Persevere in the Noble Quest

Let me begin today’s talk with a sutta from the Aṅguttara Nikāya called Gavesi, the Seeker:

Once the Exalted One, with a great following of bhikkhus, was touring among the Kosalans.

And as the Exalted One went along the highway he saw a place where grew a big grove of sal trees; and seeing it there, he moved down from the road and went towards it and made his way among the trees; and at a certain place he smiled.

Now the Venerable Ānanda thought: ‘What is the reason that makes the Exalted One show a smile? Not for nothing do Tathāgatas smile.’ And the Venerable Ānanda asked him concerning the matter…

(Then said the Exalted One:)

‘At this place, Ānanda, in olden time there was a rich and flourishing city thronged with many people; and by the city, Ānanda, there dwelt the Exalted One, Kassapa, Arahant, Fully Enlightened One; and Gavesi was a lay-disciple of the Exalted One, Kassapa, but he kept not the moral precepts.

‘Now because of Gavesi there were about five hundred who testified and were stirred to discipleship, but they kept not the moral precepts. Thought he: “I have greatly served these five hundred lay-disciples, being the first to move and bestir myself; yet I keep not the moral precepts nor do these five hundred others. This is a levelling of levels, leaving no whit of a more. Come now, I am for something more!” So Gavesi went up to the five hundred and said: “Know, good sirs, from today that I keep the moral precepts.”

‘Then, Ānanda, those five hundred thought to themselves: “Verily, Master Gavesi has greatly served us, being first to move and bestir himself, and this same Master Gavesi will now keep the moral precepts; why then not we too?” Then went those five hundred lay-disciples to Gavesi and told him that they too henceforth would keep the moral precepts.

‘Again…thought Gavesi: “This also is a levelling of levels, leaving no whit of a more; I am for something more!” and went and told them, saying: “Know, sirs, from today I follow the celibate’s life, the life remote, giving up sex-life, common among men.” Then thought those others… “Why not we too?” and did likewise.

‘Again…thought Gavesi: “This also is a levelling of levels, leaving no whit of a more; I am for something more!” and went and told them, saying: “Know, sirs, from today I am a one-mealer and abstain from night-eating, giving up eating at wrong times.” Then thought those others… “Why not we too?” and did likewise.

‘Now the lay-disciple Gavesi considered thus: “I have greatly served these five hundred lay-disciples, being the first to move and bestir myself; I have kept the moral precepts, and now they too have done this; I have followed the life remote, giving up sex-life, and now they too have done this; I have become a one-mealer, giving up eating at wrong times, and now they too have done this. This is indeed a levelling of levels, leaving no whit of a more. Come now, I am for something more!”

‘And, Ānanda, the lay-disciple Gavesi went to the Exalted One, Kassapa, Arahant, Fully Enlightened One, and, having come, said to him: “Lord, grant that I may go forth beside the Exalted One; grant me full acceptance! – and Gavesi, the lay-disciple, obtained permission to go forth beside Kassapa, the Exalted One, Arahant, Fully Enlightened One; he obtained full acceptance.

‘Now not long after his acceptance, Ānanda, Gavesi the bhikkhu, living alone, withdrawn, zealous, ardent, resolved, entered into and abode in that unsurpassed goal of the holy life, visible here and now, realizing it by his own knowledge – that goal for the good of which clansmen’s sons rightly go forth from the home to the homeless life – and he declared: Destroyed is birth, lived is the holy life, done is what had to be done, there is no more of this or that state.

‘Thereafter, Ānanda, the bhikkhu Gavesi was numbered among the Arahants.

‘Then thought those five hundred lay-disciples: “Master Gavesi has done us a great service, he is first to move and bestir himself; and now he has had his hair and beard shaved off, donned the yellow robe, and goes forth from the home to the homeless life; why then not we too?” And those five hundred lay-disciples, Ānanda, went and begged the Exalted One, Kassapa, saying: “Grant, lord, that we may go forth beside the Exalted One; grant us full acceptance! – and those five hundred obtained permission…

‘Then thought the bhikkhu Gavesi: “I, verily, can obtain this unsurpassed bliss of liberation at will, easily, and without difficulty; could these five hundred bhikkhus obtain this bliss in like manner?”

‘Ānanda, those five hundred bhikkhus abode alone, withdrawn, zealous, ardent, resolved; and, not long after, entered and dwelt in that unsurpassed goal of the holy life, visible here and now, realizing it by their own knowledge – that goal for the good of which clansmen’s sons rightly go forth from the home to the homeless life – and they declared: Destroyed is birth, lived is the holy life, done is what had to be done, there is no more of this or that state.

‘Thus verily, Ānanda, those five hundred bhikkhus with Gavesi at their head, in striving from higher things to higher, from sublime to sublime, came to realise a liberation, above which there is no higher.

