Free Online FOOD for MIND & HUNGER - DO GOOD 😊 PURIFY MIND.To live like free birds 🐦 🦢 🦅 grow fruits 🍍 🍊 🥑 🥭 🍇 🍌 🍎 🍉 🍒 🍑 🥝 vegetables 🥦 🥕 🥗 🥬 🥔 🍆 🥜 🎃 🫑 🍅🍜 🧅 🍄 🍝 🥗 🥒 🌽 🍏 🫑 🌳 🍓 🍊 🥥 🌵 🍈 🌰 🇧🇧 🫐 🍅 🍐 🫒Plants 🌱in pots 🪴 along with Meditative Mindful Swimming 🏊‍♂️ to Attain NIBBĀNA the Eternal Bliss.
Kushinara NIBBĀNA Bhumi Pagoda White Home, Puniya Bhumi Bengaluru, Prabuddha Bharat International.
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LESSON 4521 Wed 11 Aug 2022 MISSION BENEVOLENT UNIVERSE Daily Wisdom DO GOOD PURIFY MIND Good Morning All the parties were, are and may not continue to be remotely controlled by foreigners from Bene Israel, Tibet, Africa, Western Europe, Western Germany, South Russia, Eastern Europe, Hungary chitpavan brahmins and gobbled the master Key by tampering the fraud EVMs.But today it is BENEVOLENT AWAKENED YOUNIVERSE with Benevolently Awakened One’s Power of Positivity song Think of the universe as a benevolent parent. A child may want a tub of ice-cream and marshmallows, but a wise parent will give it fruits and vegetables instead. That is not what the child wants, but it is what the child needs. All non-human beings live a natural life depending on natural resources. Future Benevolent Awakened One ☝️ has Free Online JC PURE INSPIRATION to Attain NIBBĀNA the Eternal Bliss and like free birds 🐦 🦢 🦅 to grow fruits 🍍 🍊 🥑 🥭 🍇 🍌 🍎 🍉 🍒 🍑 🥝 vegetables 🥦 🥕 🥗 🥬 🥔 🍆 🥜 🪴 🌱 🎃 🫑 🍅🍜 🧅 🍄 🍝 🥗 🥒 🌽 🍏 🌳 🍓 🍊 🥥 🌵 🍈 🌰 🇧🇧 🫐 🍅 🍐 🫒plants in pots and fruit bearing trees 🌳 🌲 all over the world 🗺 🌍🌎 Kushinara Nibbana Bhumi Pagoda http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org 944926443 White Home An 18ft Dia Mindful Meditation Lab 668, 5A Main Road, 8th Cross, HAL III Stage, Punya Bhumi Bengaluru Magadhi Karnataka Happy Awakened YoUniversity-wish to be your working partner THE TEACHING OF BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE
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LESSON 4521 Wed 11 Aug 2022

MISSION BENEVOLENT UNIVERSE

Daily Wisdom  
DO GOOD PURIFY MIND


Good Morning

All the parties were, are and may not continue to be remotely controlled by
foreigners from Bene Israel, Tibet, Africa, Western Europe, Western
Germany, South Russia, Eastern Europe, Hungary chitpavan brahmins and
gobbled the master Key by tampering the fraud EVMs.But today it is

BENEVOLENT AWAKENED YOUNIVERSE with



Benevolently Awakened One’s  Power of Positivity song


Think of the universe as a benevolent parent. A child may want a tub of
ice-cream and marshmallows, but a wise parent will give it fruits and
vegetables instead. That is not what the child wants, but it is what the
child needs. All non-human beings live a natural life depending on
natural resources. Future Benevolent Awakened One ☝️ has Free Online JC
PURE INSPIRATION to Attain NIBBĀNA the Eternal Bliss and like free birds


