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What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada
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About What The Buddha Taught: Revised And Expanded
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. What the Buddha Taught By Walpola Sri Rahula Grove Atlantic, Inc.Copyright © 1974 W. Rahula All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8021-3031-0 Contents List of Illustrations, Foreword, Preface, The Buddha, CHAPTER I The Buddhist Attitude of Mind, THE FOUR-NOBLE TRUTHS, CHAPTER II The First Noble Truth: Dukkha, CHAPTER III The Second Noble Truth: Samudaya: 'The Arising of Dukkha', CHAPTER IV The Third Noble Truth: Nirodha: 'The Cessation of Dukkha', CHAPTER V Noble Truth: Magga: 'The Path', CHAPTER VI The Doctrine of No-Soul: Anatta, CHAPTER VII 'Meditation' or Mental Culture: Bhavana, CHAPTER VIII What the Buddha Taught and the World Today, SELECTED TEXTS, Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth (Dhammacakkappavattanasutta), The Fire Sermon (Adittapariyaya-sutta), Universal Love (Metta-sutta), Blessings (Ma?gala-sutta), Getting rid of All Cares and Troubles (Sabbasava-sutta), The Parable of the Piece of Cloth (Vattbupama-sutta), The Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana-sutta), Advice to Sigala (Sigalovada-sutta), The Words of Truth (Dhammapada), The Last Words of the Buddha (from the Mahaparinibbanasutta), Abbreviations, Selected Bibliography, Glossary, Index, CHAPTER 1 THE BUDDHIST ATTITUDE OF MIND Among the founders of religions the Buddha (if we are permitted to call him the founder of a religion in the popular sense of the term) was the only teacher who did not claim to be other than a human being, pure and simple. Other teachers were either God, or his incarnations in different forms, or inspired by him. The Buddha was not only a human being; he claimed no inspiration from any god or external power either. He attributed all his realization, attainments and achievements to human endeavour and human intelligence. A man and only a man can become a Buddha. Every man has within himself the potentiality of becoming a Buddha, if he so wills it and endeavours. We can call the Buddha a man par excellence. He was so perfect in his 'humanness' that he came to be regarded later in popular religion almost as 'super-human'. Man's position, according to Buddhism, is supreme. Man is his own master, and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgment over his destiny. 'One is one's own refuge, who else could be the refuge?' said the Buddha. He admonished his disciples to 'be a refuge to themselves', and never to seek refuge in or help from anybody else. He taught, encouraged and stimulated each person to develop himself and to work out his own emancipation, for man has the power to liberate himself from all bondage through his own personal effort and intelligence. The Buddha says: 'You should do your work, for the Tathagatas only teach the way.' If the Buddha is to be called a 'saviour' at all, it is only in the sense that he discovered and showed the Path to Liberation, Nirvana. But we must tread the Path ourselves. It is on this principle of individual responsibility that the Buddha allows freedom to his disciples. In the Mabaparinibbana-sutta the Buddha says that he never thought of controlling the Sangba (Order of Monks), nor did he want the Sangha to depend on him. He said that there was no esoteric doctrine in his teaching, nothing hidden in the 'closed-fist of the teacher' (acariya-mutthi), or to put it in other words, there never was anything 'up his sleeve'. The freedom of thought allowed by the Buddha is unheard of elsewhere in the history of religions. This freedom is necessary because, according to the Buddha, man's emancipation depends on his own realization of Truth, and not on the benevolent grace of a god or any external power as a reward for his obedient good behaviour. The Buddha once visited a small town called Kesaputta in the kingdom of Kosala. The inhabitants of this town were known by the common name Kalama. When they heard that the Buddha was in their town, the Kalamas paid him a visit, and told him: 'Sir, there are some recluses and brahmanas who vis
