SUTRA: Final words of the Buddha (DN 16)

Sister Vajira and Francis Story (trans), Maha-Parinibbana Sutta: "Last Days of the Buddha" (DN 16 PTS: D ii 72), 1998; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Welfare of the Wandering Ascetic Order

6. Then, soon after Vassakara's departure, the Blessed One [the Buddha] addressed Venerable Ananda: "Go now, Ananda, and assemble in the main hall as many monastics as live around [the royal city of] Rajagaha."

"Very well, venerable sir." And Ven. Ananda did as requested and informed the Blessed One: "The monastic community is assembled, venerable sir. Let the Blessed One do as he wishes."

The Blessed One rose from his seat, went to the hall, took the seat prepared for him, and addressed those gathered:

"Seven conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, meditators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the monastic community is to be expected, not its decline, meditators,

1. so long as they assemble frequently and in large numbers
2. [so long as they] meet and disperse peacefully and attend to the affairs of the Monastic Community (Sangha) in concord
3. so long as they appoint no new rules, and do not abolish the existing ones, but proceed in accordance with the Code of Training (Vinaya) laid down
4. so long as they show respect, honor, esteem, and veneration towards the elder meditators, those of long standing, long gone forth [as monastics], the fathers and leaders of the Monastic Community, and think it worthwhile to listen to them
5. so long as they do not come under the power of the craving that leads to fresh becoming [rebirth]
6. so long as they cherish the forest depths for their dwellings
7. so long as they establish themselves in mindfulness so that virtuous meditators of the Monastic Order who have not come yet might do so, and those already come might live in peace.

So long, meditators, as these seven conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Siddhartha dwelled in the forest to awaken.

7. "Seven further conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, meditators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the Monastic Community to be expected, not its decline, meditators,

1. so long as they do not delight in, are not pleased with, and are not fond of activities,
2. talk,
3. sleep, and
4. company [socializing]
5. so long as they do not harbor and do not come under the spell of harmful desires
6. have no bad friends, associates, or companions
7. and so long as they do not stop halfway on account of some trifling achievement,

So long, meditators, as these seven conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Seven Good Qualities [6]

8. "Seven further conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, meditators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the Monastic Community is to be expected, not their decline, meditators,

1. so long as they have faith [confidence, saddha]
2. so long as they have moral dread
3. and fear of misconduct,
4. are proficient in learning,
5. resolute,
6. mindful,
7. and wise.

"So long, meditators, as these seven conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators, and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Seven Factors of Enlightenment [7]

9. "Seven further conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, medtiators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the Monastic Community is to be expected, not their decline, meditators, so long as they cultivate the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, that is:

1. mindfulness,
2. investigation of phenomena,
3. energy,
4. bliss,
5. tranquility,
6. concentration, and
7. equanimity.

"So long, meditators, as these seven conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators, and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Seven Perceptions

10. "Seven further conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, meditators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the Monastic Community is to be expected, not their decline, meditators, so long as they cultivate the

1. perception of impermanence,
2. of egolessness [the impersonal nature of all things, particularly the Five Aggregates clung to as self],
3. of (the body's) impurity,
4. of (the body's) wretchedness,
5. of relinquishment,
6. of dispassion,
7. and of cessation.

"So long, meditators, as these seven conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators, and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Six Conditions to be Remembered [8]

11. "Six further conditions leading to welfare shall I set forth, meditators. Listen and pay heed to what I shall say."

"Indeed, venerable sir."

"The growth of the Monastic Community is to be expected, not their decline, meditators,

1. so long as they attend on each other with loving kindness in deed,
2. word,
3. and thought, both openly and in private
4. so long as in respect of what they receive as due offerings, even the contents of their alms bowls they do not make use of without sharing them with virtuous fellow members of the community
5. so long as, in company with their companions, they train themselves, openly and in private, in the rules of conduct (Patimokkha and Vinaya), which are complete and perfect, spotless and pure, liberating, praised by the wise, uninfluenced (by mundane concerns), and favorable to concentration [coherence] of mind
6. and in company with their companions, preserve, openly and in private, the insight [vipassana] that is noble and liberating, and leads one who acts upon it to the utter destruction of suffering.

"So long, meditators, as these six conditions leading to welfare endure among the meditators, and the meditators are known for it, their growth is to be expected, not their decline.

Counsel to the Wandering Ascetics

12. And the Blessed One, dwelling in Rajagaha, on the hill called Vultures' Peak, often gave counsel to the meditators:

"Such and such is virtue; such and such is concentration; and such and such is wisdom. [9]

"Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of concentration [coherence, samadhi] when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct (sila); great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of wisdom when it is fully developed by concentration (samma-samadhi).

