless,
hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ doesn’t
apply. ‘The Tathagata doesn’t exist after death doesn’t apply. ‘The Tathagata
both exists and doesn’t exist after death’ doesn’t apply. ‘The Tathagata
neither exists nor doesn’t exist after death’ doesn’t apply.” [1]
Then King Pasenadi Kosala, delighting in & approving of the
bhikkhuni Khema’s words, got up from his seat, bowed down to her and — keeping
her to his right — departed.
Then at another time he went to the Blessed One and, on arrival,
having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there
[he asked the Blessed One the same questions he had asked the bhikkhuni Khema,
and received precisely the same responses and analogies. Then he exclaimed:]
“Amazing, lord! Astounding! How the meaning and phrasing of
the teacher and disciple agree, coincide, and do not diverge from one another
with regard to the supreme teaching! Recently, lord, I went to the bhikkhuni
Khema and, on arrival, asked her about this matter, and she answered me with
the same words, the same phrasing, as the Blessed One. Amazing, lord!
Astounding! How the meaning and phrasing of the teacher and disciple agree,
coincide, and do not diverge from one another with regard to the supreme
teaching!
“Now, lord, we must go. Many are our duties, many our
responsibilities.”
“Then do, great king, what you think it is now time to
do.”
So King Pasenadi Kosala, delighting in and approving of the
Blessed One’s words, got up from his seat, bowed down to the Blessed One and —
keeping him to his right — departed.
POLITICS is SACRED with GOOD GOVERNANCE
[ZESTCaste]
Mayawati against black money and criminalisation in politics
Saturday, 23 April 2011 5:27 PM
Mayawati against black money and criminalisation in
politics
PTI | 09:04 PM,Apr 21,2011
Kolkata, Apr 21 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today
expressed concern over criminalisation in politics, flow of black
money and extended solidarity with the movement of social activist
Anna Hazare against corruption.”Large-scale corruption and flow of
black money in the country is a matter of concern. Anna Hazare rightly
raised his voice against this. We are always against corruption,” she
told an election meeting here for party candidates. She claimed
corruption and criminalisation in politics has reached its peak during
the rule of Congress, BJP and SP in Uttar Pradesh.The menace was
contained to a great extent soon after BSP came to power, Mayawati
said.”I came in power for four times in the state. I don’t take the
help of the corporate or capitalists or black money. I run my party
with the help of subscriptions from my supporters,” she said. Mayawati
also criticised the economic policy of the Congress-led UPA government
saying that it was serving the interest of the capitalists. Holding the
UPA government responsible for all the hurdles faced by the SC/STs,
OBC and other minorities, Mayawati said that the Centre had
failed to take concrete steps to improve the standard of lives of
these sections of the population.