Can the blind see better than those who can?

Inspired by the first verse of the Yammaka Vagga (The Twin Verses) of the Dhammapada - "Cakkhupalatthera Vatthu" - Suffering follows the evil-doer

Once upon a time, long long ago, in a place far far away, as all good stories say, at the confluence of two great rivers, below the tall mountains of the Himalayas, before the vast plains of the lands of irrigated crops, was the ashrama of Rangabhashya, the great muni. It was here that more than a thousand monks resided to study under the guidance of the great muni. This was the most sacred of all places when one traveled below the Himalayas, the Munisangama Ashrama. There were other smaller associated ashrams nearby, and these were also under the guidance of the senior monks of Rangabhashya, who had decided at different times, that these monks could go ahead and establish their own gurukuls and residential ashrams.

Most seekers of knowledge came from all over the great land of the Sindhu and the Ganges, from all the big and small kingdoms south of the Himalayas, and from the lands to the west of the great rivers of the Sindhu, and from the lands to the east of the great seas after the mighty Ganges met the Sea near Navadvipa. It was said that Rangabhashya taught from all the major schools of knowledge that was prevalent at that time, but would retreat by himself to be a student when the Most Enlightened One would teach at the nearby monasteries.

The Most Enlightened One would visit the nearby monasteries each year while he traveled to and from the Jetavana Monastery near Sravasti for his annual retreat from the great University along with more than two thousand monks and other students. He taught about the New Way, the aspect of the understanding that provided a new perspective and helped many to start again in their search for knowledge and understanding. Most munis and rishis from other schools of knowledge wondered about the new way, and were keen to know if it ascribed more powers to certain gods or to certain temples and if it denied any approach to their own way of life. This was not so with the great Rangabhashya, who had known about the Most Enlightened One from during his earlier quest to understand the mystery of life and death and the larger world around all humanity.

The Most Enlightened One had halted at a nearby Ashrama, more than thirty monsoons ago, and had sought out the great teachers, and had heard all that they could teach and yet, he had emerged all the more hungry for more knowledge. And then had come the news that there had emerged from nowhere, the same seeker of knowledge, with a new approach to life and living, humanity and approaches to godliness, spirituality and responsibilities that one and all had declared that he was the Most Enlightened One. And he had visited the various ashramas and monasteries nearby, and the great Rangabhashya, had on his own accord joined the other great teachers and welcomed the Most Enlightened One with the honours that would put a King or Emperor to shame. For it was indeed said, that, it was the seeker of knowledge who deserved more honour than a King or Emperor.

The great muni was eagerly awaiting the Most Enlightened One to visit the nearby monastery during the coming monsoon. The senior most munis at the ashrama were very curious at the extent of respect that the great Rangabhashya offered to the Most Enlightened One. They knew that the Most Enlightened One was teaching a different aspect and method to seek knowledge, and that it was almost the paradox of the aspects of knowledge that the great Rangabhashya had himself taught them. They decided to ask the great muni as to why did he accord so much respect to one who taught a different way of knowledge.

The eldest among them, the Muni Nagabhushana and the Muni Shantarama, asked this of the great Rangabhashya, “O great teacher, we bow to you, and offer our respects. We have a question that has been bothering us. With your permission, we would like to ask this from you and seek your guidance.” The great muni smiled, and said, “Of course. But is it only the two of you or is it that the others are afraid to ask the same question of me? Call everyone and let everyone hear.”

The various senior munis assembled in front of the gyaanasthala, the teaching area, of the great Rangabhashya and awaited his presence. The Muni Nagabhushana accompanied the great muni and escorted him to the gyaanasthala, and bade him with great respect to be seated. All the senior munis bowed low to offer their respects and recited the four compulsory prayers before they could request the great muni to speak. Soon it was time, and yet, before they could speak out, it was the great muni who spoke without anyone asking him.

He said, “O munis of this great land below the Himalayas, you who have come from many lands and have been living here for so many years, monsoons and winters alike, I know that you are curious about why I proceed eagerly to learn from the Most Enlightened One, when he visits the nearby monastery. I know that you wonder why I listen to him speak about his new way, when it was he who had visited many great teachers and ashramas before he had decided to continue to search for a new approach to knowledge.”

“He, the Most Enlightened One, has sought knowledge, and when it was given to him by other masters, he had the courage, ability and perseverance to question what he was given. He did not disrespect those who offered him the knowledge, and he did not avoid the strict adherence to the various methods of abstinence. And yet, he did not accept without enquiry, and thereby he remained in wait, for that pure knowledge that I continue to await, as a student, though one and all, you munis at this ashrama, prefer to think of knowledge as that I was able to teach you.”

