Mettavalokanaya_Buddhist_Magazine_March_2019

“The gain
to all with
respectafully”….
Gain,
Honour and
Praise….
According to the Labha Sakkara
Sutta, “At Savatthi... ‘Bhikkhus,
dreadful are gain, honor, and
praise; bitter, vile, obstructive
to achieving the un-surpassed security
from bondage. Suppose a fisherman
would cast a baited hook deep into a lake,
and a fish on the lookout for food would
swallow it. That fish, having swallowed
the fisherman’s hook, would meet with
calam-ity and disaster, and the fisherman
could do with it as he wishes. “‘Bhikkhus,
‘fisherman’ is a designation for Mara the
Evil One. ‘Baited hook” is a designation
for gain, honor, and praise. Any bhikkhu
who relishes and enjoys the aris-en gain,
honor, and praise is called a bhikkhu
who has swallowed the hook, who has
met with calamity and dis-aster, and the
Evil One can do with him as he wishes.1
“‘Bhikkhus, once in the past there was a
large family of turtles that had been living
for a long time in a certain lake. Then one
turtle said to another: ‘Dear turtle – do
not go to such and such a region.’ “’But
that turtle went to that region anyway,
and a hunter struck him with a corded
harpoon. “’Then that turtle approached
the first one, and when he saw him
coming in the distance he said to him:
‘I hope, dear turtle, that you didn’t go
to that region.’ “‘I did go to that region,
dear.’ “‘I hope you haven’t been hit or
struck, dear.’
“‘I haven’t been hit or struck, but
there is this cord constantly following
behind me.’ “‘Indeed you’ve been
struck! Your father and grandfa-ther
also met with calamity and disaster on
account of such a cord. Go now, dear
turtle, you are no longer one of us.’
“‘Bhikkhus, ‘hunter’ is a designation for
Mara the Evil One. ‘Corded harpoon’
is a designation for gain, honor, and
praise. ‘Cord’ is a designation for delight
and lust. Any bhikkhu who relishes and
enjoys the arisen gain, honor, and praise
is called a bhikkhu who has been struck
with a corded harpoon, or who has met
with calamity and disas-ter, and the
Evil One can do with him as he wishes.
“‘So dreadful, bhikkhus, are gain, honor,
and praise; so bitter, vile, obstructive
to achieving the unsurpassed se-curity
from bondage. Therefore, bhikkhus,
you should train yourselves thus: ‘We
will abandon the arisen gain, honor, and
praise, and we will not let the arisen gain,
honor, and praise persist obsessing our
minds.’”2 Ananda recites several more
discourses until dana, which is being
hosted by King Ajatasattu’s wife, Queen
Vajira. She is the mother of his son,
Prince Udayibhadda, and the daughter
of King Pasenadi of Kosala.
When the senior arahants
approach the dana pavilion they notice
the profusion of floral arrangements that
abound throughout the enclosure. It is
as if the queen has brought the entire
contents of her palace garden to grace
her offering to the monks. The flowers
are of every hue and va-riety, and there
are even individual bouquets in front of
each of the five hundred seats for the
arahants. Special arrangements of pure
white lotus flowers are also placed on the
banana leaf plates of the nine members
of the sub-committee. Maha Kassapa,
Ananda, and other elders approach the
hall where the queen stands with her
group of female attendants to greet
them. “Is there a single flower left
blooming in your garden?” asks Maha
Kassapa as he approaches the regal
personage of the queen, who is dressed
in a flowing white sari trimmed in gold.
“Not one, Venerable Sir,” answers the
Queen as she bows low to pay her
respects.