"Utterly freed from the taints [10] of lust, becoming, and ignorance is the mind (heart) that is fully developed in wisdom." More

Losing the Buddha

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Hellmuth Hecker, Ananda The Guardian of the Dhamma

The Buddha in the fog, Tian Tan, Po Tin Monastery (Annahytam/flickr.com)

   

The Buddha, Gandhara (Wisdom Quarterly)

Among Ananda's conversations with the Awakened One is the account concerning the last events in the life of the Buddha, in which Ananda played a leading role.

 

It is The Great Final Passing into Nirvana Sutra (DN 16), the discourse on the Buddha's passing away.

• See The Last Days of the Buddha (BPS.lk, The Wheel 67/69).

These records convey a special mood, namely that of parting, which was especially painful for Ananda (the Buddha's monastic attendant, cousin, and close companion over many past lives).

 

It is also the first small beginning of the decline of the Dharma (the Buddha's teaching), which will slowly disappear with increased distance from the Buddha's lifetime, until a new Buddha [Maitreya] arises. 

 

This entire text gives, as it were, voice to the admonition to practice Dharma while there is still chance! It reflects once more Ananda's whole character. Therefore, it is valuable to follow its course and emphasize those points which are important as far as Ananda is concerned.

 

Buddha with half of his chief disciples

The first section of the sutra starts at Rajagaha, the capital of the Indian state of Magadha. Devadatta's attempt to create a schism in the Sangha (Monastic Order) had happened seven years earlier. King Ajatasattu (who usurped his noble father's throne, one of the Buddha's chief royal disciples) reigned in Magadha.

 

King Pasenadi of Kosala had just been overthrown and the Shakya clan [the Buddha's family living far to the west, on the northwest frontier lands of ancient India,  Gandhara and modern Afghanistan] had come to its tragic end in which Ananda's brother, Prince Mahanama, was killed [along with most of the Buddha's royal family who did not becoming wandering ascetics and go east].

The Buddha teaching in the World of the Thirty-Three (Wolfgang Kaehler/flickr.com)

   

At that time, three famous warrior clans lived north of the Ganges, near the Himalayas. They were the Koliyas, the Mallas, and the Vajjians, all of which had retained relative independence from the great [patricidal] King Ajatasattu. He had the intention of destroying the Vajjians and incorporating their land in his.

 

Sitting under an enlightenment tree for peace

While the Buddha could not prevent the ruin of those Shakyans who had not entered the Monastic Order, because [of the overwhelming strength of a particular] karmic debt, he did help the Vajjians and later indirectly also the Mallas. [He chose the territory of the Mallas to take his final nirvana, in a very rural and out of the way area that was once a mighty country in prehistoric times.]

This is the external "political" background of the last years of the Buddha's life. In detail, this incident happened as follows:

 

The king gave orders to his minister, Vassakara, to go to the Buddha and announce his intention to go into battle against the Vajjians. While Vassakara delivered his message, Ananda stood behind the Buddha and fanned him.

 

Seven Questions

More useful than a list of "mortal sins"

The Awakened One [used this opportunity to teach as he] turned to Ananda and put seven questions to him about the lifestyle and conditions of the Vajjians.

 

Ananda declared that they often had (1) council meetings in which they deliberated harmoniously, (2) did not repeal their old laws, (3) followed the advice of their elders, (4) did not rape or abduct women, (5) honored their temples and shrines, (6) did not revoke [regular] gifts to religious places, (7) and that they gave protection and hospitality to all virtuous priests [real Brahmins] and ascetics [wandering mendicants]. 

With these seven qualities in place, the Buddha taught that one could expect prosperity for the Vajjians, not decline. 

 

Some time earlier the Buddha had given them these exact seven rules. The king's minister replied that even one of these qualities would be enough for their continued existence as a clan. As long as the Vajjians kept to these seven rules, it would be impossible for the king to conquer them, except through inner dissension or treachery. 

 

The minister left with this conviction in mind and reported to the king that it would be useless to start a war against the Vajjians. Indians in those days had so much confidence in the spiritual strength (morale, heart, spirit) of a people, that the hint of moral superiority was sufficient to prevent a war.

 

Only much later, after the passing away of the Buddha, was it possible for the king to overrun the Vajjians, and this only because they had meanwhile forsaken their virtue and moral integrity.

 

This highly political discussion was used by the Buddha as an occasion to request Ananda to call all of the monastics (by that time a great number of nuns and monks and novices) of the area together.

