~ 18 ~
I
N THE HALL OF THE POTTER
W
ITH THESE WORDS the pilgrim Kāmanīta
brought his narrative to a close, sat silently
and gazed meditatively out upon the landscape.
*
*
*
And the Lord Buddha also sat silently and gazed
meditatively out upon the landscape.
Lofty trees were to be seen, some near, some
farther off, some grouping themselves in shadowy masses,
others dissolving airily in cloud‐like formations and disap‐
pearing into the mists in the distance.
The moon now stood directly over the porch, and
ed as though mounted in silver.
a
ss with short measured jerks.
ī?
ow
nd
its light shone into the outer part of the hall, where it lay
like three white sheets upon a bleaching‐green, while the
left side of the pillars gleam
In the deep silence of the night one could hear
water‐buffalo somewhere in the neighbourhood, cropping
the gra
And the Master pondered within himself:
“Should I tell this seeker all I know of Vāsitth
H
faithful she was to him; how, without fault of her
own, she was forced to marry Sātāgira by low fraud; how
it was her doing that Angulimāla appeared in Ujjenī; a
how, owing to that very visit, he himself, Kāmanīta, is now
treading the path of the spiritual seeker instead of sinking
145
in foul luxury. Should I reveal to him the path that Vāsitthī
and
nowledge would not be helpful to the seeker in
is ef
we love is suffering,
be
of such an experience as yours.”
“Oh! how true!” called out Kāmanīta, in an agitated
voice, “how profoundly, deeply true! Who, stranger,
uttered those profound and wonderful words?”
“There is no need to be concerned about that,
friend. It is of no consequence who uttered them, as long
as you feel and recognise their truth.”
“How could I not? They contain in a few words all
my life‐trouble. Had I not already chosen a Master, I would
seek none other than the admirable one with whom these
words originated.”
“Then you have a Master whose teaching you
acknowledge, friend, and in whose name you have gone
forth?”
“In truth, brother, I went forth in the name of no
Master. On the contrary, my idea at that time was that I
should win my way to the Goal unaided. And when I
rested by day in the neighbourhood of a village, at the foot
of a tree or in the recesses of a forest, I gave myself up
with fervour to deepest thought. To such thoughts as these
— ‘What is the Self? What is the universe? Is the Self
eternal and the universe temporal? Is the universe eternal
and the Self temporal?’ Or — ‘Why has the highest Brahmā
caused the world to come forth from Himself? And if the
highest Brahmā is pure and perfect happiness, how does it
happen that the universe He has created is imperfect and
is afflicted with suffering?’
“And when I gave myself up to such thoughts, I
is following now?”
But he decided that the time was not yet come
that such k
h
forts. The Master, therefore, spoke and said:
“‘To be separated from what
to
united to what we do not love is suffering.’ When
this was said, it was said
146
reached no satisfactory solution. On the contrary, new
doubts constantly arose, and I did not seem to have neared
by so much as a single step, the Goal for the sake of which
the noble‐minded abandon home or ever and voluntarily
become homeless.”
“Yes, friend,” the Buddha replied, “it is as if one
were to pursue the horizon, thinking: ‘Oh, if only I could
reach the line that bounds my vision!’ In the same way
does the Goal escape those who give themselves to such
questions.”
Kāmanīta nodded thoughtfully, and then went on:
“Then it happened one day, when the shadows of the
trees had already begun to lengthen, that I came upon a
hermitage in a forest glade, and there I saw young men in
white robes, several of whom milked cows, while others
split wood and yet others washed pails at the spring.
“On a mat in front of the hall sat an aged brahmin,
from whom these young people evidently learned the
sacred songs and sentences. He greeted me with friend‐
liness, and although it would take, as he said, scarcely an
hour to reach the next village, he begged me to share their
meal and to spend the night with them. I did so gratefully
enough, and before I had laid myself down to sleep I had
heard many a good and impressive utterance.
“On the following day, when I was about to go on
my way the brahmin addressed me with — ‘Who is your
Master, young man, and in whose name have you gone
forth?’
“And I answered him as I have answered you.
“Upon which the brahmin said — ‘How will you,
friend, reach that highest Goal if you wander alone like the
rhinoceros, instead of in a herd and led by an experienced
leader as is the way of the wise elephant?’
“At the word ‘herd,’ he glanced benevolently
towards the young people standing round about; at the
f
147
Dostları ilə paylaş: |