‘Wherefore, Ānanda, train yourselves in this way: From higher to higher, from sublime to sublime, we will strive and will come to realise the liberation, above which there is no higher.’

Now, you too should hearken to the Buddha’s words, and meditate and strive for higher and higher stage of purification. If you are able to make great progress easily in meditation, you should not be conceited, and stop short of the goal of noble quest, for which sons of good family rightly go forth from the home to the homeless life. If you are, on the other hand, unable to make great progress easily in meditation, you should not be disappointed either. How fast a meditator makes progress in meditation depends on his past pāramis, maturity of his faculties and present effort. You should remember that meditation is not a competition, and should not compete among yourselves. To think that your practice is superior to that of others is pride, to think that your practice is equal to that of others is pride, and to think that your practice is inferior to that of others, too, is pride. In meditation only your own purifications of virtue, mind and view are important. As long as you are sincerely practising meditation to your best you are making progress in the fastest way that you can do.

When you meditate you should meditate with a detached mind. If you practise the threefold training of virtuous conduct, concentration and wisdom which leads to detachment, disenchantment and liberation with a mind full of attachment, then it is impossible for you to achieve the noble goal. Contrary to that, the more you practise the farther you are moving away from the goal. Thus, your responsibility is just to practise wholeheartedly with utmost respect for the Dhamma, and let the results thereof come by themselves in accordance with the law of cause and effect. This is well described by the Buddha in the Aṅguttara Nikāya:

‘Bhikkhus, there are these three urgent duties of a yeoman farmer. What three?

‘Herein, bhikkhus, the yeoman farmer gets his field well ploughed and harrowed very quickly. Having done so he puts in his seed very quickly. Having done that he lets the water in and turns it off very quickly. These are his three urgent duties.

‘Now, bhikkhus, that yeoman farmer has no such magic power or authority as to say: “Let my crops spring up today. Tomorrow let them ear. On the following day let them ripen.” No. It is just the due season which makes them do this.

‘In the same way there are these three urgent duties of a bhikkhu. What three? They are the undertaking of the training in the higher morality, in the higher mind and in the higher insight. These are his three urgent duties.

‘Now, the bhikkhu has no such magic power or authority as to say: “Today, let my mind be released from the taints without grasping, or tomorrow, or the following day.” No. It is just the due season which releases his mind, as he undergoes the training in these three.

‘Wherefore, bhikkhus, thus must you train yourselves: Keen shall be our desire to undertake the training in this threefold training. That is how you must train yourselves.’

Again, in the Aṅguttara Nikāya the Buddha says that there are four modes of progress, namely, the painful mode of progress with sluggish penetration, the painful mode of progress with swift penetration, the pleasant mode of progress with sluggish penetration, and the pleasant mode of progress with swift penetration. It is, of course, the best if you are one who has the pleasant mode of progress with swift penetration. If, however, you are one who has the painful mode of progress with sluggish penetration, you should not be disheartened, as you are still making progress. A thing worse than making slow progress is not to take delight in meditation, because for a person who does not meditate there will be no progress at all.

Do you know, save the threefold training of virtuous conduct, concentration and wisdom taught by the Buddha, any other way which can lead you to the end of the round of rebirths, the end of suffering? No, there is none. Because without meditation one cannot gain wisdom, as said by the Buddha in the Dhammapada, verse 282:

‘Verily, from meditation arises wisdom. Without meditation wisdom wanes. Knowing this twofold path of gain and loss, let one so conduct oneself that wisdom may increase.’

Since the threefold training of virtuous conduct, concentration and wisdom is the only way leading to liberation, you have no other choice but just to meditate, and meditate, and meditate. You should, except sleeping hours, meditate continuously. You should try to be mindful as far as you can. Not a single effort put forth for a good cause is wasted. If you meditate for an hour with proper attitude you have gained an hour of pāramis. If you meditate for a day, a month, a year, or longer you have accumulated pāramis to the same extent as you put forth your effort. The more you practise with proper attitude the purer your mind will be, and your defilement is gradually wearing away, as described by the Buddha in the Aṅguttara Nikāya:

‘Just as a carpenter or carpenter’s assistant sees on his adze-handle the marks made by his fingers and thumb, but does not thereby have the knowledge, “So much of the adze-handle was worn away by me today, so much yesterday, so much at another time, ” but merely has the knowledge that it is being worn away by its wearing away; in the same way, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu living devoted to the practice of mind-development does not have the knowledge, “So much of the taints was worn away today, so much yesterday, so much at another time.” But he has the knowledge that they are being worn away by their wearing away.

