English
"At this time, Tathagata, from the (Svasti) character which was on his breast, caused to pour forth a precious flood of light, its effulgence like that of the sun, its rays composed by a thou- sand colours, penetrating at once through the infinite worlds of Buddha, and concentrating throughout the infinite worlds on the heads of the various Buddhas; and then returning to Ananda and the rest of the Great Congregation. After which he addi^essed Ananda, and said : For your sake I sound the gong (ghanta) of the Great Law, in order to enable the whole body of sentient creatures to obtain knowledge of the mysterious and ever effulgent mind, through the knowledge of which they may arrive at perfect perception of the truth. 61. " Ananda, you said just now that you saw my shining fist. Now, what is it constitutes the brightness of which you speak ? "What is it causes the idea you have formed of the fist ? and who is the person that sees all this ? Ananda replied : The brightness of which I spoke results from the beauty of Buddha's body ; it is my eyes that behold this beauty, and it is your own fingers held up and closed before us, that make the fist. 62. " Buddha replied : Tathagata this day declares to you and X 306 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST all those who have understanding, true wisdom, using the way of parable or comparison to convey to your minds his meaning. Ananda, taking the instance of my closed hand, I suppose if I had no hand there could be no closing it ; and if you had no eyes there could be no seeing it ; so that by means of your sense of sio-ht, and my right manipulation of my fingers, the whole idea is completed of ' your seeing my fist'. Is this right or wrong ? Ananda replied : It is right ; oh, world-honoured one ! for if I had no sight I could not see; whereas, by means of this sense, and your right manipulation, the idea is formed in my mind of your fist, resulting from the agreement of conditions, in each case, 63. " Buddha replied : This agreement of conditions, as you term it, is not a connect explanation of the case. For, con- sider, if a man has no hand, there is clearly an end of ' making a fist'; but if a man has no eye, there is not the same com- plete end of ' seeing'; for, just think a moment. Suppose you were going along a road, and you were to meet a blind man, and ask him. Do you see anything? That blind man would reply to you: I see only darkness before my eyes. Now, although there is no such thing as, in his case, seeing a variety of objects, yet still there is a distinct observation on his part, and the object before his eyes is ' darkness'. What, then, is wanting why this observation should not be called ' seeing'. 64. " Ananda said : How can you speak of an ' act of seeing', when the same darkness is always before the eyes of all blind people ? 65. " Buddha replied : All blind people without eyes can only observe darkness ; but now take a man who has eyes, and place him in a dark room. Is there any difference between the dark- ness which the blind man observes, and the darkness which the man sees who has eyes ? No ! replied Ananda ; they are the same. Then, Ananda ! suppose the blind man who observes only darkness were suddenly to receive his sight — so that he could perfectly see the various objects before his eyes — this you would call ' eye-seeing'; and now, suppose that other man who is in a dark room, and who sees nothing before him but darkness, were suddenly to have a lighted lamp brought into the room — so that he also got perfect knowledge of surrounding objects, would you call this ' lamp-seeing'? GG. " If so, then the lamp is able to see ; but, if tlie lamp is SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 307 the same as the eye, why do you call it a lamp ? And again, since the lamp would then have the power of observation, what concern would your eye have in the matter ? You know, how- ever, that the lamp is only able to make things visible, so that, as far as seeing is concerned, the eyes have a distinct function, opposed to the office which the lamp discharges, but nevertheless, when we speak of the ' power of sight', this no more resides in the eye than in the lamp. " Ananda, although he continued to hear these words until their close, yet remained silent in the midst of the great congre- gation ; for his mind was as yet unable to receive their meaning, only he waited in expectation of hearing the compassionate words of Tathagata in further explanation — with closed hands and reverent feelings. 67. "At this time, Tathagata, unfolding his beautifully soft and silken hand, displayed his five circle-marked fingers, and thus continued his discourse for the instruction of Ananda and all the great assembly. "When I first arrived at complete inspiration (on the occasion of my preaching), in the Deer Park, for the sake of Adjiiata and the five mendicants, and all of you belonging to the four classes, my words were these: All creatures fail to attain supreme wisdom, and the condition of a Rabat, from the guest and dnst^ troubles of life which deceive them. Which of you, at that time, in consequence of my instruction, arrived at the condition of sanctity, which you now enjoy ? 68. " Then Kilundinya," rising fi-om his seat, addressed Bud- dha, and said : ] who am now so old, of all in the great congre- gation alone obtained the name of ' saved'; and it was because I understood the comparisons of the ' guest' and 'dust', that I ob- tained the fruit of salvation. World-honoured one, your com- parison was this, that like as a traveller takes up his quarters at an inn, and having rested and drank sets out again on his weary ' Compare the comparison of the Egyptians mentioned by Diodorus Siculus. " The Egyptians called the dwellings of the li\dng 'lodging houses'; the tombs, on the contrary, they called 'eternal homes'." Vide Manual of Eastern History, by Lenormant, p. 333 ; and Cud- worth, i, p. 9. 2 Adjnata Kaundinya (Kaundinya probably from "kund," to pre- serve) ; but vide Lotus, p. 489, and compare the Chinese gloss. x2 308 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST road, and has no leisure to rest or remain fixed (so is tlie unen- lightened heart) ; whereas, the true master of the house, moves not from the place of his abode. Thus, also, we regard all that which is unfixed and uncertain as the travelling guest ; but that which is fixed, we call the Master of the house ; and, as we con- sider the condition of unrest, it is called the investigation of the ' Guest (comparison)'.^ 69. "And, again, as in the case of a clear sky, when the bright sun rises up into the heavens, a ray of light perchance enters through a crack in a door, and spreading its brightness on the space through which it passes, exhibits all the particles of dust in commotion, as in the case of the dust, its nature is motion; but in the case of the space, its nature is rest : thus also, we may compare all that is calm and at rest to space ; whilst all that is unsettled and unfixed we may call ' dust'. This also was the comparison. Buddha said : True ! 0, Kaundinya. 70. " At this time, Tathagata, in the midst of the great assem- bly, doubled together his five-circled fingers, and having doubled them together he opened them out, and so again having opened them he shut them up, and then addressed Ananda, say- ing : What is it you have seen me do ? Ananda replied : I saw Tathagata's hundred-precious-circle palm in the midst of the as- sembly opened and closed. Buddha replied: When you saw this, was it my hand you saw open and shut, or was it your sight that opened and closed itself. Ananda replied : It was the hand of the world-honoured one that was open and closed in the midst of the great assembly ; for the nature of my seeing faculty ad- mits not of opening or closing. Buddha said : What, then, is it that moves and what is it which rests in this case ? Ananda said : The hand of Buddlia is that which is unfixed, and my see- ing faculty is eminently a fixed one. What is there that can un- settle it ? Buddha said : Just so. 71. " On this, Tathagata, from the midst of his circled hand, let fly a glorious ray of light which located itself on the right of Ananda, and at the same time Ananda turned his head, and looked over his right shoulder.