🐦 🦢 🦅 to grow fruits 🍍 🍊 🥑 🥭 🍇 🍌 🍎 🍉 🍒 🍑 🥝 vegetables 🥦
🥕 🥗 🥬 🥔 🍆 🥜 🪴 🌱 🎃 🫑 🍅🍜 🧅 🍄 🍝 🥗 🥒 🌽 🍏 🌳 🍓 🍊 🥥 🌵
🍈 🌰 🇧🇧 🫐 🍅 🍐 🫒plants in pots and fruit bearing trees 🌳 🌲 all
over the world 🗺 🌍🌎

Kushinara Nibbana Bhumi Pagoda


http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
944926443
White Home
An 18ft Dia Mindful Meditation Lab
668, 5A Main Road, 8th Cross, HAL III Stage,
Punya Bhumi Bengaluru
Magadhi Karnataka

Happy Awakened YoUniversity-wish to be your working partner

THE TEACHING
OF BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

http://www.orgsites.com/oh/awakenedone/


Awakeness Practices


All 84,000 Khandas As Found in the Pali Suttas


Traditionally
the are 84,000 Dharma Doors - 84,000 ways to get Awakeness. Maybe so;
certainly the
BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE taught a large number of practices that lead to
Awakeness. This web page attempts to catalogue those found in the Pali
Suttas (DN, MN, SN, AN, Ud & Sn
 1). There are 3 sections:


The
discourses of
BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE are divided into 84,000, as to separate addresses.
The division includes all that was spoken by
BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE.”I received from BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE,” said Ananda, “82,000 Khandas, and  from the
priests 2000; these are 84,000 Khandas maintained by me.” They are
divided into 275,250, as to the stanzas of the original text, and into
361,550, as to the stanzas of the commentary. All the discourses
including both those of Buddha and those of the commentator, are divided  into 2,547 banawaras, containing 737,000 stanzas, and 29,368,000 separate letters.


“If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”

“Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self.”
“There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.”
“Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.”
“Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear themselves out”
“Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.”
“Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”
“You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way.”
“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
“She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.”
“I am the miracle.”

On Gratitude

“Let
us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot at least we
learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t
get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.”
“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
(Do
you want to read a counter-intuitive perspective on why gratitude isn’t
as important as people think it is? Check out our interview with the
world-renowned shaman Rudá Iandê. Read it here.).

On Fear

“There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.”

On Meditation

“Meditate… do not delay, lest you later regret it.”

On Death

“Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.”
“Live every act fully, as if it were your last.”
“To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.”

On Happiness

“One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”
“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.”
“A
man asked Gautama Buddha, ‘I want happiness.’ Buddha said, ‘First
remove I, that’s Ego, then remove want, that’s Desire. See now you are
left with only Happiness.’ ”

Thank

“To support mother and father, to cherish wife and child and to have a simple livelihood; this is the good luck.”

On Changing the World

“One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.”
(Do
you want to change the world? You first need to embrace your inner
beast. Learn how to do this from the world-renowned shaman Rudá Iandê in
our free masterclass. Register here.)

On Friends and Relationships

“An
insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a
wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your
mind.”
“Should a seeker not find a companion who is better or equal, let them resolutely pursue a solitary course.”
“He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”

On Being Noble

“One is not called noble who harms living beings. By not harming living beings one is called noble.”
“Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words: this is good luck.”




https://84000.co/resources/teachings-on-sutra?fbclid=IwAR0VAQ-ryBmtTqo07xSHtCPQzgF2Nfj1BWNmggqJDDruNwBEbSD82naAVWc


Hearing
the wisdom of the Benevolent Awakened One  through translation in 139
Classical Benevolent languages will be a great contribution to world
Benevolent society, now and in future.

Teachings on Sūtta


84000 publications are recognized as
accurate and accessible translations, and it is with great joy that we
hear of teachers of the Benevolentdhamma teaching from the sūttas and using
our publications as guide material for their audiences.


On occasion, 84000 has even been fortunate enough to receive words
from contemporary teachers of the Benevolentdhammathat have been inspired
from, or are in response to, the publication of a specific sūtra
translation. As we receive these precious words of wisdom, we share them
with you here, in addition to links for recent teachings given on sūtta
texts that have already been translated and published by 84000.