“And yet, the Most Enlightened One, even upon being able to understand the purest of knowledge, the core of all humanity and its understanding of godliness, he is able to walk among us, with his followers, his sangha, and yet, he is able to convince others without spreading rancour, and is able to discuss with one and all masters of knowledge, without making them want to escape him,” continued the great Rangabhashya, “The Most Enlightened One is able to teach us without comment on what we understand to be knowledge, he is able to share with us without any fear of corruption of our knowledge, and is able to make us understand of what he means to be the most pure of knowledge.”

Not able to contain himself, the Muni Shantarama asked, “O great teacher of our ashrama, you are our only guru, and the only path for us in our life, and we are curious. What is this pure knowledge that you speak of? Are we not seekers too? Are we not in search of the same goal? Do we not try to search for the same aspect of humanity in relation to godliness? You are known as the greatest of all munis in this part of the world, and we know that there are none others, except a very few, who can be better than you in the aspect of knowledge and that of sharing it. And you tell us that the Most Enlightened One is able to teach that aspect of knowledge that you did not know of? What is that aspect that you were not able to learn earlier?”

The great Rangabhashya smiled, and said, “O Shantarama, you are one of my oldest students. I love you as much as I love Nagabhushana. You are my sons, rather than my students, and it is all the more satisfying that you ask questions of me. Is it not that my teaching has been incomplete then? That you question me so? It is the mind within you that questions the knowledge that you have received. The mind precedes all knowables, O Shantarama. The aspect of the mind being purer than the knowledge that you receive is not something that I learnt in my quest for knowledge of so many long years.”

“It was the Most Enlightened One who has taught that one should try and search for knowledge within one’s own mind. For it is said, within our own aspects of knowledge, that to assume that one knows something is to subscribe to bondage of that knowledge. For we accept that what we know, is true. All truth is not true. What we see is not that given to us due to our sight. What we do not see is not because we close our eyes. We may not see something, and yet we may assume it to be true because of knowledge that we have gained. We see something happening, but the knowledge that we have, prevents us from questioning it.”

The Muni Nagabhushana queried, “O great master, pray permit me to ask of you a question. How would one not be able to be responsible for what one sees, and how can one actually be responsible for what one does not see? Can one be held responsible for committing a wrong, if one was not aware of what the consequences would be, and can one be wrong, if by a corrupt action done to help someone, and being aware of the wrongful thought, one does it for achieving the correct result? How would one answer this from what has been taught by the Most Enlightened One, in all the talks at the various monasteries each year, on aspects that are very different from what you teach us?”

The great Rangabhashya replied, “It is not the aspect of assuming that you know an action to be correct or wrong. How can you know? Who are you to decide? What is correct for you now, can be wrong later. What is correct for someone else can be wrong for you, at the same moment of time. So who is correct? The Most Enlightened One spoke of this. They are among those who are the most privileged of those who could hear him speak of such a most difficult aspect of knowledge, in the utmost simplicity. He spoke of it, as one would teach a child. For it is easy to speak of such complex issues through the most complex lesson and expect the student to be smarter than the teacher. Thus, does the teacher escape responsibility of the task of making the student understand what it was that was taught.”

“The Most Enlightened One spoke of a blind monk, Cakkhupala, who had come to visit him when he was residing at the Jetavana Monastery at Sravasti, from a distant land. Knowing him to be blind, and yet to seek knowledge, and to travel across great distances, caused the Most Enlightened One to be affectionate to him and treat him with more obvious kindness. Others who were close to the Most Enlightened One did not appreciate this, and yet they stayed their speech. They were not happy that the Most Enlightened One was kinder and affectionate to the blind Cakkhupala without any obvious disclosure or explanation.”

“They followed the blind monk, Cakkhupala, wherever he went about in the Jetavana Monastery, and one night they saw that he was immersed in his meditation at a certain spot, and that he was pacing up and down at that location. In the morning, when they went to the very location, they found some dead insects on the ground and on the very path that the blind monk had been pacing up and down while immersed in his meditation. These monks immediately presumed that there was opportunity in this happening and that they could complain to the Most Enlightened One of the behaviour of the blind monk. They came to the Most Enlightened One and complained that it was not appropriate of a monk to not be aware that he could have been harmful to these innocent insects, while pacing up and down a garden lawn at night, even if deep in meditation.”

