The Chainsaw-Wielding Monk of Texas

(Light  Alchemy Productions) Sitagu Vihara Buddhist Monastery

(Pink Floyd) "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" live at Pompeii. 1972. Use a chainsaw, Eugene!

Wandering ascetic in the USA

Sitagu Buddha Vihara, Austin, Texas: Dhamma. 🪷 Behind every great story there’s a chainsaw-wielding Buddhist monk.

Which is to say, what I actually mean is each reporting process is populated by vibrant hidden figures like American Theravada Buddhist monk Bhante Nalaka (born Steven Waite).

He walked me and my family around Sitagu Buddha Vihara in Southwest Austin. I was at the Burmese Theravada Buddhist monastery hunting for a painting by exiled Burmese artist and activist Sitt Nyein Aye, but more on him in a moment.

• TikTok visit to Sitagu Buddha Vihara Buddhist monastery
• Biggest Buddhist temple? : r/Austin

Htein Lin | Mi Let To, the Crocodile Maiden (2017) | Art & Prints | Artsy

 
American Ven. Nalaka received us at the end of a meditation retreat, his voice starting as a whisper and rising throughout our chat.

Born in Massachusetts, he grew up an “Army brat” and has flowed in and out of monastic life since 1981. Ven. Nalaka has spent about three years as a caretaker of the monastery’s 16-acre property, which is crowned by a golden pagoda, the largest in the United States.

What's the meaning of it all, Bhante?

(Maggie Timber Explores)

Stages of Progress on the Buddhist Path

(Buddhist Insights @ Empty Cloud) Stages of Progress with Bhante Nalaka

Profile: Htein Lin, Arts Educator Pitstop

The Buddhist complex has 40 buildings in all, including a treehouse. Ven. Nalaka is eager to discuss his humble inheritance: endless maintenance issues.

“My first year was scraping all these walls” to remove bubbling paint from leaks and humidity damage, he said. In 2023, he chainsawed 13 acres of felled tree limbs after an ice storm. “I had burn piles going everywhere,” he claimed.

Last year, the monks repainted the pagoda’s exterior using a 135-foot crane and “at least 20 gallons” of imported paint. If suffering is the path to liberation, Ven. Nalaka is making progress—and the monastery is looking sharp.

Exiled art of Myanmar in Texas

Artists are artists and will let you know it.

The one feature of the property that Ven. Nalaka didn’t seem to know about was Sitt Nyein Aye’s artwork, a fact that had my nerves running throughout our interview. But after a bit of wandering,

I spotted Sitt’s idiosyncratic line work in a multi-panel painting in the dining hall. This visit closes out my story on Sitt (Exiled artist Sitt Nyein Aye stoked faraway fight for democracy), which can be read about in @swcontemporary (southwestcontemporary.com) today (link in bio).

Idiosyncratic line work on panel at Sitagu, TX

It starts with his tragic death in Colorado and weaves backwards through his revolutionary work in Burma (Myanmar), exile in the Southwest, and late-career artistic projects.

I sought to examine Sitt’s legacy as a member of a “hyperlocal diaspora” -- Burmese artists, including @chaweithein (Ms. Chaw Ei Thein, profile, art blog) and @artisthteinlin (RIP, Artsy), who’ve found refuge in America and craft vivid portals back home.

• Rebirth: Superstition or Truth? with Bhante Nalaka – The Heart of Mindfulness

COMMENTS

• 
  (Logan Royce Beitmen) (37w) Great story!
• 
  (wrappedrockz) (37w) Fascinating. Can’t wait to read more. 🔥
• 
  (Roberthoerlein's) Great story. I didn’t know any of this. Thanks.

AUTHOR: obscuratorial (37w) 📷 PHOTOS: 1-3 are by my dad, Mark Eddy. The rest are by me, of Sitt Nyein Aye's untitled 2012 painting at Sitagu Buddha Vihara. The piece depicts some revered Buddhist temples in India. Source

• About Austin Buddhist Vihara (Sri Lankan)
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• Our new favorite internet monk (Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum)
• obscuratorial, Instagram, Aug. 12, 2025; Bhante Karunananda, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Great Wall of China from space: Kubla Khan

National Geographic Asia, 9/30/20; CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Great Wall of China | HD Wallpapers Images and Photos (hdwallpaperim.com)

Secrets of the Great Wall | Ancient China from above | National Geographic

(National Geographic Asia) Sept. 30, 2020: Archeologist Allan Maca leads a team of intrepid experts on an epic adventure to solve mysteries, explore secrets, and reveal amazing wonders of Ancient China like never before.

