§ 76. NIRVANA TO BE ATTAINED AT DEATH. Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xxii.). Just as, however, a man displeased with the flowers, fruit, etc. of a tree, will pierce it on each of its four sides with the poisonous thorn called the mandu-thorn, and then that tree, when its earth-extracted juices and its sap have become exhausted by the application of that poison, will arrive at a state of inability to bear fruit and not be able to reproduce itself; in exactly the same way a youth of good family, displeased with the existence of the groups, will, like the man who applied poison to the tree on each of its four sides, begin to apply the meditation of the Four Paths to the series of his groups. And then the series of his groups, when the rebirth-causing corruptions have become exhausted by the application of the poison of the Four Paths, resolves itself into such bodily and other kinds of karma as constitute barren action; 1 and arriving at a state of not being liable to be reborn in the future, and unable to reproduce itself in the next existence, by the cessation of the last consciousness becomes like a fire without fuel, and passes into Nirvana without attachment. § 77. THE ATTAINMENT OF NIRVANA BY GODHIKA. Translated from the Dhammapada, and from Buddhaghosa's Commentary to stanza 57. 54. The flower's fragrance goes not to the windward, Nor sandal-wood, the tagara, or jasmine; 55. Or sandal-wood, or tagara, Or lotus-flower, or jessamine- -- 56. A feeble fragrance is it comes But fragrance that the virtuous give, 57. Of such as these, in virtues rich, Of vigilant and sober lives, With minds by perfect knowledge freed, No track or path the Slayer finds. This doctrinal in "Of such as these, in virtues rich." struction was given by The Teacher while dwelling at Bamboo Grove in the vicinity of Rajagaha; and it was concerning the attainment of Nirvana by Godhika the elder. This venerable man, while dwelling at Black Rock on the slopes of Isigili, being vigilant, austere, and strenuous, attained release for his mind in ecstatic meditation, and then through the power of a disease which beset him, the trance was broken up. A second time, a third time, up to the sixth time was his trance broken up. At the seventh time, he thought, "Six times has my trance been broken up, and doubtful is the fate of those who fail in trance. This time I will resort to the knife." And taking a razor for shaving the hair, he lay down on a couch in order to cut his windpipe. Māra, the Slayer, perceived his intention, and thought, "This priest is about to use the knife; but they who do so are indifferent to life, and such attain to insight and saintship. If I should attempt to dissuade him, he would not heed me. I will get The Teacher to dissuade him." Then he disguised himself, and drawing near to The Teacher, he spoke as follows: "Thou Hero Great, profoundly wise, Whose magic power full brightly shines, "Thy follower, O thou Hero Great, "Pray, shall thy follower, Blessed One, With goal unreached, not perfect trained, At this instant the elder used the knife. The Teacher recognized the Slayer, and pronounced the following stanza : "Thus, verily, the valiant act, Nor think to hanker after life! And, dying, has Nirvana gained." Then The Blessed One, with a great number of priests, went to the place where the elder had lain down and used the knife. At that moment the Slayer, the Wicked One, had become a pillar of smoke, as it were, or a bunch of darkness; and wondering to himself, "Where can it have fixed itself?" was searching in all directions for the elder's rebirth-consciousness. The Blessed One pointed out to the priests the smoke and darkness, and said, "That, O priests, is the Slayer, the Wicked One. He is searching for the consciousness of the noble Godhika, to find out where it has fixed itself. But the noble Godhika, O priests, has attained Nirvana, and his consciousness has not fixed itself." The Slayer, being unable to find out where the elder's consciousness was, assumed the appearance of a youth with a lute of the white wood of the bel-tree, and drawing near to The Teacher, he said, "Where has Godhika gone? Though I search upwards and downwards, and to all the points and intermediate points of the compass, I do not meet him." Then said The Teacher to him, 66 'Always in meditation found That brave, strong man his best delight; "Thus vanquished he Namuci's host; The Demon sorely mortified, Down from his side let fall the lute; He straightway disappeared from sight. And The Teacher said: “O Wicked One, what have you to do with the place of rebirth of the noble Godhika? A hundred or a thousand such as you could never detect his place of rebirth." So saying, he pronounced the stanza, "Of such as these, in virtues rich, Of vigilant and sober lives, With minds by perfect knowledge freed, No track or path the Slayer finds." The Story of the Attainment of Nirvana by Godhika the Elder. § 78. THE TRANCE OF CESSATION. § 78 a. Translated from the Samyutta-Nikaya (xli. 6). Inspirations and expirations, O householder, are bodily functions, therefore inspirations and expirations constitute bodily karma; first occur reasoning and reflection and afterwards articulate utterance, therefore reasoning and reflection constitute vocal karma; perception and sensation are mental functions and occur in association with the mind, therefore perception and sensation constitute mental karma. § 78 b. Translated from the Samyutta-Nikaya (xxxvi. 115). And moreover, O priest, I have taught the gradual cessation of karma. Of one who has entered the first trance the voice has ceased; of one who has entered the second trance. reasoning and reflection have ceased; of one who has entered the third trance joy has ceased; of one who has entered the fourth trance the inspirations and the expirations have ceased; of one who has entered the realm of the infinity of space the perception of form has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of the infinity of consciousness the perception of the realm of the infinity of space has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of nothingness the perception of the realm of the infinity of consciousness has ceased; of one who has entered the realm of neither perception nor yet non-perception, the perception of the realm of nothingness has ceased; of one who has entered the cessation of perception and sensation, perception and sensation have ceased. Of the priest who has lost all depravity, passion has ceased, hatred has ceased, infatuation has ceased. § 78 c. Translated from the Visuddhi-Magga (chap. xxiii.). What is the trance of cessation? It is the stoppage of all mentality by a gradual cessation. . . . A priest who is desirous of entering on cessation will take his breakfast, wash carefully his hands and his feet, and seat him cross-legged on a well-strewn seat in some retired. spot, with body erect, and contemplative faculty active. He then enters the first trance, and rising from it obtains insight into the transitoriness, misery, and lack of an Ego of the constituents of being. This insight, however, is threefold: the insight into the constituents of being, the insight belonging to the attainment of the Fruits, and the insight belonging to the trance of cessation. |