We hope you find this compilation of contemporary teachings on the sūttas beneficial to your study and practice.

Videos

The Perfection of Wisdom / Toh 10
The Good Eon / Toh 94
The Stem Array / Toh 44-45
The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī / Toh 96
The Rice Seedling / Toh 210
The Teaching of Vimalakirti / Toh 176
The White Lotus of the Good Dharma / Toh 113
The Question of Maitreya / Toh 85
The Play in Full / Toh 95
The Basket’s Display / Toh 116
Purification of Karmic Obscurations / Toh 218
The Questions of an Old Lady / Toh 171

https://www.bdk.or.jp/pdf/buddhist-scriptures/02_english/TheTeachingofBuddha.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1ZOac0bJFZgceyXdBSLHvooPLwMqffLqeuyo0Sx936NCVaZHClchW41is

THE TEACHING
OF BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE



WHEEL OF DHAMMA


The
Wheel of Dhamma is the “Dharmmacakka.” Similar to the wheel of a cart
that keeps revolving, it symbolizes the Benevolent Awakened One’s
teaching as it continues to be spread widely and endlessly. The eight
spokes of the wheel represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Benevolence,
the most important Way of Practice. The Noble Eightfold Path refers to
right view, right thought, right speech, right behavior, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. In
the olden days before statues and other images of the
Benevolent Awakened One
were made, this Wheel of Dhamma served as the object of worship. At the
present time, the Wheel is used internationally as the common symbol of
Benevolenceism.


DHAMMAPADA
Hatreds never cease by hatreds in this world. By love alone they cease. This is an ancient Law. (5)
A
fool who thinks that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man.
The fool who thinks that he is wise is called a fool indeed. (63)
Though
he should conquer a thousand men in the battlefield a thousand times,
yet he, indeed, who would conquer himself is the noblest victor. (103)
Though
he should live a hundred years, not seeing the Truth Sublime; yet
better, indeed, is the single day’s life of one who sees the truth
Sublime. (115)
Hard
is birth as man, Hard is the life of mortals, Hard is the hearing of
the Sublime Truth, Hard is the appearance of a Buddha. (182)
Not to do any evil, To cultivate good, To purify one’s mind, – This is the advice of the Buddhas. (183)





There are no sons for protection, neither father nor even kinsmen; for him who is overcome by death no protection is there from kinsmen.(288)


CONTENTS


BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

Chapter One


Shakyamuni BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2I.


The Life of The BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2II.

The Last Teaching of The Buddha . . . . . . . . . 10


Chapter Two

The Eternal and Glorified BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE . . . . 15I.


His Compassion and Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15II.

BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Relief and Salvation for us . . . . . . . 19III.


The Eternal BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22


Chapter Three


The Form of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE and His Virtues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25I.

Three Aspects of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Body . . . . . . . . . 25II.

The Appearance of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29III.

BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

DHAMMA

Chapter One

Causation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38I.

The Fourfold Noble Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38II.

Causation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41III.

Dependent Origination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter Two

The Theor y of Mind-Only and The Real State of Things . . . . . . . . . . . 46I.

Impermanency and Egolessness . . . . . . . . . . 46II.

The Theor y of Mind-Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49III.

Real State of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52IV.

The Middle Way . . . . . .

Chapter Three 

BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE-Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65I.

The Mind of Purity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65II.


BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE-Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71III.

Egolessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter Four

Defilements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81I.

Human Defilements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81II.

Human Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88III.

Human Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90IV.

Reality of Human Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Chapter Five

The Relief Offered by BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE . . . . . . . 102I.

Amida BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Vows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102II.

Amida BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Land of Purity . . . . . . . . . . . 110

THE WAY OF PRACTICE

Chapter One

The Way of Purification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116I.

Purification of the Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116II.

The Good Way of Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123III.