Stupa burial mounds exist across Central Asia

Guided by images from space [20 to 50 miles above earth], cutting-edge technology on the ground, and the very latest excavations of Chinese archeologists, they will reveal palaces and tombs, incredible megastructures, and even entire long-lost cities. Along the way they will uncover new revelations about the Great Wall of China, explore the myths of Xanadu [made famous by the British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan," which Wisdom Quarterly's own poet in residence, Dhr. Seven, thinks refers to a Buddhist civilization and a description of a Buddhist stupa, pagoda, and temple complex, which Coleridge read about from the writings of a British Christian missionary and traveler who visited the very place Coleridge is dreaming of and trying to describe in verse], and unearth evidence of ancient civilizations — discovers that are rewriting the history books.

"Kubla Khan"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

     Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round;

And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills

Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Not blocks of ice but durable white stones

But oh that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted Burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:

And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

Manmade cave, not of ice but stone

     The shadow of the dome of pleasure

     Floated midway on the waves;

     Where was heard the mingled measure

     From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

     A damsel with a dulcimer

     In a vision once I saw:

     It was an Abyssinian maid

     And on her dulcimer she play'd,

     Singing of Mount Abora.

     Could I revive within me

     Her symphony and song,

     To such a deep delight 'twould win me,

That with music loud and long,

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! those caves of ice!

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread:

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drank the milk of Paradise.

Afghanistan's largest standing stupa: Topdara

AAN Field Correspondent Jelena Bjelica, Jolyon Leslie (afghanistan-analysts.org, Jan. 8, 2020); edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (eds.), Ellie Askew, Wisdom Quarterly

Topdara (tope in Dara) stupa (Buddhist burial mound), Afghanistan (ACHCO.org.af)

The history of the Topdara stupa is still unknown. However, given its location near the site of the ancient City of Kapisa (in or around what is now Bagram, a small bazaar town mainly known for its gigantic air base), it may have been commissioned between 200 and 400 CE (ACHCO, 2019).

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The largest standing stupa in Afghanistan: A short history of the Buddhist site at Topdara

Topdara stupa seen from the back (facing west)

A dome-shaped ancient Buddhist shrine, the Topdara stupa [sacred reliquary burial mound] to the north of Kabul was described by 19th century British explorer Charles Masson as “perhaps the most complete and beautiful monument of the kind in these countries.”

Since Masson’s visit in 1833, the Topdara stupa saw few visitors and had fallen into neglect until recently, in 2016, when an Afghan cultural heritage organization began its excavation and preservation [restoration] work.

When AAN’s Jelena Bjelica visited the stupa in spring 2019, she found its beauty and grandeur largely restored. In this dispatch she pieces together the history of the stupa from various historical and contemporary records (with input from Jolyon Leslie).

Topdara Stupa

Afghanistan (Scythia) and Pakistan (India until 1947) were once Buddhist Gandhara.

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As one approaches Parwan’s provincial capital Charikar on the main highway from Kabul, the Topdara stupa can be seen on the left, set against the Koh-e Safi Mountains. The stupa stands like a crown on an area of high ground above Topdara Village, surrounded by orchards and barley fields.

On an early April morning when AAN visited, staff from the Afghan NGO ACHCO (the Afghanistan Cultural Heritage Consulting Organization) were busy doing excavation and preservation work on the site.

ACHCO’s work on the stupa began in 2016. Three years later when AAN visited, the stupa’s drum had been repaired and preserved, and almost the entire base of the stupa had been excavated. The structure, however, is still under scaffolding as preservation work continues.

The drum – the dome-shaped upper part of the stupa – was damaged by Masson when he opened it up in the 19th century [to recover its sacred contents, ashes of the Buddha and other relics or sharira].

• (See his drawings of the stupa as well as a photo from the late 1950s on p. 83 of this 2017 British Museum publication).

Topdara stupa covered in scaffolding (AAN)

The principal structure at Topdara is the stone stupa and its upper drum, which measures 23 meters across and stands almost 30 meters high above the surrounding fields. The drum is ornamented with double S-shaped curves, which give it a decorative band of 56 identical niches framed by rounded arches.

...Facing east above this frieze is a tri-lobed arch niche where three figures of the Buddha [the historical "Sage of the Scythians" who grew up in Afghanistan according to maverick Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal] are thought to have once been mounted.

According to this 2017 British Museum publication, this assumption is based on the remains of a stucco halo of what is thought to have been "the principal image" of the standing Buddha, with what would probably have been two smaller seated buddhas [or disciples] on each side (Note 1).

