SAMSARA AND NIRVANA

  LOOK about and contemplate life! Everything is transient and nothing
endures. There is birth and death, growth and decay; there is
combination and separation. 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.

  Wherever you look, there is a rushing and a 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, the turning Wheel
of Existence.

  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? Oh, that we could have cessation of
anxiety, that our burning desires would be extinguished! When shall
the mind become tranquil and composed?

  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.

  You who long for life, learn that immortality is hidden in
transiency. You who wish for happiness without the sting of regret,
lead a life of righteousness. You who yearn for riches, receive
treasures that are eternal. Truth is wealth, and a life of truth is
happiness.

  All compounds will be dissolved again, but the verities which
determine all combinations and separations as laws of nature endure
for ever and aye. Bodies fall to dust, but the truths of the mind will
not be destroyed.

  Truth knows neither birth nor death; it has no beginning and no end.
Welcome the truth. The truth is the immortal part of mind. 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.

  The Buddha has proclaimed the truth; let the truth of the Buddha
dwell in your hearts. Extinguish in yourselves every desire that
antagonizes the Buddha, and in the perfection of your spiritual growth
you will become like unto him. That of your heart which cannot or will
not develop into Buddha must perish, for it iseek to touch or see

          Can represent Eternity.
          They spoil and die: then let us find
          Eternal Truth within the mind."

  Having heard this stanza, Sariputta obtained the pure and spotless
eye of truth and said: "Now I see clearly, whatsoever is subject to
origination is also subject to cessation. If this be the doctrine I
have reached the state to enter Nirvana which heretofore has
remained hidden from me." Sariputta went to Moggallana and told him,
and both said: "We will go to the Blessed One, that he, the Blessed
One, may be our teacher."

  When the Buddha saw Sariputta and Moggallana coming from afar, he
said to his disciples, These two monks are highly auspicious." When
the two friends had taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the
Sangha, the Holy One said to his other disciples: "Sariputta, like the
first-born O son of a world-ruling monarch, is well able to assist the
king as his chief follower to set the wheel of the law rolling."

  Now the people were annoyed. Seeing that many distinguished young
men of the kingdom of Magadha led a religious life under the direction
of the Blessed One, they became angry and murmured: "Gotama
Sakyamuni induces fathers to leave their wives and causes families
to become extinct." When they saw the bhikkhus, they reviled them,
saying: "The great Sakyamuni has come to Rajagaha subduing the minds
of men. Who will be the next to be led astray by him?"

  The bhikkhus told it to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One said:
"This murmuring, O bhikkhus, will not last long. it will last seven
days. If they revile you, answer them with these words: 'It is by
preaching the truth that Tathagatas lead men. Who will murmur at the
wise? Who will blame the virtuous? Who will condemn self-control,
righteousness, and kindness?" And the Blessed One proclaimed:

          "Commit no wrong, do only good,
          And let your heart be pure.
          This is the doctrine Buddhas teach,
          And this doctrine will endure."