Final nirvana of the Buddha memorialized in gold leaf coated reclining statue in a massive cave in Ban Krut, Thailand (Orangebropton/flickr.com)

 

Seven Principles

He would give them an exhortation about seven things, which would serve for the continued existence of the Monastic Order. The monastics should: (1) assemble frequently, (2) conduct their affairs amicably, (3) not make new rules but adhere to the established ones, (4) honor the elders of the Order and give heed to their advice, (5) abandon craving, (6) enjoy solitude, and (7) practice mindfulness at all times. 

The reason given for following these was so that like-minded persons would be attracted, and those who were already successfully living the high-life (the life of monastic meditation and purity) would be serene happy.

 

After the Buddha had spoken in this way to the monastics, he gave them the following terse summary of the teaching [an outline of the discourses he delivered which led to the sudden enlightenment of so many hearers in the texts], which recurs many times throughout this narrative:

 

The Buddhist Path

Guardstone, Abhayagiri, Anuradhapura

That is virtue; that is concentration (serene collectedness, absorption, samma-samadhi); that is wisdom.

Concentration fortified with virtue brings great benefits and great fruits.
 

Wisdom fortified with concentration brings great benefits and great fruits.
 

The mind fortified with wisdom becomes liberated [freed of the fetters] from all taints -- namely from the taint of sensual bondage, the taint of  (craving for) renewed becoming (rebirth), and the taint of ignorance (delusion, wrong view, nescience).

 

Final Journey

After this exhortation, the Buddha commenced his last journey. He always went to places where there were people ready to give ear and understand Dharma, or where misunderstandings needed to be rectified, or where brute force could be prevented. 

 

On this last journey he went first in the direction of the Ganges river to Nalanda, which later became the famous Buddhist university (the forerunner to our modern institutions of higher learning) and monastic training center. This town was Sariputra's birthplace, and here he took leave of the Buddha. [It is said that all chief disciples pass into nirvana before the buddha they assist; no mention is made of the passing of the two chief female disciples, Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavana.] 

 

Sariputra wanted to stay there and teach Dharma to his mother before he passed into final nirvana. When saying farewell, this great disciple voiced once more the Buddha's praise: "It is clear to me, venerable sir, that there is no one more distinguished in wisdom."

• See "Sariputra's Lion's roar" in The Life of Sariputta, BPS.lk, The Wheel 90/92.

The Buddha, ancient Thailand (fredMin/flickr)

Then the Awakened One went with a large company of monastics to Vesali. This town was the capital of the Vajjians, whose virtue he had praised, and from whom he had averted the threat of King Ajatasattu's attack. Why did the Buddha go to the capital of the Vajjians and spend the last of the 45 rains retreats of his life in that vicinity?

 

It is not too farfetched to think that this was meant as a non-aggressive warning to King Ajatasattu to keep the peace and a message to the Vajjians to keep up their virtue.

 

At Vesali the Buddha became ill with a deadly disease. He overcame it by jhana-power, as he did not want to pass away without having assembled male and female disciples once more. That a buddha can become ill is due to the imperfections of the body, but that one can master the illness at will is due to the perfection of Awakened Ones.

 

Ananda had been extremely aggrieved about the Buddha's illness. He was so worried that he could not think properly. He related to the Buddha that he had found consolation in the fact that surely the Awakened One would not attain final nirvana without having given regulations about running the Monastic Order.

 

But the Buddha rejected this; what was there left to pronounce for the monastic disciples? He had taught the Dharma in all its aspects. And unlike other teachers, he had kept nothing secret (no secret doctrine, no special dispensation, no elite monastic instruction, as was so common in India, but later Buddhist teachers did claim such doctrines, hid and obscured key teachings).

The Buddha addressing nuns and monks in the Sangha or Monastic Order (Buddhisam)

  

Only one who believed that it was the Buddha who had to guide the Monastic Order, one who was still possessed of the "I am" conceit [one of the remaining subtle defects of stream enterers until they become arhats], could believe one to be so important. 

 

Furthermore, the Buddha declared that he was now 80, had reached old age, and could move this body only with difficulty, just like a jury rigged old cart. His body was only at ease when he entered upon and dwelled in the "signless deliverance of mind" (animitta-cetovimutti, a deep state of meditation that transcends the "signs," or marks, of conditioned existence).

 

With this he implied that a buddha's body is subject to the law of impermanence like ALL other conditioned (composite) phenomena. But he immediately gave Ananda an antidote for the sadness caused by these words:

 

"So Ananda, each one should be an island unto oneself, with oneself and no other as guide/refuge [island, light, beacon]; each one should make the Dharma one's island, have the Dharma and no other as one's guide, light, beacon, refuge." [This is possible because when one attains stream entry and higher insights, liberating-wisdoms, one no longer depends on any teacher or guide; one sees the Truth directly and is freed thereby.]