“The Most Enlightened One had explained to the monks who complained, for even I had wondered if the blind monk, Cakkhupala, was at fault. It was not so, he had explained, and said that it was a fact that the other monks had not seen the blind monk kill the insects. Similarly, the blind monk was not aware that he had killed the insects. And more so, the blind monk was not intent-bound on an action to cause the death of the insects, and he had had no intention to do so. It is the intention to be wrong, and it is the intention to be corrupt that causes sorrow due to action, and this is brought about in the mind, inspite of knowledge. And once the action is thought out, sown and further action is reaped, does sorrow – dukha – follow just as the wheels of an ox-cart follow the oxen with each step that it takes forward. It is essential that one is aware of one’s actions, and does not cause those actions to come out of wrongful thoughts or corrupt intentions. So, taught the Most Enlightened One.”

The oxen that pulls the cart

Inspired by the first verse of the Yammaka Vagga (The Twin Verses) of the Dhammapada - "Cakkhupalatthera Vatthu" - Suffering follows the evil-doer

Once upon a time, long long ago, in a place far far away, as all good stories say, in the old village of Satyagriha, very near the town of Sravasti of known fame due to the travels and stay of the Most Enlightened One in these regions, lived a kind and benevolent merchant, Dayaluprema. He had lived his life in the manner required and more, and was thus blessed with dutiful children and their spouses and grandchildren. He had never had a single day of disagreement with the mother of his children, the very kind and generous Bhaavanamata. He had several busineses, including a grain-shop and a dairy farm where he had acquired fame in the region for having been able to breed select varieties of cattle, such as cows for milk and oxen for difficult work.

Dayaluprema was known in the entire region as having a good hand in the aspect of breeding and taking care of cows and oxen and he also had a good business of selling milk at Sravasti. He had also prospered in his grain shop business more so because of his willingness to help the poor and needy, and his readiness to feed the devout at the local temples and also to give alms to the bhikkhus from the holy sanghas that visited his village or the nearby ones.

Dayaluprema fetched the food grains and other stock from various markets and villages around Satyagriha. He would also sell at Sravasti if the price was right and make a healthy profit. He was known to pass on his profit back to the poor farmers who would trust him to fetch a proper price for their produce. In fetching the grains back and forth from the villages, Dayaluprema had an employee called Krodhachalaka, an ox-cart driver, who would take the cart to the various villages and return to Satyagriha and at times travel to Sravasti. Krodhachalaka was a miserable, rude and very violent man, who was always known to be shouting out in the market, scolding the farmers if they would load the produce by taking too much time, and would always use the whip on the two oxen that pulled the ox-cart.

I can tell you many a story about Dayaluprema and Krodhachalaka, and I will do so at a later time. This story is however about the two oxen that pulled the ox-cart that was driven by Krodhachalaka. These oxen were from Dayaluprema’s cattle sheds at Satyagriha and were bron of the cows there. The oxen yoked to Krodhachalaka’s cart were born of two sister-cows in Dayaluprema’s cattle-shed. They were from within an affectionate group of cows and oxen, all related to each other, and were all very fond of Dayaluprema and Bhaavanamata, because of their benevolent nature.

Of the two oxen, one was named Daana, while the other was named Baana. Nearly ten years of age now, the two oxen were very devoted to Dayaluprema and Bhaavanamata. They were always eager to return to the house of Dayaluprema and the cattle sheds. After a hard day’s task of pulling the very heavily laden cart, the two oxen would look forward to relaxing at the cattle shed where they could share the stories of their travels with their mothers and sisters who rarely got an opportunity to venture outside. However, both Daana and Baana took good care to avoid telling their mothers and sisters about the anger and violent behaviour of Krodhachalaka, their cart driver. There would be nothing to gain from making their mothers and sisters sad about their work.

Other oxen and horses and mules at the grain markets saw the ill-treatment, the harsh words, the use of the whip and the stick by Krodhachalaka on Daana and Baana. And, so it was, that it was their own cousin oxen, Seendha and Chottu, yoked to another one of Dayaluprema’s carts, who repeatedly saw the punishment meted out on Daaana and Bhaana. They knew that their brothers would never speak of it to their mothers and sister cows at the cattle sheds of Dayaluprema. But Seendha felt extremely sad at the behaviour of Krodhachaalaka.

Once, at the grain market, Seendha took courage and walked up to Daana and Baana who had been tied to a wooden post near the market well. He came up to his elder brother-oxen and said, “O brother-oxen of my mother’s sister, I know you both to be quite courageous. I know you both to be righteous. I know you both to be faithful to your job. But it pains my heart to see the two of you being whipped by the cart-driver, Krodhachalaka, for no fault of yours. And all the other oxen, horses and mules at this market, see this sort of behaviour daily and yet may not become angry. They do not know you as I do, and I am your younger brother. It pains my heart. Do something, O eldest brother-oxen of us, O Daana. What will our mothers say when they hear of this ill-treatment?”