Teaching in Ancient Fables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Chapter Two

The Way of Practical Attainment . . . . . 150I.

Search for Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150II.

The Ways of Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163III.

The Way of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176IV.

Sacred Sayings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

THE BROTHERHOOD

Chapter One

Duties of the Brotherhood . . . . . . . . . . . 194I.

Renunciants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

II.Lay Followers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200III.

Practical Guide to True Way of Living . . . . . . 212

Chapter Two

Building a BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE Land . . . . . . . . . . . . 225I.

The Harmony of Brotherhood . . . . . . . . . . . . 225II.

The BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233III.

Those Who Have Received Glor y in BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Source References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

The AppendixesI.

Brief Histor y of Benevolenceism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258II.

Transmission of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s Teaching . . . . . . . 268III.

Histor y of “The Teaching of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE” . . . . . . 271IV.

Index to “The Teaching of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE” . . . . . . . 273V.

Sanskrit Glossar y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Society for the Promotion of Buddhism and Distribution of “The Teaching of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

SHAKYAMUNI BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

THE LIFE OF THE BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

1.The Shakya clansmen dwelt along the Rohini Riverwhich flows among the southern foothills of theHimalayas. Their king, Shuddhodana Gautama, esta-blished his capital at Kapilavastu and there had a greatcastle built and ruled wisely, winning the acclaim of hispeople.The Queen’s name was Maya. She was the daughterof the King’s uncle who was also the king of a neighbor-ing district of the same Shakya clan.For twenty years they had no children. But onenight Queen Maya had a strange dream, in which shesaw a white elephant entering into her womb through theright side of her chest, and she became pregnant. TheKing and the people looked for ward with anticipation tothe birth of a royal child. According to their custom theQueen returned to her parents’ home for the birth, andon her way, in the beautiful spring sunshine, she took arest in the Lumbini Garden.

All about her were Ashoka blossoms. In delight she reached her right arm out to pluck a branch and as she did so a prince was born. All expressed their heartfelt delight with the glory of the Queen and her princely child; Heaven and Earth rejoiced. This memorable day was the eighth day of April.The joy of the King was extreme and he named the child, Siddhartha, which means “Every wish fulfilled.”

2.In the palace of the King, however, delight was fol-lowed quickly by sorrow, for after several days the lovely Queen Maya suddenly died. Her younger sister,Mahaprajapati, became the child’s foster mother and brought him up with loving care.A hermit, called Asita, who lived in the mountains not far away, noticed a radiance about the castle.Interpreting it as a good omen he came down to the palace and was shown the child. He predicted: “This Prince, if he remains in the palace, when grown up willbecome a great king and subjugate the whole world. But if he forsakes the court life to embrace a religious life, he will become a Buddha, the Savior of the world.”At first the King was pleased to hear this prophecy,but later he started to worry about the possibility of hisonly son leaving the palace to become a homeless recluse.

At the age of seven the Prince began his lessons in the civil and militar y arts, but his thoughts more naturally tended to other things. One spring day he went out of the castle with his father. Together they were watching a farmer at his plowing when he noticed a bird descendedto the ground and carried off a small worm which had been turned up by the farmer’s plough. He sat down in the shade of a tree and thought about it, whispering tohimself:“Alas! Do all living creatures kill each other?”The Prince, who had lost his mother so soon afterhis birth, was deeply affected by the tragedy of these little creatures.This spiritual wound deepened day by day as he grew up; like a little scar on a young tree, the suffering of human life became more and more deeply engrained in his mind.The King was increasingly worried as he recalled the hermit’s prophecy and tried in ever y possible way to cheer the Prince and to turn his thoughts in other direc-tions. The King arranged the marriage of the Prince at the age of nineteen to the Princess Yashodhara. She was the daughter of Suprabuddha, the Lord of DevadahaCastle and a brother of the late Queen Maya.

