The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 26: The Three Characteristics and the Uncreate
When the Buddha was staying at the Veluvana,
the bamboo grove at Rajagaha,
he addressed the brethren thus: [1]
"Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise,
it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution of being
that all conformations are transitory.
This fact a Buddha discovers and masters,
and when he has discovered and mastered it,
he announces, teaches, publishes,
proclaims, discloses, minutely explains
and makes it clear that all conformations are transitory. [2]
"Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise,
it remains a fact and a fixed and necessary constitution of being,
that all conformations are suffering.
This fact a Buddha discovers and masters,
and when he has discovered and mastered it,
he announces, teaches, publishes,
proclaims, discloses, minutely explains
and makes it clear that all conformations are suffering. [3]
"Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not arise,
it remains a fact and a fixed and necessary constitution of being,
that all conformations are lacking a self.
This fact a Buddha discovers and masters,
and when he has discovered and mastered it,
he announces, teaches, publishes,
proclaims, discloses, minutely explains and makes it clear that all conformations are lacking a self." [4]
And on another occasion the Blessed One dwelt at Savatthi
in the Jetavana, the garden of Anathapindika. [5]
At that time the Blessed One edified,
aroused, quickened and gladdened the monks
with a religious discourse on the subject of Nirvana.
And these monks grasping the meaning, thinking it out,
and accepting with their hearts the whole doctrine, listened attentively.
But there was one brother who had some doubt left in his heart.
He arose and clasping his hands made the request:
"May I be permitted to ask a question?"
When permission was granted he spoke as follows: [6]
"The Buddha teaches that all conformations are transient,
that all conformations are subject to sorrow,
that all conformations and lacking a self.
How then can there be Nirvana, a state of eternal bliss?" [7]
And the Blessed One, in this connection, on that occasion,
breathed forth this solemn utterance: [8]
"There is, O monks, a state where there is neither earth,
nor water, nor heat, nor air;
neither infinity of space nor infinity of consciousness,
nor nothingness, nor perception nor non-perception;
neither this world nor that world, neither sun nor moon.
It is the uncreate. [9]
"That, O monks, I term
neither coming nor going nor standing;
neither death nor birth.
It is without stability, without change;
it is the eternal which never originates
and never passes away.
There is the end of sorrow. [10]
"It is hard to realize the essential,
the truth is not easily perceived;
desire is mastered by him who knows,
and to him who sees aright all things are naught. [11]
"There is, O monks,
an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed.
Were there not, O monks,
this unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed,
there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. [12]
"Since, O monks,
there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, and unformed,
therefore is there an escape from the born, originated, created, formed." [13]
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