ALARA and Uddaka were renowned as teachers among the Brahmans, and there was no one in those days who surpassed them in learning and philosophical knowledge. The Bodhisattva went to them and sat at their feet. He listened to their doctrines of the atman or self, which is the ego of the mind and the doer of all doings. He learned their views
of the transmigration of souls and of the law of karma; how the
souls of bad men had to suffer by being reborn in men of low caste, in
animals, or in hell, while those who purified themselves by
libation, by sacrifices, and by self-mortification would become kings,
or Brahmans, or devas, so as to rise higher and higher in the grades
of existence. He studied their incantations and offerings and the
methods by which they attained deliverance of the ego from material
existence in states of ecstasy.

  Alara said: "What is that self which perceives the actions of the
five roots of mind, touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing? What is
that which is active in the two ways of motion, in the hands and in
the feet? The problem of the soul appears in the expressions 'I
say,' 'I know and perceive,' 'I come,' and 'I go' or 'I will stay
here.' Thy soul is not thy body; it is not thy eye, not thy ear, not
thy nose, not thy tongue, nor is it thy mind. The I is the one who
feels the touch in thy body. The I is the smeller in the nose, the
taster in the tongue, the seer in the eye, the hearer in the ear,
and the thinker in the mind. The I moves thy hands and thy feet. The I
is thy soul. Doubt in the existence of the soul is irreligious, and
without discerning this truth there is no way of salvation. Deep
speculation will easily involve the mind; it leads to confusion and
unbelief; but a purification of the soul leads to the way of escape.
True deliverance is reached by removing from the crowd and leading a
hermit's life, depending entirely on alms for food. Putting away all
desire and clearly recognizing the non-existence of matter, we reach a
state of perfect emptiness. Here we find the condition of immaterial
life. As the munja grass when freed from its horny case, as a sword
when drawn from its scabbard, or as the wild bird escaped from its
prison, so the ego liberating itself from all limitations, finds
perfect release. This is true deliverance, but those only who will
have deep faith will learn."

  The Bodhisattva found no satisfaction in these teachings. He
replied: "People are in bondage, because they have not yet removed the
idea of the ego. The thing and its quality are different in our
thought, but not in reality. Heat is different from fire in our
thought, but you cannot remove heat from fire in reality. You say that
you can remove the qualities and leave the thing, but if you think
your theory to the end, you will find that this is not so.

  "Is not man an organism of many aggregates? Are we not composed of
various attributes? Man consists of the material form, of sensation,
of thought, of dispositions, and, lastly, of understanding. That which
men call the ego when they say 'I am' is not an entity behind the
attributes; it originates by their co-operation. There is mind;
there is sensation and thought, and there is truth; and truth is
mind when it walks in the path of righteousness. But there is no
separate ego-soul outside or behind the thought of man. He who
believes the ego is a distinct being has no correct conception. The
very search for the atman is wrong; it is a wrong start and it will
lead you in a false direction.

  "How much confusion of thought comes from our interest in self,
and from our vanity when thinking 'I am so great,' or 'I have done
this wonderful deed?' The thought of thine ego stands between thy
rational nature and truth; banish it, and then wilt thou see things as
they are. He who thinks correctly will rid himself of ignorance and
acquire wisdom. The ideas 'I am' and 'I shall be' or 'I shall not
be' do not occur to a clear thinker.

  "Moreover, if our ego remains, how can we attain true deliverance?
If the ego is to be reborn in any of the three worlds, be it in
hell, upon earth, or be it even in heaven, we shall meet again and
again the same inevitable doom of sorrow. We shall remain chained to
the wheel of individuality and shall be implicated in egotism and
wrong. All combination is subject to separation, and we cannot
escape birth, disease, old age, and death. Is this a final escape?"

  Said Uddaka: "Consider the unity of things. Things are not their
parts, yet they exist. The members and organs of thy body are not
thine ego, but thine ego possesses all these parts. What, for
instance, is the Ganges? Is the sand the Ganges? Is the water the
Ganges? Is the hither bank the Ganges? Is the hither bank the
Ganges? Is the farther bank the Ganges? The Ganges is a mighty river
and it possesses all these several qualities. Exactly so is our ego."

  But the Bodhisattva replied: "Not so, sir! If we remove the water,
the sand, the hither bank and the farther bank where can we find any
Ganges? In the same way I observe the activities of man in their
harmonious union, but there is no ground for an ego outside its
parts."

  The Brahman sage, however, insisted on the existence of the ego,
saying: "The ego is the doer of our deeds. How can there be karma
without a self as its performer? Do we not see around us the effects
of karma? What makes men different in character, station, possessions,
and fate? It is their karma, and karma includes merit and demerit. The
transmigration of the soul is subject to its karma. We inherit from
former existences the evil effects of our evil deeds and the good
effects of our good deeds. If that were not so, how could we be
different?'

  The Tathagata meditated deeply on the problems of transmigration and
karma, and found the truth that lies in them. "The doctrine of
karma, he said, is undeniable, but the theory of the ego has no
foundation. Like everything else in nature, the life of man is subject
to the law of cause and effect. The present reaps what the past has
sown, and the future is the product of the present. But there is no
evidence of the existence of an immutable ego-being, of a self which
remains the same and migrates from body to body. There is rebirth
but no transmigration.

  "Is not this individuality of mine a combination, material as well
as mental? Is it not made up of qualities that sprang into being by
a gradual evolution? The five roots of sense perception in this
organism have come from ancestors who performed these functions. The
ideas which I think, came to me partly from others who thought them,
and partly they rise from combinations of the ideas in my own mind.
Those who have used the same sense-organs, and have thought the same
ideas before I was composed into this individuality of mine, are my
previous existences; they are my ancestors as much as the I of
yesterday is the father of the I of today, and the karma of my past
deeds affects the fate of my present existence.

  "Supposing there were an atman that performs the actions of the
senses then if the door of sight were torn down and the eye plucked
out, that atman would be able to peep through the larger aperture
and see the forms of its surroundings better and more clearly than
before. It would be able to hear sounds better if the ears were torn
away; smell better if the nose were cut off; taste better if the
tongue were pulled out; and feel better if the body were destroyed.

  "I observe the preservation and transmission of character; I
perceive the truth of karma, but see no atman whom your doctrine makes the doer of your deeds. There is rebirth without the transmigration of a self. For this atman, this self, this ego in the 'I say' and in
the 'I will' is an illusion. If this self were a reality, how could
there be an escape from selfhood? The terror of hell would be
infinite, and no release could be granted. The evils of existence
would not be due to our ignorance and wrong-doing, but would
constitute the very nature of our being."

  Then the Bodhisattva went to the priests officiating in the temples.
But the gentle mind of the Sakyamuni was offended at the unnecessary
cruelty performed on the altars of the gods. He said: "Ignorance
only can make these men prepare festivals and hold vast meetings for
sacrifices. Far better to revere the truth than try to appease the
gods by shedding blood. What love can a man possess who believes
that the destruction of life will atone for evil deeds? Can a new
wrong expiate old wrongs? And can the slaughter of an innocent
victim blot out the evil deeds of mankind? This is practicing religion
by the neglect of moral conduct. Purify your hearts and cease to kill;
that is true religion. Rituals have no efficacy; prayers are vain
repetitions; and incantations have no saving power. But to abandon
covetousness and lust, to become free from evil passions, and to
give up all hatred and ill-will, that is the right sacrifice and the
true worship."