Issue 303

The Buddha said,”Great King! you have said that when you were twenty you had deteriorated from when you were ten. Day by day, month by month, year by year until you have reached sixty, in thought after thought there has been change. Yet when you saw the Ganges River at the age of three, how was it different from when you were thirteen?”
The king said,“It was no different from when I was three, and even now when I am sixty-two it is still no different.”

The Buddha said to King Prasenajit,“Great King! you have said, let’s just look at what you’ve said, that when you were twenty you had deteriorated from when you were ten. You were more out of shape than when you were ten, you were getting older. Day by day, month by month, year by year until you have reached sixty, in thought after thought there has been change. Every thought brings change. Yet when you saw the Ganges River at the age of three, how was it different from when you were thirteen? But when you were three, when you saw the Ganges River, how was the water different from when you saw it at thirteen?

The king said, “It was no different from when I was three.” King Prasenajit said, “It was the same as when I saw the water at three years old. It is not any different.And even now when I am sixty-two it is still no different. There are no two ways about it, it is still the same.”

There are scholars who spend their efforts on superficialities and say that there are some questions linked with the age of King Prasenajit given here in the text. This is really just looking for something to do when there’s nothing to do; eating one’s fill and then wanting to haul garbage as if they were cleaning things up. They got nothing better to do so they gather excrement from the toilets. So be it; it serves them right!

The Buddha said, “Now you are mournful that your hair is white and your face is wrinkled. In the same way that your face is definitely more wrinkled than it was in your youth, has the seeing with which you look at the Ganges aged, so that it is old now but was young when you looked at the river as a child in the past?”
The king said, “No! World Honored One.”
The Buddha said, “Great King! your face is in wrinkles, but the essential nature of your seeing has not yet wrinkled. What wrinkles is subject to change. What does not wrinkle does not change. What changes will become extinct, but what does not change is fundamentally free of production and extinction. How can it be subject to your birth and death? Furthermore, why bring up what Maskari Goshaliputra and the others say: that after the death of this body there is total extinction?”

The Buddha said again to King Prasenajit,“Now you are mournful that your hair is white and your face is wrinkled. In the same way that your face is definitely more wrinkled than it was in your youth, has the seeing with which you look at the Ganges aged, so that it seems, as you look, that the Ganges River, is old now but was young when you looked at the river as a child in the past? Is there a distinction from what you saw as a youth and what you see now in your old age? Is there any difference in your seeing? The seeing with which you saw the Ganges at three years old and the seeing with which you see it now doesn’t have any variation of young and old, does it?”

The king said, “No! World Honored One.” Although the King was as stupid as a scholar, he knew it was not that way; he knew that there hadn’t been any change. So he said decisively, “No World Honored One.” His seeing hadn’t changed.

The Buddha said, “Great King: Having heard the King’s reply, he again speaks to King Prasenajit. Great King! your face is in wrinkles, but the essential nature of your seeing has not yet wrinkled. Your seeing which views the Ganges has not wrinkled. The nature of seeing is not wrinkled; it is still the same.

What wrinkles is subject to change. The wrinkles on your face display the change. What does not wrinkle does not change. Since the seeing doesn’t have wrinkles, how can you say it changes? It doesn’t change.” “What changes will become extinct, but what does not change is fundamentally free of production and extinction. How can it be subject to your birth and death? Since it has no production and extinction how can you say that your seeing nature will undergo birth and death the same as your body?

Furthermore, why bring up what Maskari Goshaliputra, ‘Not Seeing the Way,’ and the others say: that after the death of this body there is total extinction. They all say that after the body dies everything perishes. It’s all over. All they know about is permanence and annihilationism. Are you learning from them?”

The king heard these words, believed them, and realized that when the life of this body is finished, there will be rebirth. He and the entire great assembly were greatly delighted at having obtained what they had never had before.

The king, Prasenajit, heard these words, he believed them, and realized that when the life of this body is finished, after the death of the body, when it has been cast aside, there will be rebirth. One will go to the place of one’s next rebirth. There is retribution from three periods of past life, present life and future life.

He and the entire great assembly were greatly delighted at having obtained what they had never had before. At this moment, he and the entire assembly of the Dharma all understood a little more of the truth, so they were all joyful and exuberant, experiencing a true bliss from the Dharma that they had never felt before. They said, “We never knew about this principle before! We were completely confused about the theory of birth and death, permanence and annihilationism!”

Ananda then arose from his seat, made obeisance to the Buddha, put his palms together, knelt on both knees, and said to the Buddha, “World Honored One! if seeing and hearing are indeed neither produced nor extinguished, why did the World Honored One refer to us as people who have lost their true natures and who go about things in an upside-down way? I hope the World Honored One will give rise to great compassion and wash my dust and defilement away.”

Ananda then arose from his seat, made obeisance to the Buddha, put his palms together, knelt on both knees, and said to the Buddha, at that time Ananda became doubtful again – not just Ananda himself, but Ananda also represents all beings in asking this question. So, he stood up from his seat, first bowed to the Buddha, then put his palms together, knelt down for a long time, and spoke to the Buddha.

“World Honored One! if seeing and hearing are indeed neither produced nor extinguished, why did the World Honored One refer to us as people who have lost their true natures and who go about things in an upside-down way? ‘Seeing and hearing’ is just ‘seeing nature’. If this seeing nature is indeed neither produced nor extinguished, then why did you, World Honored One, say that we have lost our true nature and that the things we do are all upside down?

I hope the World Honored One will give rise to great compassion and wash my dust and defilement away.” I hope the Buddha can bring forth great kindness and compassion and use this water of great compassion to wash away the defilement of my doubts!

Then the Thus Come One let his golden arm fall so that his wheeled fingers pointed downward, and, showing Ananda, he said, “You see my mudra-hand: is it right-side up or upside-down?”

Then the Thus Come One let his golden arm fall so that his wheeled fingers pointed downward, and, showing Ananda, he said, “You see my mudra-hand: is it right side up or upside down? The Buddha’s arms are golden, and the Buddha’s body is also golden. When the Buddha heard Ananda speak this way, he lowered his golden arm down with his five wheeled fingers pointed downward and said to Ananda: “Can you see my mudra-hand now? When I do this, is my hand right-side up or upside down?”

This ‘mudra-hand’ is just the name of a hand, it’s not really a mudra. It is the same as ‘tula-cotton hand’. Hence you should not make up a mudra here! Those who study the Secret School would say: “Oh, the Buddha has a mudra, we should quickly learn this mudra!” This cannot be said that way!