The frieze is aligned with a ceremonial staircase that faces the valley where the capital of the Kushan Empire, Kapisa, once was.

The drum stands on a square base, which measures 36 meters on each side, that ACHCO has recently excavated. They discovered that the base is also ornamented with classical style pilasters and has two pairs of stairs, on its east and west points. The base was an integral element of the rituals followed by Buddhist pilgrims, who would have circumambulated around the stupa.

...According to ACHCO, the stupa would have been plastered and painted, with gilded parasols on the apex of its dome, flanked by flags and banners that would have been visible by pilgrims progressing along the slopes below.

In 19th century English sources, stupas were generally referred to by the term tope, which may oderive from the Dari word for hill or mound, tappa. The name of the village and the stupa, Topdara, could then mean "Valley of the Stupa." For example, English Orientalist H.H. Wilson (1786-1860) notes in the first chapter of the book Ariana Antica (1841):

"The edifices [stupas] which have of late years attracted so much attention in the north-west of India and in Afghanistan, have been known by the general appellation of Topes, a word signifying a mound or tumulus, derived from the Sanscrit [sic] appellation Sthupa [sic], having the same import" (pp. 28-29).

According to Masson’s explanation in the second chapter of the same book:

"The term Tope, which is applicable to the more prominent and interesting of the structures under consideration, is that in ordinary use by the people of the regions in which they most abound. A tope is a massive structure comprising two essential parts, the basement and perpendicular body resting thereon. The latter, after a certain elevation, always terminates after the manner of a cupola, sometimes so depressed as to exhibit merely a slight convexity of surface, but more frequently approaching the shape of a cone."

The stupa restoration continues (AAN).

Speaking about the Topdara stupa, one of the three stupas he examined “to the north of Kabul, and in the districts of Koh Daman and the Kohistan,” Masson wrote:

“The next [tope] occurs at Dara [Tope+Dara=Topdara], about twenty-five miles from Kabul, and is perhaps the most complete and beautiful monument of the kind in these countries, as it is one of the largest.”

Little is known about the history of the Topdara stupa regarding who commissioned it, when it was built, and how it was used. Archaeological research in Afghanistan has been episodic and the number of properly excavated sites in country is still tiny, compared to neighboring Iran [formerly Persia] or Pakistan [formerly India].

Serious archaeological explorations in Afghanistan only began with the creation of the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA) in 1922, which had obtained a monopolistic license from the country’s then-ruler Amanullah. Subsequent wars, both World War II and the 40 years of conflict in Afghanistan since 1978, prevented the follow-up of much in-depth archaeological research.

Masson’s written accounts from the 19th century, therefore, still offer an invaluable insight into the distant past of Afghanistan and its region. Charles Masson (1800-1853),  was an explorer and collector of coins [who apparently didn't mind breaking into a sacred reliquary in search of treasure]. More

The Great Sage covered in gold

Ben The Man (text); Oo Wynn, CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma - a Buddhist temple complex made of gold (flickr.com)

Tending to golden Mahamuni (Wei on the Way/Wei Deng/flickr.com)

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Mahamuni, Burma (Sylvain Brajeul/flickr)

The Maha-muni ("Great Sage") Buddha Pagoda is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Burma. For it houses the Mahamuni Buddha, the most highly revered statue in the country.

The pagoda was built in 1785 by King Bodawpaya. Several shops around the temple sell Buddhist offerings for the image such as incense, candles, and flowers. The statue is wearing a crown set with precious stones like diamonds and rubies.

Buddha in space with Sakka and Brahma

• The extraterrestrials devas who built Mahamuni: I got there at almost 4:00 am, just in time to see the beginning of a devotional ritual in one of the oldest and most Buddhist countries in the world.. It commences every morning [with] a magnificent Buddha image built by the akasha-deva Sakka, an extraterrestrial ruler. Sakka and Vissakamma built it and gave it to human beings in the area.

Gold, gold, gold (contemporarynomad.com)

The Mahamuni Museum on the temple grounds tells the history of Buddhism.
 
It displays information about various places in the Buddha's life from his birthplace in Kapilavastu [Afghanistan], to the forest grove in India, where he realized enlightenment (Bodh Gaya), to the sal tree grove near the Nepal border (Kushinagar or Kusinara) where he passed into final nirvana. There are also maps that explain the spread of Buddhism, known as the Dharma, across Asia during the last 26 centuries. 

