five seals. One after another they have to be opened if we want to
understand its heart... After the scholars have done their work, may the
poets now come forth and do theirs: the Pali scriptures are waiting for
them. Only then will the Buddha’s teaching have come to live here in our
land, only then will the German language blossom amongst Germans” – it
is my hope that my learned and honoured friend – and maybe a few
others with him – will find in this work the beginning of the fulfillment of
that wish.
Karl Gjellerup
Dresden,
September 1906
xv
~
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
~
T
HIS WORK HAS BEEN
helped along by many hands:
– the staff of M
ATICHON
Publishers in Bangkok, who printed the edition that we
used as our text;
– Jeanne Bendik and Dee Cuthbert who typed out the whole of the first draft of
the main text onto disc;
– Khun Chuang Muanpinit, who very kindly allowed us to use his fine
illustrations from the M
ATICHON
edition, and produced a whole new cover
painting for us as the original had been lost;
– Marion and Bart Gruzalski, who reviewed an early draft of the text and gave
some helpful suggestions;
– Venerables Vipassi and Varado, Dr Thais Da Rosa, Peter Dale Scott and Saranā
(Nona Olivia), who contributed greatly to the complex research needed for the
references;
– Anagarikā Maureen Bodenbach, who generously typed out Appendices 2, 3
and 4 both speedily and flawlessly;
– Richard Smith, who undertook the formidable task of designing and
typesetting the book, oversaw the process of publishing, and helped in
innumerable other ways;
– Khun Vanee Lamsam, Dr. Chate Wansom, The Center for Mindful Living, and
an anonymous donor, who generously sponsored the lion’s share of copies of
this first edition;
– John K and his staff at Square One studio, who were generous with both their
time and skills in preparing the illustrations and cover art for publication;
– Gert Jorgensen and the staff of Craftsman Press in Bangkok, who undertook the
task of printing with great care and dedication;
– Bhikkhu Bodhi, Maurice Walshe and Wisdom Publications, who generously
gave permission for the quotes from their translations of the Long and Middle
Length Discourses, as well as for the numerous, uncredited quotations scattered
throughout the Notes & References both from them and from Bhikkhu
Ñānamoli;
– Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson, and Shambhala Publications, for the use
of their work in the references;
– Ajahn Samvaro, for his translation of the Author’s Note from the German.
xvi
– Venerable Suvaco, for his diligent research for biographical details about the
author amongst the ‘dusty tomes‘ of the Danish National Library.
– and, of course, the indefatigable Ajahn Attapemo, without whose
encouragement, energy and networking skills this book could not have come
into existence.
To all of these, and to the many others involved in this project, abundant
gratitude is due – may they all realize Nibbāna.
xvii
…’twas the moment deep
When we are conscious of the secret dawn
Amid the darkness that we feel is green…
Thy face remembered is from other worlds,
It has been died for, though I know not when,
It has been sung of, though I know not where…
…beside thee
I am aware of other times and lands,
Of birth far‐back, of lives in many stars.
O beauty lone and like a candle clear
In this dark country of the world!
Stephen Phillips: Marpessa
If you love somebody
you lead them to enlightenment —
you don’t draw them into
your own defilements.
Ajahn Sumedho
xviii
~ 1 ~
T
HE BUDDHA REVISITS THE CITY OF
THE FIVE HILLS
T
HUS HAVE I HEARD. The time came when the
lifespan of the Lord Buddha was drawing to an end and,
journeying from place to place in the land of Magadha,
he came to Rājagaha.”
Thus it is written in the Buddhist Sūtras of ancient
India.
*
*
*
As the Master drew near to the City of the Five
Hills, day was almost over. The benevolent rays of the
evening sun lay along the green rice‐fields and meadows
of the far‐reaching plain as if they were emanations from a
divine hand extended in blessing. Here and there billowing
clouds — of purest gold‐dust it seemed — rolled and
crept along the ground, showing that farm‐workers and
oxen were plodding wearily homeward from their labour
in the fields; and the lengthening shadows cast by isolated
groups of trees were bordered by a halo, radiant with all
the colours of the rainbow.
Framed in a wreath of blossoming gardens, the
embattled gateways, terraces, cupolas and towers of the
capital shone forth delicately clear as in some ethereal
vision; and a long line of rocky out‐crops, rivalling in
1