“My husband the king requested
that I offer every blossom to his
esteemed guests to express his gratitude
for showing him such great compassion
two days ago. For the first time in years
he was able to sleep well last evening,
after having spent the previous night
alone on top of this mountain. He said
that his spirit has been refreshed by
the experience of participating in your
candid discussion, and he wanted me to
tell you that he is re-inspired to dedicate
the rest of his life to making his kingdom
bloom for the greater glory of the
Sasana.” Maha Kassapa and the other
arahants smile at the queen, pleased
that King Ajatasattu has benefitted from
his excruciating emotional or-deal before
the sub-committee. “King Ajatasattu has
become a good man,” begins Ananda,
“and I am sure that he will become an
even better king, given his new understanding.”
The queen bows in thanks
for the kind compliment to her troubled
husband. The arahants are escorted to
their seats and Maha Kassapa begins the
chants of blessing. That evening in the
chairman’s torch-lit cave chamber the
nine members of the sub-committee and
ten memory monks gather to con-tinue
their work.
“I’m glad you chose to spare King
Ajatasattu from this part of the Devadatta
discussion,” says Ananda to Maha
Kassapa. “I felt that he could be spared
the ending of this tale, given what he
went through two days ago,” responds
the chairman. “Besides, apart from
assisting Devadatta in two misguided
attempts to murder the Buddha, the king
had little to do with the way it ended.”
“Perhaps I should preface this discussion
with a quote from the Devadatta Sutta,
which foreshadows his demise,” says
Ananda. “Please proceed, Venerable
Sir,” says Maha Kassapa. Ananda pauses
for a moment and then begins: “’As
its own fruit brings destruction To the
plantain, bamboo, and reed, As its
embryo destroys the mule, So do honors
destroy the scoundrel.’” 3 “That verse
so completely describes the fate of
Devadatta after he succumbed to gain,
honor, and praise, just as the fish by the
fishhook and the turtle by the corded
harpoon,” says Punna. After a moment
Maha Kassapa says, “Going back to our
recollec-tions, Devadatta was frustrated
and enraged by the Buddha’s public
re-fusal to allow him to take charge of
the Sangha. Before he carried out his
murderous attempts on the Buddha’s
life he tried one last time to gain honor,
praise, and power, which resulted in a
schism in the Sangha.”
“I heard that Devadatta consulted
with a number of religious lead-ers from
other sects that are still popular in this
area. Many of them have harsh rules
for members of their orders; one of
them even forbids walk-ing on the grass
because it might kill harmless insects.
I think that’s how he came up with the
idea that imposing new and constricting
rules on the monks might gain him a
greater following,” said Punna. “His
ego was the sort that demanded there
always be followers behind him.” “Even
though he was no longer really welcome
in the Sangha, Devadatta actually had
the nerve to approach the Buddha again
– and to make five new demands,” says
Upali. “They were proposed additions
to the Vinaya code of discipline that
he used as a ruse in his attempt to divide
the Order.” “Since this area is your
specialty, Upali, why don’t you tell us
about those five demands, as well as
the Buddha’s responses,” requests
Maha Kassapa. Upali sits up straight
and begins, “Devadatta’s first request
was that monks should live in a forest
hermitage all their lives. He said that
any monk who lives in a monastery near
a village would be guilty of an offense.4
“His second request was that all monks
should only eat food they collected on
alms rounds; any monk who accepted
an invitation from lay people would be
guilty of an offense. “The third new rule
was that all monks should only wear
robes made from old rags sewn together.
He proposed that a monk who ac-cepts
new robes offered by laypeople would
be committing an offense. “Devadatta’s
fourth new rule was that all monks
should always dwell at the base of trees,
and that any monk who goes and lives in
a monastery would be guilty of breaking
the code of discipline.
USA
Chief Sangha Nayake Thero
of America and President
of USA & Canada Sanga
Council, Chief Abbot &
President of Dharma Vijaya
Buddhist Vihara, Los Angeles,
California, USA.
Most Venerable Aggamaha
Pandita Dr. Walpola
Piyananda Thero
44 l Mettavalokanaya l March l 2019 l www.mettavalokanaya.com www.mettavalokanaya.com l 2019 l March l Mettavalokanaya l 45