‘Just as a sea-going boat, stranded for six months on the shore by the tide in the winter, has its rigging spoilt by wind and sun, and then, warped by a shower of rain in the rainy season, easily weakens and rots away; in the same way, bhikkhus, for a bhikkhu living devoted to the practice of mind-development, the fetters easily weaken and rot away.’

Thus, you need not worry about when will you attain Nibbāna. As long as you keep on going in the right direction, you will attain the noble goal some day in the future, certainly. Furthermore, to know the Four Noble Truths is the very thing worthy of pursuit. Why? You can understand it from what the Buddha says in the Saṁyutta Nikāya, as follows:

‘Suppose, bhikkhus, a man whose life-span is a hundred years, who would live a hundred years, and they were to say to him: “Come, good, man, in the morning they will strike you with a hundred spears and again at midday and in the evening. Now, good man, you whose life-span is a hundred years, who will live a hundred years, being struck daily with three hundred spears, at the end of the hundred years will penetrate the Four Noble Truths not penetrated before.”

‘Even if it were to happen like that a son of good family, bhikkhus, influenced by what is of value, might well undergo the ordeal. For what reason? Unimaginable, bhikkhus, is the beginning of the round of rebirths. A starting point is not evident of the suffering endured from blows by spears, swords and axes. But, bhikkhus, I do not say that the penetration of the Four Noble Truths is accompanied by suffering and grief, it is accompanied by pleasure and happiness, I say. Therefore, bhikkhus, to realise, “This is suffering, ” an effort must be made. To realise, “This is the cause of suffering, ” an effort must be made. To realise, “This is the cessation of suffering, ” an effort must be made. To realise, “This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering, ” an effort must be made.’

In order to illustrate further as to why it is worthwhile to spend our whole life to practise the threefold training of virtuous conduct, concentration and wisdom, I shall quote another sutta from the Saṁyutta Nikāya:

At one time the Exalted One was staying near Sāvatthi, at the Jeta Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then the Exalted One, taking up a little dust on the tip of his nail, said: ‘What do you think, bhikkhus, which is greater? This little dust on the tip of my nail or the great earth?’

‘This great earth is surely greater, Sir. Compared with it the little dust does not amount to a hundredth part, a thousandth part, a hundred thousandth part, set beside the great earth.’

‘Even so, bhikkhus, for a noble disciple who has right view, for a person possessing realisation, this is the greater suffering: that which is completely finished and exhausted. Insignificant is what is left over set beside the former heap of suffering that is completely finished and exhausted; it does not amount to a hundredth part, a thousandth part, a hundred thousandth part, because he will be born again merely seven times at the most.

‘So great a gain, bhikkhus, is realisation of the Dhamma; so great a gain is to obtain Dhamma-vision.’

Thus, every meditator should try his best to attain at least the path and fruition of stream-entry. If he succeeds in attaining them then his precious birth as a human being and the rare opportunity of hearing the true Dhamma are not spent in vain. He will then be no longer subject to rebirth in any of the four woeful states, namely, hell, animal world, peta world, and asura world, and will surely attain final liberation in future.

Even just to attain worldly success one has to work hard. What then to be said of the lofty attainment of supramundane state? Certainly much more effort is needed. You should remember that even some great disciples of the Buddha had to practise very hard to attain liberation. For example, the Venerable Ratthapala practised for twelve long years which is described in the Ratthapala Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya as ‘before long’; the Venerable Rahula, the Buddha’s only son, too, had to strive for thirteen years before his attainment of Arahantship. And who are we to be disappointed with meditation after just a few days or a few months of practice? To attain the lofty supramundane benefit we need to put forth the greatest effort, as what the Buddha says in the Nidāna-Vagga of the Saṁyutta Nikāya:

‘It is not by that which is low, bhikkhus, that the highest is attained; it is by the highest that the highest is attained. Most excellent is the holy life. The Teacher has come to you face to face. Therefore stir up energy, bhikkhus, to gain what had not been gained, to attain what has not been attained, to realise what has not been realised. Then this our living the world will not prove a barren thing, but fruitful and productive of results. So too, the requisites that we enjoy – robe, alms, lodging, medicine in sickness – trifling as they are, will be very fruitful for us, very profitable. For thus, bhikkhus, you must train yourselves: perceiving his own benefit a man should exert himself tirelessly, perceiving the benefit to others, he should exert himself tirelessly, perceiving the benefit to both he should exert himself tirelessly.’

Thus, for our own benefit and that of others we must continue to strive in this noble quest with perseverance, and never give up until our last breath in this life.

Now, let me end my talk with a verse from the Dhammapada:

‘Though one should live a hundred years without wisdom and control, yet better, indeed, is a single day’s life of one who is wise and meditative.’

May you live a virtuous, wise and meditative life.