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By Jayaram V
In the seventy ninth year of his life, when the Buddha
knew that the
end of his corporeal existence was approaching, he made a
pronouncement declaring the conditions that were ideal for the survival and
welfare of the Buddhist Order.
These injunctions were meant to ensure that the monks in
his absence would not deviate from the Eightfold path and degenerate into
heretics. He knew that the welfare of each monk and the future of his
teachings depended entirely upon the functioning of the Order and its ability
to maintain strict discipline among the followers. These instructions
therefore carry a great relevance for the followers of the Buddha even today.
Some of these instructions are enumerated below:
The monks
1. Shall not delight in solitude.
2. Shall not engage themselves, take interest in or
connected with any business.
3. Shall not stop on their way to Nirvana because they
have attained some lesser success.
4. Shall exercise themselves in mental activity , search
after truth, energy, joy, peace, earnest contemplation, and equanimity of
mind.
5. Shall engage themselves in the realization of the
transient nature of all phenomenal things, whether mental or physical and the
absence of soul.
6. Shall spend their time, both in private and in public
in the company of Arhats, practising the virtues that lead to liberation and
are approved by the wise, performing outward duties without the impurity of
any desire for either the future life or the faith.
7. Shall spend their time, both in private and in public,
in the company of Arhats, cherishing the noble wisdom that leads to complete
destruction of their sorrow.
Suggested Further Reading:
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