Difference between revisions of "The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 14: Brahma's Request"
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I shall not [[die]] until the [[pure]] [[religion]] of [[truth]] shall have become successful,<br/> | I shall not [[die]] until the [[pure]] [[religion]] of [[truth]] shall have become successful,<br/> | ||
[[prosperous]], wide-spread and popular in all its full extent -<br/> | [[prosperous]], wide-spread and popular in all its full extent -<br/> | ||
− | until, in a [[word]], it shall have been | + | until, in a [[word]], it shall have been well proclaimed among men!" [14]<br/> |
<br/> | <br/> | ||
Then [[Brahma Sahampati]] understood that the [[Blessed One]] had granted his request<br/> | Then [[Brahma Sahampati]] understood that the [[Blessed One]] had granted his request<br/> |
Latest revision as of 10:49, 20 March 2014
The Blessed One having attained Buddhahood while resting under the shepherd's Nigrodha tree
on the banks of the river Neranyjara, pronounced this solemn utterance: [1]
- "How blest in happy solitude
- Is he who hears of truth the call!
- How blest to be both kind and good,
- To practice self-restraint to all!
- How blest from passion to be free,
- All sensuous joys to let pass by!
- Yet highest bliss enjoyeth he
- Who quits the pride of 'I am I.' [2]
"I have recognized the deepest truth,
which is sublime and peace-giving,
but difficult to understand;
for most men move in a sphere of worldly interests
and find their delights in worldly desires. [3]
"The worldling will not understand the doctrine,
for to him there is happiness in selfhood only,
and the bliss that lies in a complete surrender to truth
is unintelligible to him. [4]
"He will call resignation what to the enlightened mind is the purest joy.
He will see annihilation where the perfected one finds immortality.
He will regard as death what the conqueror of self knows to be life everlasting. [5]
"The truth remains hidden from him who is in the bondage of hate and desire.
Nirvana remains incomprehensible and mysterious
to the vulgar whose minds are beclouded with worldly interests.
Should I preach the doctrine and mankind not comprehend it,
it would bring me only fatigue and trouble." [6]
Mara, the Evil One, on hearing the words of the Blessed Buddha,
approached and said: "Be greeted, thou Holy One.
Thou hast attained the highest bliss
and it is time for thee to enter into the final Nirvana." [7]
Then Brahma Sahampati descended from the heavens
and, having worshipped the Blessed One, said: [8]
"Alas! the world must perish,
should the Holy One, the Tathagata, decide not to teach the Dharma. [9]
"Be merciful to those that struggle;
have compassion upon the sufferers;
pity the creatures who are hopelessly entangled in the snares of sorrow. [10]
"There are some beings that are almost free from the dust of worldliness.
If they hear not the doctrine preached, they will be lost.
But if they hear it, they will believe and be saved." [11]
The Blessed One, full of compassion,
looked with the eye of a Buddha upon all sentient creatures,
and he saw among them beings whose minds were but scarcely covered by the dust of worldliness,
who were of good disposition and easy to instruct.
He saw some who were conscious of the dangers of lust and wrong doing. [12]
And the Blessed One said to Brahma Sahampati:
"Wide open be the door of immortality to all who have ears to hear.
May they receive the Dharma with faith." [13]
And the Blessed One turned to Mara, saying:
"I shall not pass into the final Nirvana, O Evil One,
until there be not only brethren and sisters of an Order,
but also lay-disciples of both sexes,
who shall have become true hearers, wise, well-trained, ready and learned,
versed in the scriptures, fulfilling all the greater and lesser duties,
correct in life, walking according to the precepts -
until they, having thus themselves learned the doctrine,
shall be able to give information to others concerning it,
preach it, make it known, establish it,
open it, minutely explain it, and make it clear -
until they, when others start vain doctrines,
shall be able to vanquish and refute them,
and so to spread the wonder-working truth abroad.
I shall not die until the pure religion of truth shall have become successful,
prosperous, wide-spread and popular in all its full extent -
until, in a word, it shall have been well proclaimed among men!" [14]
Then Brahma Sahampati understood that the Blessed One had granted his request
and would preach the doctrine. [15]
Continue Reading
- The Gospel of Buddha: Preface
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 01: Rejoice
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 02: Samsara and Nirvana
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 03: Truth the Saviour
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 04: The Bodhisatta's Birth
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 05: The Ties of Life
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 06: The Three Woes
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 07: The Bodhisatta's Renunciation
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 08: King Bimbisara
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 09: The Bodhisatta's Search
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 10: Uruvela, the Place of Mortification
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 11: Mara, the Evil One
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 12: Enlightenment
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 13: The First Converts
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 14: Brahma's Request
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 15: Upaka
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 16: The Sermon at Benares
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 17: The Sangha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 18: Yasa, the Youth of Benares
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 19: Kassapa
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 20: The Sermon at Rajagaha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 21: The King's Gift
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 22: Sariputta and Moggallana
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 23: Anathapindika
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 24: The Sermon on Charity
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 25: Jetavana
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 26: The Three Characteristics and the Uncreate
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 27: The Buddha's Father
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 28: Yasodhara
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 29: Rahula
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 30: Jivaka, the Physician
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 31: The Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvana
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 32: Women Admitted to the Sangha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 33: The Bhikkhus' Conduct Toward Women
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 34: Visakha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 35: The Uposatha and Patimokkha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 36: The Schism
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 37: The Re-establishment of Concord
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 38: The Bhikkhus Rebuked
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 39: Devadatta
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 40: Name and Form
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 41: The Goal
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 42: Miracles Forbidden
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 43: The Vanity of Worldliness
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 44: Secrecy and Publicity
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 45: The Annihilation of Suffering
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 46: Avoiding the Ten Evils
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 47: The Preacher's Mission
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 48: The Dhammapada
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 49: The Two Brahmans
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 50: Guard the Six Quarters
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 51: Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 52: All Existence is Spiritual
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 53: Identity and Non-Identity
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 54: The Buddha Omnipresent
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 55: One Essence, One Law, One Aim
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 56: The Lesson Given to Rahula
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 57: The Sermon on Abuse
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 58: The Buddha Replies to the Deva
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 59: Words of Instruction
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 60: Amitabha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 61: The Teacher Unknown
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 62: Parables
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 63: The Widow's Two Mites and the Parable of the Three Merchants
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 64: The Man Born Blind
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 65: The Lost Son
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 66: The Giddy Fish
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 67: The Cruel Crane Outwitted
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 68: Four Kinds of Merit
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 69: The Light of the World
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 70: Luxurious Living
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 71: The Communication of Bliss
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 72: The Listless Fool
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 73: Rescue in the Desert
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 74: The Sower
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 75: The Outcast
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 76: The Woman at the Well
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 77: The Peacemaker
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 78: The Hungry Dog
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 79: The Despot
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 80: Vasavadatta
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 81: The Marriage-Feast in Jambunada
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 82: A Party in Search of a Thief
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 83: In the Realm of Yamaraja
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 84: The Mustard Seed
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 85: Following the Master Over the Stream
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 86: The Sick Bhikkhu
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 87: The Patient Elephant
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 88: The Conditions of Welfare
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 89: Sariputta's Faith
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 90: Pataliputta
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 91: The Mirror of Truth
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 92: Ambapali
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 93: The Buddha's Farewell Address
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 94: The Buddha Announces His Death
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 95: Chunda, the Smith
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 96: Metteyya
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 97: The Buddha's Final Entering into Nirvana
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 98: The Three Personalities of the Buddha
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 99: The Purpose of Being
- The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 100: The Praise of All the Buddhas