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He who keeps in the path of true holiness, will safely cross this dreary ocean of life, and reach the heaven of eternal peace, where all suffering and all birth-renewal is at an end.” And though the Blessed One was very weak and suffering, he still went on from place to place, gathering round him his disciples and followers, exhorting them to persevere and to keep in the right way that leads to salvation. 30 A BUDDHIST CATECHISM On his arrival at Bhoya-nagara he stopped at the Ananda-Vihara, and there he addressed his disciples: “When I have departed, brethren, there will be some amongst you, elders or brethren or hermits, who may say: From the mouth of the Tathagata I have heard it, from his own mouth have I received it. This is the truth, the doctrine, the teaching of the Master. Such words you are neither to receive indiscriminately nor treat them scornfully, but without prejudice you are to listen to each word and syllable, and compare them with the fundamental doctrines and rules laid down for the Brotherhood. If after careful examination they do not agree with the doctrine and the rules of the Brotherhood, reject them; otherwise receive them as my own words. This is my instruction to you.” The Buddha next went to Bhoya-gama, and from there to Pava, where he stayed at the mango grove of Chunda, the worker in metals. When Chunda heard it he was glad, and he came to sa- lute the Enlightened One, and to ask him to take his meal with him at his house, together with the brethren. And the Buddha gave a silent assent. Then Chunda made ready the best he possessed, rice and sweet cakes and some dried boar’s flesh. When the Buddha saw it he addressed’ Chunda and said: “As to the dried boar’s flesh you have made ready, Chunda, serve it to me alone, and the rice and the sweet cakes give to the brethren.” And Chunda did as he desired. And when the A BUDDHIST CATECHISM él Buddha had finished his meal, he turned again to Chunda, and said: “Whatever is left over of the meat, that bury in a hole, for there is none in heaven and earth, among the Samanas or Brah- manas, among gods or men, by whom such food can be eaten without hurt to himself, save alone the Tathagata.” 66. What did the Buddha mean by saying so? He wished to intimate to his adherents that the flesh of animals is no proper food for men and beings of a higher order, and that every one who partakes thereof does it to the injury of his own body and mind. For this reason he forbade Chunda to give any to his disciples. 67. But why did the Buddha take some of the wild boar’s flesh himself? Because he was anxious not to infringe his own precepts, according to which the brethren are not allowed to refuse anything that is kindly offered them. 68. Give some further account of the Buddha’s last hours. After the Buddha had gladdened and edified Chunda by his religious discourse, he went on to Kusinara. On the way a dire sickness and sharp pain,came upon him, but he bore it all with forti- tude and without complaint. Soon his weakness became so great that he had to sit down under a tree by the wayside. And he addressed Ananda, 32 A BUDDHIST CATECHISM and said: “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water, for I am thirsty.” And Ananda answered: “Master, a caravan of carts has just gone over the brook. The water has become stirred up by the wheels, and has become turbid and muddy.” But the Blessed One re- peated his request. Then Ananda took his bowl and went down to the brook. And behold! the water which but now had been turbid and muddy, flowed clear and limpid, free from all turbidity. Ananda wondered but he filled his bowl and brought it to the Bud- dha, who drank it and felt refreshed. Now, a young Mallian, by name Pukkusa, the owner of the caravan, was passing along the road. When he saw the Blessed One sitting under the tree, he went up to him and saluted him full of reverence. Then he gave orders to one of his attendants to fetch him two suits of cloth of gold, burnished and ready to wear. And addressing the Buddha, he said: “My Lord, do me the favour to accept these suits at my hands.” The Buddha answered: “Then give me one of them, and Ananda one.” And Ananda put one of the robes of cloth of gold upon the Buddha, and when he had done so it seemed to have lost all its glitter. Ananda was astonished, and said: “Master, what a wonderful thing is this! Your countenance is of such marvellous beauty and brightness that the robe of cloth of gold seems to have lost all its glitter.” A BUDDHIST CATECHISM 33 The Blessed One answered: “Even so, Ananda. There are two occasions on which the face of a Tathagata becomes exceeding bright: on the night in which he attains supreme and perfect insight, and again on the night when he passes finally away out of existence.