Introduction
The King of Magadha, Ajatasattu Vedehiputta, delighted by the beautiful moonlit night, decides to visit a holy man and listen to his inspired teachings. He asks his attendants for advice: which hermit should he honor with a visit? They suggest visiting various venerable teachers, but the king remains silent after listening to their advice. Noticing that one of his attendants remains silent, the king asks him for advice. The attendant suggests that the king visit the Buddha.
The king receives this recommendation with delight, and he orders a magnificent royal procession on elephants, consisting of the king, the royal wives, and the royal attendants, to be assembled immediately to visit the hermit.
However, upon approaching the mango grove where the Blessed One (Buddha) resides, the king suddenly experiences anxiety and fear. He asks his attendant: "Are you delivering me into the hands of an enemy? "How can there be no noise from such a large gathering of monks surrounding the Buddha?" But the attendant reassures the king, and, approaching the Buddha, seated among the gathering of monks, the king is delighted by the atmosphere of peace and quiet that reigns in this place. He enthusiastically wishes for his son to have the same peace that reigns in this place.
Having exchanged kind greetings with the Buddha, the king asks his question.
Ajatasattu Vedehiputta's Question
The king lists various crafts, from warrior to bathhouse attendant and wreath weaver, and points out that all those engaged in these crafts live off the fruits of their trade, delight themselves and their friends with them, feed themselves and their loved ones with these fruits, and make offerings. The fruits of their labor are visible. Is it possible to similarly point out the visible fruits of hermitage in this world?
The Buddha's Counter-Questions
The Buddha expresses a desire to answer this question, but first asks the king to answer a counter-question: had the king previously asked other hermits this same question? And if so, what were their answers?
The king answers in the affirmative and lists a series of conversations in which he asked the same question to the hermits. He mentions the same names that his confidants mentioned when asked about the name of the hermit who was worth honoring with a visit. And now it becomes clear why the king remained silent in response. The reason is that the conversations with these hermits did not bring the king satisfaction. He says that, while talking with them, he felt like a man who, having asked about mango fruits, receives an answer about breadfruit, or like a man who, having asked about breadfruit, receives an answer about mango fruits. One of the hermits in response began to reason about the insignificance of any action; another — about the purification of the mind during the transition from one state to another; a third — about the destruction of the "I"; a fourth — about the existence of the elements and the non-existence of interaction between them; a fifth — about asceticism; The sixth answered evasively, like a slippery fish. Having described his disappointment with these conversations, the king repeats the original question, asking the Buddha to answer.
The Buddha replies: one can point to the visible fruit of hermitage. And he poses a new counter-question to the king. Suppose the king had a slave, diligent and devoted, and this slave said to himself: “My master is a human being, and I am just as human. But my master lives in the luxury of the gods, while I spend all day in toil. Why shouldn’t I accumulate the same merit as my master?” Then this slave renounces the world, dons the robes of a mendicant hermit, and wanders with a shaved head (in India, a slave could leave his master by becoming a hermit). If this former slave were to meet the king again, would the king command him as if he were still a slave?
The king's answer: not at all. On the contrary, he will receive all the respect and assistance due to hermits.
Buddha: Isn't this the first visible fruit of hermitage?
Tsar: Yes, it is.
The Buddha then repeats the same investigation with regard to a farmer and householder who pays taxes to the king. Again, it turns out that as a hermit, the farmer and householder will receive greater freedom and respect. But the king asks for fruits that are more beautiful, more sublime, surpassing those indicated by the Buddha. And the Buddha continues his explanation, this time speaking of the visible fruits of hermitage, which are attained by the followers of the Awakened Arhat.
Visible fruits of hermitage attained by the followers of the Arhat
Initially, the arahant's follower attains a sense of moral security. This occurs because the hermit maintains moral purity, does not commit violence against the world around him or desire power over it, and does not desire profit or honor. Thus, he feels protected from the harm and disturbance caused by these desires. The visible fruit here is tranquility, the happiness of the hermit, protected from the evil qualities of his own mind. The Buddha compares this happiness to the happiness of a king anointed to the throne and freed from his enemies. Further, the Buddha lists several qualities that accompany the attainment of a state of moral security.