 

The third chapter of the sutra is located at Vesali, where the Buddha dwelled for the rains retreat. One day he requested Ananda to take a sitting mat (out of grass and folded robes) and go with him to the Capala Shrine to pass the day there in meditation.

 

When they were seated there, the Blessed One looked at the peaceful landscape before him and reminded Ananda of the many beautiful spots in the vicinity. The reason for this seemingly unmotivated description of the countryside becomes clear later. More

The Mirror of the Dharma II

DN 16: "Last Days of the Buddha" by Sister Vajira and Francis Story (translators)

Introduction
Of the 34 discourses (sutras) that make up the "Collection of Long Discourses" (DN: Digha Nikaya), the 16th is the longest. It preserves the principal feature of a traditional Buddhist discourse, insofar as it is a rehearsal of events as they have been witnessed.

On account of its unique composition, however, it is capable not only of winning the affection of Buddhists, as it naturally does, but also of attracting the general reader. It is, indeed, a fine specimen of sacred universal literature.

Sutra

...And the Buddha took up his abode in the town of Nadika together with a large community of monastics, staying in the Brick House.

The Four Specific Attainments
Then the Venerable Ananda approached the Buddha, greeted him respectfully, sat down at one side, and said:

"Here in Nadika, Lord, there have passed away the monk Salha and the nun Nanda. Likewise there have passed away the layman Sudatta and the laywoman Sujata...What is their destiny, Lord? What is their future state?"

The Buddha explains each monastic and layperson by name, noting their specific attainment [in terms of the four degrees of enlightenment].

1. Some became fully-enlightened... Ananda, so it is with:
2. More than fifty laypeople in Nadika who became non-returners.
3. More than ninety laypeople who have passed away in Nadika, Ananda, through the destruction of the three fetters, and the lessening of lust, hatred, and delusion, have become once-returners and are bound to make an end of suffering after having returned but once more to this world.
4. More than five hundred laypeople who have passed away in Nadika, Ananda, through the complete destruction of the three fetters have become stream-enterers, and are safe from falling into the states of misery, assured, and bound for enlightenment.

"But truly, Ananda, it is nothing strange that human beings should die. But if each time it happens you should come to the Tathagata [the Buddha referring to himself] and ask about them in this manner, indeed it would be troublesome to him.

Therefore, Ananda, I will give you the teaching called the Mirror of the Dharma, possessing which the noble disciple, should one so desire, can declare of oneself: 'There is no more rebirth for me in hell, nor as an animal or ghost, nor in any realm of woe. A stream-enterer am I, safe from falling into the states of misery, assured am I and bound for enlightenment.'"

"And what, Ananda, is that teaching called the Mirror of Dharma, possessing which the noble disciple may thus declare of oneself?

"In this case, Ananda, the noble disciple possesses unwavering faith in the Buddha thus: 'The Blessed One is an Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One, perfect in knowledge and conduct, the Happy One, the knower of the world, the paramount trainer of beings, the teacher of devas and humans, the Enlightened One, the Blessed One.'

"One possesses unwavering faith in the Dharma thus: 'Well propounded by the Blessed One is the Dharma, evident, timeless, inviting investigation, leading to emancipation, to be comprehended by the wise, each for oneself.'

"One possesses unwavering faith in the Blessed One's Order of Disciples thus: 'Well faring is the Blessed One's Order of Disciples, righteously, wisely, and dutifully: that is to say, the four pairs of persons, the eight classes of persons. The Blessed One's Order of Disciples is worthy of honor, of hospitality, of offerings, of veneration — the supreme field for meritorious deeds in the world.'

"And one possesses virtues that are dear to the Noble Ones, complete and perfect, spotless and pure, which are liberating, praised by the wise, uninfluenced (by worldly concerns), and favorable to concentration of mind.

"This, Ananda, is the teaching called the Mirror of the Dharma, whereby the noble [Ariyan] disciple may thus know of oneself: 'There is no more rebirth for me in hell, nor as an animal or ghost, nor in any realm of woe. A stream-enterer am I, safe from falling into the states of misery, assured am I and bound for enlightenment.'"

And also in Nadika, in the Brick House, the Blessed One often gave counsel to the monastics thus: "Such and such is virtue; such and such is concentration; and such and such is wisdom. Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of concentration when it is fully developed by virtuous conduct. Great becomes the fruit, great is the gain of wisdom when it is fully developed by concentration. Utterly freed from the taints of lust, becoming, and ignorance is the mind that is fully developed in wisdom."

DN 16 [PTS: D ii 72 (Chapters 1-6)] "Last Days of the Buddha" (Maha Parinirvana Sutra). Sister Vajira and Francis Story © 1998–2009.