(**) And now this night, in the third watch, the final passing away of the Tathagata will take place.” Then the Enlightened One rose, greatly re- freshed, and with his disciples went to the Sala grove of the Mallas near Kusinara, on the banks of the river Hiranyavati. And, addressing Ananda, said: ; “Put for me, I pray thee, the couch between the two sala-trees, for I am tired and would lie down.” “T do so, Master,” replied Ananda. Then he made the couch ready between the twin sala-tree8. And the Blessed One lay down, with his head to the north. And behold! the sala-trees were one mass of blossoms, though it was not the season for flowers. They fell like rain on the body of the Blessed One, and sweet music came wafted from the skies. And the Buddha said: “Behold, brethren! Heaven and earth vie with each other to do reverence to the Tathagata. But it is not thus that the Tathagata is duly hon- oured and reverenced. Those of my disciples who continually live in spirit and in truth. and who walk always in the light of my precepts, those 34 A BUDDHIST CATECHISM alone do rightly honour and reverence the Tatha- gata.” And after awhile he turned again to his disci- ples, and said: “There may be some among you, who will think after I am gone: Our teacher is dead; we have no longer any guide. But it is not thus you should think. The doctrine I have taught you and the rules of the Brotherhood I have laid down for you, these are to be, after I am gone, your teacher and guide.” And the Buddha lifted up his voice once more and said: “Brethren, keep in mind those words of mine: Whatever is born perishes. Strive unceas- ingly for your deliverance.” These were the Buddha’s last words. Then his spirit sank into a deep meditative repose, till all idea and thinking and consciousness of self ceased, and so he passed into the supreme Nirvana. Outside the eastern gates of Kusinara the Mallas set fire to the Blessed One’s funeral pile, and paid him all the honour due to a king. “They pass each being’s parts and powers: They grow, and therefore must decay: The issue of the transient hours Should, like the hours, pass away!” THE DOCTRINE (DHAMMA) 69. What is the doctrine? It is the true way of salvation intuitively per- ceived and announced by the Buddha; preserved to us in the tradition of the Arahats and recorded in the holy Scriptures. 70. What are the holy Scriptures of the Buddhists called? The three Pitakas, or collections of books. 71. What are the three Pitakas named respec- tively? Sutta Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and Abidhamma Pitaka. 72. What are the contents of the Sutta Pitaka? The Sutta Pitaka contains religious discourses, addresses, and sayings of the Buddha, intended for the instruction of the brethren as well as of the laity. It contains, too, a number of parables in illustration of the doctrine. 73. What are the contents of the Vinaya Pitaka? The Vinaya Pitaka contains the precepts and rules laid down for the Brotherhood of the Elect (Sangha). 35 36 A BUDDHIST CATECHISM 74. What are the contents of the Abhidamma Pitaka? The Abhidamma Pitaka contains the profound- est philosophic and religious truths of Buddhism, and is intelligible only to those brethren who have already attained to a higher stage of moral and spiritual development. 75. Do, then, these three collections contain any divine revelation? No; there are no divine revelations. It is a groundless assumption, utterly rejected by Bud- dhism, that truth should be revealed by a God, or an angel, to a few inspired favourites. The only revelation men have ever received is from the mouth of those sublime teachers of mankind, who themselves have worked out their own perfection and deliverance, have shown others the way to it, and are for that reason called self-enlightened supreme Buddhas. 76. What was the Buddha’s motive for teaching us the doctrine? Pity, boundless love and compassion for our sufferings and our ignorance, that ignorance or natural blindness(**) of our hearts (avidya) which prevents us from finding, by ourselves, the way to deliverance out of this Sansara. 77. What is Sansara? Sansara is the world we live in, the world of illusion, error, guilt, and sorrow, of birth and A BUDDHIST CATECHISM 37 decay, of endless change, disappointment and pain, of the never-ending circle of transmigration from which no escape is possible until the re- deeming light of true knowledge has dawned upon us. 4 78. What is the cause of sorrow, and of death and birth-renewal? The will or desire to live (tanha),(**) inherent in every one of us, the craving for individual exist- ence either in this world or another (Heaven, Paradise). 79. How can sorrow, death, and birth-renewal be overcome? By a free renunciation of the lust of life; by a killing out of the craving for individual existence either in this world or another.