Daana was a wise ox, and he did see the anguish in his youngest brother-ox, Seendha’s eyes, and went up to him, rubbed alongside him in affection, and said “O youngest brother-ox, Seendha, you are a wise soul and a very noble creature. It is said that once, when you were quite young, just a calf, the Most Enlightened One, who was passing by with his sangha, patted you in appreciation of the fact that you were following him and his monks. You are truly blessed. But, it is not enough that one was close enough to a teacher, one needs to remain steadfast to one’s duties and to one’s responsibilities. It is in Krodhachalaka’s burden that he carries, that he will forever be adding to his burden, with every show of anger, and every stroke of that whip.”

Seendha replied with an impatient toss of his head, “O eldest brother-ox, the Most Enlightened One may have patted me, and I may be truly blessed because of that, but that does not give me freedom from feeling sad, dukha, at what is happening to the both of you, every day at the hands of the mad Krodhachalaka. How long will this continue? I think, tonight, when they would unyoke you from the cart at our cattle-shed, you both can seek blessings of our mothers and escape from this misery. Pretend to be lame or sick. Go away somewhere, for some time, until our master removes this Krodhachalaka, or gets him new oxen. Go and seek your freedom from this ox-cart, from your responsibility to pull this ox-cart.”

The monk, Jaiprakasa Muni, was seated nearby, under the shade of a mango tree. He could understand the language spoken by all domestic creatures, and was also able to talk to them. He had been seated there for quite some time, awaiting the passing of the noon sun, so that he could go into the village to beg for his alms and food. He had seen the angry Krodhachalaka whip the two oxen for no fault of theirs, and he had noted that it was the manner in which the ox-cart driver was adding to his own burden of sorrow by the manner of his attitude and of the harm and sadness and pain that he was causing to the oxen that served him. He was also pleasantly surprised that the eldest brother-ox was so very amazingly perceptive to stay steadfast to his responsibilities. The monk, Jaiprakasa Muni, went near the oxen, and blessed them.

He said, to the oxen, “O soul-brothers of many lives, and blood-brothers of this life of yours, hear me out, for I am blessed that I can speak to all those creatures who work in toil to help humans in their aspect of misery, happiness, evil, goodness and greed and of noble cause. You are to be the textbook from which humanity should have learnt, for it is the ultimate paradox that the cart-driver, Krodhachalaka, is not able to learn. For it is true, that as real as it may be that you are steadfast in your perception of responsibilities, it is also true that you cannot escape the cart, and the whip of the cart-driver, whenever you are tied to the ox-cart. For it is true, that the farther that you walk to escape the cart, the wheels will always be behind you. Every step that you take ahead, the wheel will follow you.”

“It is sad that the cart-driver, Krodhachalaka, while driving the same cart every day, and watching the wheels of the cart follow you with each step, was not able to understand and recognize the aspect of the burden of your actions following you wherever you go, and the fact that given the opportunity of your freedom, you would not be able to escape it, for it is in your attitude to be faithful to your task, that you beget action, and that in turn follows you wherever you would go, whether in work, or if you tried to escape the circle of life. Thus, taught the Most Enlightened One.”

Dhammapada - Yammaka Vagga - Verse 1 - Cakkhupalatthera Vatthu

 

The Dhammapada

Yammaka Vagga

 

Verse 1

Cakkhupalatthera Vatthu

 

Manopubbangama dhamma
manosettha manomaya
manasa ce padutthena
bhasati va karoti va
tato nam dukkhamanveti
cakkamva vahato padam.

 

 

Verse 1

Suffering follows the evil-doer

Mind precedes all knowables,
mind's their chief, mind-made are they.
If with a corrupted mind
one should either speak or act
dukkha follows caused by that,
as does the wheel the ox's hoof.

The mind precedes all situations resulting from thought. Most actions are made from within the mind. If one initiates an action with an evil mind, suffering will follow just as the wheel follows the hoof-print of the ox that draws the cart. Evil thoughts lead to unfortunate circumstances, just as the ox cannot be free of the cart that it pulls. The verse is named after the blind monk, Cakkhupala, whose blindness was explained as the consequence of his having acted with an evil intention in a previous existence. The word ‘dukkha’ depicts suffering, especially mental trauma within the mind.