3.For ten years, in the different Pavilions of Spring,Autumn and the Rainy Season, the Prince was immersed in rounds of music, dancing and pleasure, but always his thoughts returned to the problem of suffering as he pensively tried to understand the true meaning of human life.“The luxuries of the palace, this healthy body, thisrejoicing youth! What do they mean to me?” he thought.“Some day we may be sick, we shall become aged; from death there is no escape. Pride of youth, pride of health,pride of existence – all thoughtful people should cast them aside.“A man struggling for existence will naturally look for something of value. There are two ways of looking – aright way and a wrong way. If he looks in the wrong wayhe recognizes that sickness, old age and death are unavoidable, but he seeks the opposite.“If he looks in the right way he recognizes the true nature of sickness, old age and death, and he searches for meaning in that which transcends all human sufferings. In my life of pleasures I seem to be looking in the wrong way.”

4.Thus the spiritual struggle went on in the mind of the Prince until his only child, Rahula, was born when hewas 29. This seemed to bring things to a climax, for he then decided to leave the palace and look for the solutionof his spiritual unrest in the homeless life of a mendicant.He left the castle one night with only his charioteer,Chandaka, and his favorite horse, the snowwhite Kanthaka.His anguish did not end and many devils tempted him saying: “You would do better to return to the castle for the whole world would soon be yours.” But he told thedevil that he did not want the whole world. So he shaved his head and turned his steps toward the south, carr yinga begging bowl in his hand.The Prince first visited the hermit Bhagava andwatched his ascetic practices. He then went to Arada Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra to learn their methods of attaining Enlightenment through meditation; but after practicing them for a time he became convinced that they would not lead him to Awakenment. Finally he went tothe land of Magadha and practiced asceticism in the forest of Uruvilva on the banks of the Nairanjana River,which flows by the Gaya Village.

5.The methods of his practice were unbelievably rigorous. He spurred himself on with the thought that “noascetic in the past, none in the present, and none in the future, ever has practiced or ever will practice more earnestly than I do.”Still the Prince could not realize his goal. After sixyears in the forest he gave up the practice of asceticism.He went bathing in the river and accepted a bowl of milkfrom the hand of Sujata, a maiden, who lived in the neigh-boring village. The five companions who had lived with the Prince during the six years of his ascetic practice were shocked that he should receive milk from the hand of a maiden; they thought him degraded and left him.Thus the Prince was left alone. He was still weak,but at the risk of losing his life he attempted yet another period of meditation, saying to himself, “Blood may become exhausted, flesh may decay, bones may fall apart, but I will never leave this place until I find the way to Enlightenment.”It was an intense and incomparable struggle for him. He was desperate and filled with confusing thoughts, dark shadows overhung his spirit, and he was beleaguered by all the lures of the devils. Carefully and patiently he examined them one by one and rejected them all. It was a hard struggle indeed, making his bloodrun thin, his flesh fall away, and his bones crack.But when the morning star appeared in the easternsky, the struggle was over and the Prince’s mind was asclear and bright as the breaking day. He had, at last,found the path to Enlightenment. It was Decemnber eighth, when the Prince became a Benevolent Awakened One  at thirty five years of age.

6.From this time on the Prince was known by different names: some spoke of him as Benevolent Awakened One, the Perfectly Awakened One, Tathagata; some spoke of him as Shakyamuni, the Sage of the Shakya clan; others called him the World-honored One.He went first to Mrigadava in Varanasi where the five mendicants who had lived with him during the six years of his ascetic life were staying. At first they shunned him, but after they had talked with him, they believed in him and became his first followers. He then went to the Rajagriha Castle and won over King Bimbisara who had always been his friend. From there he went about the countr y living on alms and teaching men to accept his way of life.People responded to him as the thirsty seek water and the hungry food. Two great disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, and their two thousand followers, came to him.At first the Benevolent Awakened One’s father, King Shuddhodana, still inwardly suffering because of his son’s decision to leave the palace, remained aloof, but then became his faithful disciple. Mahaprajapati, the Buddha’s stepmother, and Princess Yashodhara, his wife, and all the members of the Shakya clan began to follow him. Multitudes of others also became his devoted and faithful followers.

