The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 02: Samsara and Nirvana
Look about and contemplate life! [1]
Everything is transient and nothing endures.
There is birth and death, growth and decay;
there is combination and separation. [2]
The glory of the world is like a flower:
it stands in full bloom in the morning and fades in the heat of the day. [3]
Wherever you look, there is a rushing and struggling, and an eager pursuit of pleasure.
There is a panic flight from pain and death, and hot are the flames of burning desires.
The world is vanity fair, full of changes and transformations.
All is Samsara. [4]
Is there nothing permanent in the world?
Is there in the universal turmoil no resting-place where our troubled heart can find peace?
Is there nothing everlasting? [5]
Oh, that we could have cessation of anxiety,
that our burning desires would be extinguished!
When shall the mind become tranquil and composed? [6]
The Buddha, our Lord, was grieved at the ills of life.
He saw the vanity of worldly happiness
and sought salvation in the one thing that will not fade or perish,
but will abide for ever and ever. [7]
Ye who long for life, know that immortality is hidden intransiency.
Ye who wish for happiness without the sting of regret,
lead a life of righteousness.
Ye who yearn for riches, receive treasures that are eternal.
Truth is wealth, and a life of truth is happiness. [8]
All compounds will be dissolved again,
but the verities which determine all combination and separations
as laws of nature endure forever and aye.
Bodies fall to dust, but the truths of the mind will not be destroyed. [9]
Truth knows neither birth nor death;
it has no beginning and no end.
Welcome the truth. The truth is the immortal part of mind. [10]
Establish the truth in your mind,
for the truth is the image of the eternal;
it portrays the immutable;
it reveals the everlasting;
the truth gives unto mortals the boon of immortality. [11]
The Buddha has proclaimed the truth;
let the truth of the Buddha dwell in your hearts.
Extinguish in your selves every desire that antagonizes the Buddha,
and in the perfection of your spiritual growth you will become like unto him. [12]
That of your heart that cannot or will not develop into Buddha must perish;
for it is mere illusion and unreal;
it is the source of your error;
it is the cause of your misery. [13]
You attain to immortality by filling your minds with truth.
Therefore, become like unto vessles fit to receive the Master's words.
Cleanse yourselves of evil and sanctify your lives.
There is no other way of reaching truth. [14]
Learn to distinguish between Self and Truth.
Self is the cause of selfishness and the source of evil;
truth cleaves to no self;
it is universal and leads to justice and righteousness. [15]
Self, that which seems to those who love their selves as their being,
is not the eternal, the everlasting, the imperishable.
Seek not self,
but seek the truth. [16]
If we liberate our souls from our petty selves, wish no ill toothers,
and become clear as a crystal diamond reflecting the light of truth,
what a radiant picture will appear in us mirroring things as they are,
without the admixture of burning desires,
without the distortion of erroneous illusion,
without the agitation of clinging and unrest. [17]
Yet ye love self and will not abandon self-love.
So be it, but then, verily,
ye should learn to distinguish between the false self and the true self.
The ego with all its egotism is the false self.
It is an unreal illusion and a perishable combination.
He only who identifies his self with the truth will atain Nirvana;
and he who has entered Nirvana has attained Buddhahood;
he has acquired the highest good;
he has become eternal and immortal. [18]
All compound things shall be dissolved again,
worlds will break to pieces and our individualities will be scattered;
but the words of theBuddha will remain for ever. [19]
The extinction of self is salvation;
the annihilation of self is the condition of enlightenment;
the blotting out of self is Nirvana.
Happy is he who has ceased to live for pleasure and rests in the truth.
Verily his composure and tranquillity of mind are the highest bliss. [20]
Let us take our refuge in the Buddha,
for he has found the everlasting in the transient.
Let us take refuge in that which is the immutable in the changes of existence.
Let us take our refuge in the truth that is established through the enlightenment of the Buddha.
Let us take our refuge in the community of those who seek the truth and endeavour to live in the truth. [21]
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