Control over the senses, due to which greed, dissatisfaction and other unskillful qualities do not develop in the consciousness of the hermit;
Self-awareness and thoughtfulnessassociated with observing the body and its activities;
Contentmentthat comes from restraint.
The Buddha then describes the fruits of concentration practice, which overcomes the five obstacles: greed, ill will, stagnation, restlessness and anguish, and doubt. These fruits are described in allegories:
deliverance from greed is compared to a man who, having taken out a loan, opened a business, and this business, having prospered, gave him the opportunity to pay off his debts and support himself and his wife;
Deliverance from ill-will is like the state of a person who is being healed from a serious illness, and the food is good for him, and strength appears in the body;
deliverance from stagnation is the state of a prisoner who is released from confinement healthy and unharmed, and has not lost any of his property;
deliverance from restlessness and anguish: like the state of a slave who was dependent on the orders of others, but became free and has the right to go wherever he wants;
Deliverance from doubt is like the state of a rich man who, with his property, traveled, in hunger and fear, through difficult places, but finally reached the edge of the village.
The Buddha describes the state of a person who has overcome the five obstacles as joy in the heart, a mind filled with happiness, and a body relaxed and filled with bliss. Further, the Buddha uses four metaphors to explain the four stages of deepening concentration ( the four jhanas, dhyanas):
The Buddha compares the first stage, in which the intent mind subjugates the activity of the senses, to the skill of a bathhouse attendant who makes a ball of soap from soap powder by sprinkling it with water on all sides, so that no area remains unsaturated. Thus, the senses are completely saturated with reason, embraced by it as a unified whole.
The second stage, in which the concentration of the heart, which governs the activity of the mind, is attained, is compared to a lake formed by a fountain of underground water. This lake is independent of external sources of water, be it rivers or rain.
The third stage, the stage of equanimity, which governs concentration in the heart, is likened to blue and red lotuses born in a pond, situated in the pond, saturated with the pond's moisture, and fully expressing the pond's pleasant coolness. Such is the state of the meditator, free from the fluctuations of the mind.
The fourth stage, pure awareness, which encompasses the state of equanimity, is compared to a meditator who sits with his entire body wrapped in white clothing, so that there is no part of the body that is not covered by the white clothing. Similarly, awareness completely envelops the meditator's state.
Continuing his explanation of the fruits attained by the meditator, the Buddha lists various supernatural powers ( siddhis). First, the meditator
creates an illusory body endowed with perfect qualities. The qualities of the illusory body are manifested in many ways:
the ability to manifest in many bodies and collect them back into one body; to be visible (in it) and invisible; to pass through walls and obstacles; to descend into the earth and rise from it, as if from water; to walk on water as if on earth; to sit cross-legged and ascend into the sky; to touch the sun and moon with one's hand.
Next, the Buddha considers the various siddhis:
clairaudience – the ability to hear the sounds of the world of gods;
knowledge that encompasses the heart, the ability to comprehend the qualities of the thoughts of other beings (the qualities of skillfulness and unskillfulness). Just as a person looking into a vessel of water sees his own face and its qualities, so the meditator comprehends the knowledge of the hearts of other beings;
recollection of past lives and knowledge of future births;
Finally, the Buddha speaks of attaining a state in which the second birth (the need to return to samsara) is destroyed, vows are fulfilled, everything that needs to be done is done, there is nothing after this state (more beautiful and sublime than this state).
The Reaction of King Ajatasatta
After listening to the Buddha's teachings, the king develops confidence in them, and suddenly it becomes clear what had prompted him to so persistently seek an explanation for his question. The king confesses to the Buddha the crime he committed while blinded by lust for power and greed. Ajatasatta killed his father for the throne. It becomes clear why, impressed by the peace of the monastic community, the king desires the same peace for his son—for he fears that his son will do the same to Ajatasatta himself. Therefore, the king sought a teaching that could allay his fear and thirst.
When the king, having taken refuge in the Triple Gem, leaves the Buddha, the latter explains to the monks that if the king had not committed such a grave crime, then after this conversation he would have gained a vision of the truth.