7.For forty-five years the Benevolent Awakened One went about the country preaching and persuading people to follow his way of life. But when he was eighty, at Vaisali and on his way from Rajagriha to Shravasti, he became ill and predicted that after three months he would enter Nibbana.Still he journeyed on until he reached Pava where he fell seriously ill from some food offered by Chunda, a black-smith. Eventually, in spite of great pain and weakness, he reached the forest that bordered Kusinagara. Lying between two large sala trees, he continued teaching his disciples until his last moment. Thus he entered into perfect tranquility after he had completed his work as the world’s greatest teacher.

8.Under the guidance of Ananda, the Benevolent Awakened One’s favorite disciple, the body was cremated by his friends in Kusinagara.Seven neighboring rulers as well as King Ajatasatru demanded that the relics be divided among them. The People of Kusinagara at first refused and the dispute even threatened to end in war; but under the advice of a wise man named Drona, the crisis passed and the relics were divided among the eight great countries. The ashes of the funeral pyre and the earthen jar that contained the relics were also given to two other rulers to be likewise honored. Thus ten great towers commemorating the Buddha were built to enshrine his relics and ashes.




II
THE LAST TEACHING OF THE BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE.

Beneath the sala trees at Kusinagara, in his lastwords to his disciples, the BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE said:

“Make of yourself a light. Rely upon yourself: do not depend upon anyone else. Make my teachings your light. Rely upon them: do not depend upon any other teaching. Consider your body: Think of its impurity. Knowing that both its pain and its delight are alike causes of suffering, how can you indulge in its desires? Consider your ‘self’; think of its transiency; how can you fall into delusion about it and cherish pride and selfishness, knowing that they must all end in inevitable suffering? Consider allsubstances; can you find among them any enduring ‘self’?Are they not all aggregates that sooner or later will break apart and be scattered? Do not be confused by the universality of suffering, but follow my teaching, even after my death, and you will be rid of pain. Do this and you will indeed be my disciples.”

2.“My disciples, the teachings that I have given you are never to be forgotten or abandoned. They are always to be treasured, they are to be thought about, they are to be practiced. If you follow these teachings you will always be happy.The point of the teachings is to control your own mind. Keep your mind from greed, and you will keep your behavior right, your mind pure and your words faithful. By always thinking about the transiency of your life, you will be able to resist greed and anger, and will be able to avoid all evils.If you find your mind tempted and so entangled in greed, you must suppress and control the temptation; be the master of your own mind. A man’s mind may make him a BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE, or it may make him a beast. Misled by error, one becomes a demon; enlightened, one becomes a BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE. Therefore,control your mind and do not let it deviate from the right path.”

3.“You should respect each other, follow my teachings, and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water,mingle together.Study together, learn together, practice my teachings together. Do not waste your mind and time in idleness and quarreling. Enjoy the blossoms of Awakenment in their season and harvest the fruit of the right path.The teachings which I have given you, I gained by following the path myself. You should follow these teachings and conform to their spirit on ever y occasion.If you neglect them, it means that you have never really met me. It means that you are far from me, even if you are actually with me; but if you accept and practice my teachings, then you are very near to me, even though you are far away.”

4.“My disciples, my end is approaching, our parting is near, but do not lament. Life is ever changing; none can escape the dissolution of the body. This I am now to show by my own death, my body falling apart like a dilapidated cart.Do not vainly lament, but realize that nothing is permanent and learn from it the emptiness of human life. Do not cherish the unworthy desire that the changeable might become unchanging.The demon of worldly desires is always seeking chances to deceive the mind. If a viper lives in your room and you wish to have a peaceful sleep, you must first chase it out.You must break the bonds of worldly passions and drive them away as you would a viper. You must positively protect your own mind.”

