The Teaching of Buddha" 285
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THE TEACHING OF BUDDHA Copyright © 1966 by BUKKYO DENDO KYOKAI Any part of this book may be quoted without permission. We only ask that Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, Tokyo, be credited and that a copy of the publication sent to us. Thank you. BUKKYO DENDO KYOKAI (Buddhist Promoting Foundation) 3-14, 4-chome, Shiba Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 108 Phone: (03) 455-5851 One hundred & twenty-eighth revised edition, 1986 Buddha's Wisdom is broad as the ocean and His Spirit is full of great Compassion. Buddha has no form but manifests Himself in Exquisiteness and leads us with His whole heart of Compassion. This book is valuable because it contains the essence of the Buddha's teachings as recorded in over five thousand volumes. These teachings have been preserved and handed down for more than twenty five hundred years extending beyond borders and racial barriers of the world. The words of Buddha contained in this book touch on all aspects of human life and bring meaning to it. 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 or 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 BUDDHA Chapter One: Shakyamuni Buddha 2 I. The Life of The Buddha 2 II. The Last Teaching of The Buddha 10 Chapter Two: The Eternal and Glorified Buddha 15 I. His Compassion and Vows 15 II. Buddha's Relief and Salvation for us 19 III. The Eternal Buddha 22 Chapter Three: The Form of Buddha and His Virtues 25 I. Three Aspects of Buddha's Body 25 II. The Appearance of Buddha 29 III. Buddha's Virtue 32 DHARMA Chapter One: Causation 38 I. The Fourfold Noble Truth 38 II. Causation 41 III. Dependent Origination 42 Chapter Two: The Theory of Mind-Only and The 46 Real State of Things I. Impermanency and Egolessness 46 II. The Theory of Mind-Only 49 III. Real State of Things 52 IV. The Middle Way 57 Chapter Three: Buddha-Nature 57 I. The Mind of Purity 65 II. Buddha-Nature 71 III. Egolessness 75 Chapter Four: Defilements 81 I. Human Defilements 81 II. Man's Nature 88 III. Human Life 90 IV. Reality of Human Life 95 Chapter Five: The Relief Offered by Buddha 102 I. Amida Buddha's Vows 102 II. Amida Buddha's Land of Purity 110 THE WAY OF PRACTICE Chapter One: The Way of Purification 116 I. Purification of the Mind 116 II. The Good Way of Behavior 123 III. Teaching in Ancient Fables 134 Chapter Two: The Way of Practical Attainment 150 I. Search for Truth 150 II. The Ways of Practice 163 III. The Way of Faith 176 IV. Sacred Sayings 184 THE BROTHERHOOD Chapter One: Duties of the Brotherhood 194 I. Homeless Brothers 194 II. Lay Followers 200 Chapter Two: Practical Guide to True Way of Living 212 I. Family Life 212 II. The Life of Women 222 III. In Service 230 Chapter Three: Building a Buddha Land 240 I. The Harmony of Brotherhood 240 II. The Buddha's Land 248 III. Those Who Have Received Glory in Buddha's Land 253 Source References 259 The Appendixes I. Brief History of Buddhism 272 II. Transmission of Buddha's Teaching 282 III. History of "The Teaching of Buddha" 285 IV. Index to "The Teaching of Buddha" 287 V. Sanskrit Glossary 297 VI. Anguttara Nikaya 305 Buddhist Promoting Foundation and Distribution of 307 "The Teaching of Buddha" BUDDHA TOC CHAPTER ONE SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA I THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 1. The Shakya clansmen dwelt along the Rohini River which flows among the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Their king, Shuddhodana Gautama, established his capital at Kapilavastu and there had a great castle built and ruled wisely, winning the acclaim of his people. The Queen's name was Maya. She was the daughter of the King's uncle who was also the king of a neighboring district of the same Shakya clan. For twenty years they had no children. But on night Queen Maya had a strange dream, in which she saw a white elephant entering into her womb through the right side of her chest, and she became pregnant. The King and the people looked forward with anticipation to to the birth of a royal child. According to their custom the Queen returned to her parents' home for the birth, and on her way, in the beautiful spring sunshine, she took a rest in the Lumbini Garden. 2 TOC 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 heart-felt 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 followed 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 will become 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 his only son leaving the palace to become a homeless recluse. 3 TOC At the age of seven the Prince began his lessons in the civil and military 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 descended to 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 to himself: "Alas! Do all living creatures kill each other?" The Prince, who had lost his mother so soon after his birth, was deeply affected by the tragedy of these little creatures. The 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 every possible way to cheer the Prince and to turn his thoughts in other directions. The King arranged the marriage of the Prince at the age of nineteen to the Princess Yashodhara. She was the daughter of Suprahuddha, the Lord of Devadaha Castle and a brother of the late Queen Maya. 4 TOC 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, this rejoicing 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 -- a right way and a wrong way. If he looks in the wrong way he 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 5 TOC the Prince until his only child, Rahula, was born when he was 29. This seemed to bring things to a climax, for he then decided to leave the palace and look for the solution of 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 snow-white Kanthaka.