The story of the blind monk, Thera Cakkhupala was told by the Buddha as the parable to explain the verse depicted as the first of the Yammaka Vagga. I have included the story within another story in an attempt to try and understand. It is said that the Most Enlightened One told the story of Thera Cakkhupala while at the Jetavana Monastery at Sravasti, on a day when the discourse was being listened to by more than forty thousand of the Sangha, and that at the end, nearly thirty thousand bhikkhus attained arahat status together with patisambhida (analytical insight).        

The verse and the specific parable are sourced from the following references (28 October 2009) –

1. http://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=001

2. http://www.buddhanet.net/dhammapada/d_twin.htm

3. http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/index.htm - The Dhammapada. Translated from the Pali by F. Max Muller. 1881. Volume X – The Sacred Books of the East. The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Arahat or arahants = are described as buddhanubuddha, those who have attained enlightenment after the Buddha.

Bhikkhu (male), Bhikkhuni (female) = Ordained monks, usually Buddhist monks.

Stories inspired from the Dhammapada - An Introduction

The most amazing aspect of the verses of the Dhammapada is that they are very simple and easy to read. And yet, each time I read and re-read them, I find that I am unable to understand them in a simple and easy manner. Every day of our lives has different circumstances that change our understanding of the verses. I have therefore begun an attempt to write short stories to help me tryto remember the manner of understanding of the verses of the Dhammapada. I fear that if I would not do so, I would be denied the opportunity of walking ahead on the path of dhamma that has been given to us, for us to hold on to, and learn and understand.

I have also included a list of further reading to help everyone to begin this attempt to understand. One such reference mentions that each verse of the Dhammapada can “release potential mind energy that you never knew existed within you.” This is so amazingly said, and it is in fact, very simplistically, true. These basic tenets of the teachings are indeed a vast ocean of knowledge in the universe, and one has to, some day, make a beginning.

The Buddha frequently made use of easily understood simile-led verses in his discourses during the forty-five years of his teaching. The Dhammapada is the most valuable collection of his teachings later compiled in 423 verses in twenty-six chapters and has its own treasured position in the Pitaka. Each verse has been explained along with a short story by the Buddha, and sometimes it refers to the earlier births of the Most Enlightened One and on other occasions, refers to contemporary human society of those times.

The Pitaka, or the Tipitaka is the collection of the teachings of the Buddha in the Pali language and is divided into the “three baskets”, the Vinaya Pitaka, the Suttanta Pitaka and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Dhammapada is the second book of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Suttanta Pitaka and enshrines the very basic, most easily understandable tenets of Buddha’s teaching about the questions, riddles and parables of humanity, human life and attachments. The characters, well defined, within the stories accompanying the verses are on some occasions, to be found in both the Dhammapada and the Jatakamala. The collection of 540 poems, comprising the Jatakamala, is also found dispersed in the Khuddaka Nikaya and other books of the Tipitaka.

Each verse of the Dhammapada is a gem by itself. They are merely two phrases in four lines, usually witty, and yet a vast horizon of understanding. Each time that a verse is read, one begins to dive deeper and deeper in the magic and marvel of the context of the human condition that is depicted. The Buddha has emphasized the relevance of knowing one’s mind within all responses, action and speech and helps us understand that there are unstoppable consequences to our reactions, deeds and the spoken word. Each verse extends a truth (dhamma) by the Buddha, as a simple understanding of the human mind and the cause and effect of action and reaction.

The earliest translation of the Dhammapada from Pali into English by Max Muller in 1870 is available. Similarly, there are various translations in other languages that are equally proficient and excellent in their attempt at understanding the Dhammapada. I have referred to some of the most respected and authorized versions of the Dhammapada and the translations of the verses in helping me with this work.

I have merely attempted to present the stories that I have been inspired to write, after an attempt to try to understand the teachings from the verses of the Dhammapada. It is entirely possible that I am totally wrong in my understanding. I would be most happy to know that I am wrong, for it would only require of me to read the verses again and again and again. Nothing would be more fulfilling. These are merely stories, and there is no attempt here to convey any actual quotation or parable from the Most Enlightened One, except for the Dhammapada verses.

I have retained the presence of the Most Enlightened One in the stories that I have adapted from the versions thus written by more learned and studied authors of the Tipitaka and the Dhammapada. This has been attempted with the best of efforts to be faithful to the manner in which the earlier story has been presented by these expert authors. Except for such stories, most other stories in this series are totally original. The mention and linkage to the Buddha within these newly written tales are enabled through the references that I have found. There could of course, be more references. There is so much more to learn. There is so little time. Start. And, start again.