5.“My disciples, my last moment has come, but do not forget that death is only the end of the physical body. The body was born from parents and was nourished by food;just as inevitable are sickness and death.But the true BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE is not a human body: — it is Awakenment. A human body must die, but the Wisdom of Awakenment will exist forever in the truth of the Dhamma, and in the practice of the Dhamma. He who sees merely my body does not truly see me. Only he who accepts my teaching truly sees me.After my death, the Dhamma shall be your teacher.Follow the Dharma and you will be true to me.During the last forty-five years of my life, I have withheld nothing from my teachings. There is no secret teaching, no hidden meaning; everything has been taught openly and clearly. My dear disciples, this is the end. In a moment, I shall be passing into Nibbana. This is my instruction.




CHAPTER TWO

THE ETERNAL AND GLORIFIED BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

HIS COMPASSION AND VOWS.

The Spirit of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONEis that of great loving kindness and compassion. The great loving kindness is the spirit to save all people by any and all means.

The great compassion is the spirit that prompts it to be ill with the illness of people, to suffer with their suffering.“Your suffering is my suffering and your happiness is my happiness,” said BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE, and, just as a mother always loves her child, He does not forget that spirit even for a single moment, for it is the nature of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONEhood to be compassionate.The BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s spirit of compassion is stimulated according to the needs of the people; one’s faith is there action to this spirit, and it leads him to Awakenment,just as a mother realizes her motherhood by loving her child; then the child, reacting to that love, feels safe and at ease. Yet people do not understand this spirit of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE and go on suffering from the illusions and desires that arise from their ignorance; they suffer from their own deeds accumulated through worldly passions, and wander about among the mountains of delusion with the heavy burden of their evil deeds.
2.Do not think that the compassion of theBENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE  is only for the present life; it is a manifestation of the time-less compassion of the eternal BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE that has been operative since unknown time, when mankind went astray due to ignorance.The eternal BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE always appears before people in the most friendly forms and brings to them the wisest methods of relief.Shakyamuni BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE, born a Prince among his Shakya kinsmen, left the comforts of his home to live alife of asceticism. Through the practice of silent meditation, he realized Awakenment. He preached the Dhamma (the teaching) among his fellow men and finally manifested it by his earthly death.The working of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONEhood is as everlasting as human ignorance is endless; and as the depth of ignorance is bottomless, so BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE’s compassion is bound-less.

The Eternal and Glorified BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE

When BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE decided to break from the worldly life, he made four great vows:
1) To save all people;
2) Torenounce all worldly desires;
3) To learn all the teachings; and
4) to attain perfect Awakenment. These vows were manifestations of the love and compassion that are fundamental to the nature of BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONEhood.
3.BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE first taught himself to avoid the sin o fkilling any living creature, he wished that all people might know the blessedness of a long life.BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE trained himself to avoid the sin of stealing,he wished that all people might have everything they needed.BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE  trained himself to avoid ever committing adulter y, he wished that all people might know the blessedness of a pure spirit and not suffer from in satiable desires.BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE, aiming at his ideal, trained himself toremain free from all deception, he wished that all people might know the tranquillity of mind that would follow in speaking the truth.He trained himself to avoid double-talk; he wished that all people might know the joy of fellowship. The Eternal and Glorified BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE He trained himself to avoid abusing others, and the nhe wished that all might have the serene mind that would follow by living in peace with others.He kept himself free from idle talk, and then wished that all might know the blessedness of sympathetic understanding.BENEVOLENT AWAKENED ONE, aiming at his ideal, trained himself to keep free from greed, and by this virtuous deed he wished tha tall people might know the peacefulness that would go with this freedom.He trained himself to avoid anger, and he wished that all people might love one another.He trained himself to avoid ignorance, and wishedthat all people might understand and not disregard thelaw of causation.Thus Buddha’s compassion embraces all people,and his constant consideration is for their happiness. He loves people as parents love their children and wishes the highest blessedness for them, namely, that they will be able to pass beyond this ocean of birth and death.
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