Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

^0 T H E D R U M 06Once...when I was at the Sarandada Shrine in Vesali, I taught theVajjians these seven principles for preventing decline, and as long asthey keep to these seven principles, as long as these principles remainin force, the Vajjians may be expected to prosper and not decline.The Buddha also directly related the “seven principles” to the harmoniousfunctioning of the spiritual fraternity. Briefly stated, thatadvice was the following: to meet frequently; to meet in harmony, carryout business in harmony, and depart in harmony; to refrain from authorizingwhat had not been authorized, and not to abolish what had beenauthorized; to honour and respect the elders, and listen to their advice;to maintain good conduct with regard to women; to honour and respecttheir holy places; and to look after spiritual sages. These “seven principles,”the Buddha assured the chief minister of Magadha, would makethe Vajjians impossible to defeat should Ajatasattu, the aggressive kingof Magadha, wage war on them. For the Sangha, the Buddha modifiedthese principles to include exhortations to live simply in the forest, tosustain mindfulness, to avoid getting caught up in building projects, toavoid too much social chitchat, to share whatever one had with fellowsamanas, and so on. With this way of living, the Buddha reminded hisdisciples, the Sangha might be expected to prosper and not to decline.With these principles established, and the many teachings he had given,the Buddha felt that he could pass away, with encouragement to his disciplesto “live as lanterns unto yourselves, with no one else as your refuge, withthe Dhamma as your lantern and refuge, with no other refuge.”Soon after the Buddha’s demise, the Vajjians were conquered byAjatasattu. Paying heed to the Buddha’s words to them, the kingemployed a strategy of infiltrating agents who stirred up discordamongst the Licchavis. With their harmony gone, they were easy prey.However, the Sangha is still around, at least in an outward form; theVinaya’s requirement that the Sangha discusses its business in an assemblyand makes its decisions by unanimous consent has held it together.1 5 1