The Great Sage (Ben the Man/flickr com)

The statue is enshrined in a small chamber room topped with a seven-tiered pyatthat Burmese-style roof. The temple or Mahamuni Pagoda is a monastery and major pilgrimage site, located southwest of Mandalay, Burma. It is highly respected in Burma and central to many people's lives, as it is seen as an expression of the Buddha's life.

De Mahamuni Pagoda of Mahamuni Boeddha tempel is één van de belangrijkste boeddhistische bedevaartsoorden in Myanmar. De tempel huisvest het Mahamuni beeld van Boedha, het meest vereerde Boeddha beeld in het land. De pagode werd gebouwd in 1785 door koning Bodawpaya. Verschillende winkels rond de tempel te verkopen voor het aanbidden van de Mahamuni Boeddha, wierook, kaarsen en bloemen. More

The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas, China

Crystal Quintero, CC Liu (trans.), Wisdom Quarterly; photog Michael Ducloux (flickr.com)

The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas, China (Michael Ducloux/flickr.com)

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Int'l Finance Ctr, HK, China

The Monastery of Ten Thousand Buddhas is a Buddhist temple in Sha Tin in the New Territories, China.

The monastery was founded in 1951 by Ven. Yuet Kai. The construction was completed in 1957.

The monastery of "Ten Thousand Buddhas" takes its name from the countless statues that populate the scene inside, each with unique features.
  

Those seen during the ascent to the monastery are among the most extravagant: Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats who are portly, thin, bald, or hairy; with dogs, dragons, and toads; joyful, mysterious, severe, or sad.

More than 400 steps later, under branches where sometimes are heard the echoing cries of monkeys, one reaches the monastery.

First one sees a large courtyard, where various altars and incense roasters, with other statues.

In the middle of the court, there is a large nine-story pagoda.

Inside, a spiral staircase leads to the top, and niches in the walls house other effigies. One can admire the beautiful landscape around the haven of Sha Tin and the surrounding wooded hills.

In the courtyard, surrounded by trees, there are also pavilions that house the statues of important figures from the local Buddhist pantheon:

One of them is dedicated to Kwan Yin, the "Goddess" (Bodhisattva) of Mercy, facing the sea. (She was traditionally the protector of sailors and fishermen).

Another is Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom and Bravery, riding a lion; still farther along one sees Samantabhadra, a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha, on his white elephant with six teeth. Farther still is Vitasoka, Guardian of the Great Temple, which stands in front of him. More

The Supermoon Buddhist Observance

Crystal Quintero, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Ñanavara Thera and Bhikkhu Kantasilo, Uposatha Sutra: The Lunar Observance (AN 8.41)

Burma's Shitthuang Pagoda, ruins of Mrauk U, Arakhine state (Jon Sheer/Jraptor/flickr)

The brilliant and nearby Supermoon 2014 (Evgeny Yorobe/earthsky.org)

  

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was residing in Jeta's Grove at the millionaire's monastery, near Savatthi.

At that time the Blessed One, having called all the monastics together, addressed them: "Meditators!" The monastics answered in assent: "Venerable sir!" (They then prepared themselves for the following sutra). The [Buddha] then gave the following teaching on lunar observance days (uposatha).
 
"Meditators, the lunar observance is comprised of eight factors [precepts] that the noble (one entered upon the stages of enlightenment) disciple observes, the observation of which brings glorious and radiant fruit and benefit.
 
"Meditators, what is the lunar observance?"
 
1. "Noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline reflect in this way: 'All enlightened beings (arhats), for as long as life lasts, have given up the intentional taking of life. The club and sword have been laid down. They have shame (of doing evil) and are instead compassionate toward all beings.'
 
"All of you have given up the intentional taking of life, have put down all weapons, are possessed of shame (of doing evil), and are compassionate toward all beings. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the first factor.

 
2. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up taking what has not been given. They take only what is given, are intent on taking only what is given. They are not thieves. Their behavior is spotless.'
 
"All of you have given up the taking of what has not been given, are ones who do not take what is not given, are intent on taking only what is given, are not thieves. Your behavior is spotless. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the second factor.

3. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up that which is an obstacle to the Brahma-faring [Brahmacharya, the high life, the pure life, continence, chastity, celibacy]. Their practice is like that of a brahma [a god being]. They are far from sexual intercourse [or any erotic activity for this observance day], which is a practice of lay people.'
 
"All of you have given up that which is an obstacle to the Brahma-faring and behave like a brahma. Your behavior is far from sexual intercourse. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the third factor.

Standing Buddha statue, Thailand, rung by Moon (happySUN/flickr.com)

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Moon and Sun-faced-Buddha points.

4. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up false speech [perjury, harsh-, divisive-, or careless-speech]. They utter only the truth and are intent on the truth. Their speech is firm and is composed of reason. Their speech does not waver from that which is a mainstay for the world.'
 
"All of you have given up false speech. You speak only the truth and are intent only on that which is true. Your speech is firm and with reason. Your speech does not waver from that which is a mainstay for the world. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the fourth factor.
 
5. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up the taking of liquors and intoxicants, of that which intoxicates, causing carelessness (heedlessness). They are far from intoxicants.'
 
"All of you have given up the taking of liquors and intoxicants. You abstain from drink which causes carelessness. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the fifth factor.
 
6. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, eat at one time only and do not partake of food in the evening. They abstain from food at the 'inappropriate' time."
 
"All of you eat at one time only and do not partake of food in the evening. You abstain from food at the inappropriate time. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the sixth factor.
 

What is a "super" moon? (rednewswire)

7. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up singing and dancing, the playing of musical instruments, and the watching of entertainments, which are stumbling blocks to that which is wholesome. Nor do they bedeck themselves with ornaments, flowers, or perfume.'
 
"All of you have given up singing and dancing, the playing of musical instruments, and the watching of entertainments, which are stumbling blocks to that which is wholesome. You do not bedeck yourselves with ornaments, flowers, or perfume. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the seventh factor.
 

8. "Meditators, noble disciples in this Dharma and Discipline also reflect: 'All arhats, for as long as life lasts, have given up lying on large or high beds. They are content with low beds or bedding made of grass.'
 
"All of you have given up lying on large or high beds. You are content with low beds or beds made of grass. For all of this day and night, in this manner, you will be known as having followed the arhats, and the lunar observance will have been observed by you. This is the eighth factor.
 
"Meditators, the lunar observance is comprised of these eight factors which the noble disciple observes, and it is of great and glorious fruit and benefit."
 
Thus the Blessed One spoke on the lunar observance. The monastics were delighted and rejoiced at his words.

• Self-Discipline: Cornerstone of the Dharma

The Buddha's relics found? (documentary)

Dhr. Seven, Mara Schaeffer, Wisdom Quarterly; MrGiakoumisCY, National Geographic; Sister Vajira and Francis Story, The Last Days of the Buddha (DN 16: 6.12-29)

The Buddha's cremation ceremony (people.opposingviews.com)

"Bones of the Buddha" - American documentary investigating the possible discovery of a portion of the Buddha's cremation relics a century ago in India.

 

Ancient stupa in Sanchi, India

12. And when the Buddha had passed away, simultaneously with his final-peace (parinirvana) there came a tremendous earthquake, dreadful and astounding, and thunder rolled across the sky.

  

13. ...Brahma Sahampati [a high divinity living in the Brahma world, who originally along with Sakka, king of the devas, appealed to the newly enlightened Buddha not to go into seclusion but to teach the Dharma to the world (MN 26)] uttered this stanza:

 

All must depart; all beings living

Must shed their compound forms.

Yes, even one, a master such as he, 

A peerless being, powerful in wisdom, 

The Enlightened One, has passed away.

 

14. ...Sakka, king of the devas, uttered this stanza:

 

Transient are all compounded-things, 

Subject to constant arising and falling; 

Having come into existence, they pass away; 

Good is the peace when [this painful process] ceases.

 

15. ...Ven. Anuruddha [the elder brother of Ven. Ananda, who possessed the supernormal power of reading minds] uttered this stanza:

 

No movement of the breath, but with steadfast heart, 

Free from any trace of craving and tranquil --

So the Sage comes to the end. 

By mortal pangs unshaken, 

Mind (heart), like a flame extinguished, finds release.

16. ...Ven. Ananda [who was not yet enlightened but at most a stream enterer] uttered this stanza:

 

Then there was terror, 

And hair stood on end when he, 

The All-Accomplished One, 

The Buddha, passed away.

 

17. Then when the Blessed One had passed away, some ascetic disciples not yet freed from passion lifted up their arms and wept; some, flinging themselves on the ground, rolled from side to side and wept, lamenting: "Too soon has the Blessed One come to final-peace (nirvana)! Too soon has the Happy One come to final-peace! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from sight!"

 

But others who were (enlightened and thus) freed from passion, mindful and clearly comprehending, reflected in this way: "Impermanent are all compounded-things. How could it be otherwise?"

 

18. Ven. Anuruddha addressed his fellow monastics: "Enough, friends! Do not grieve, do not lament! For has the Blessed One not declared that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded (fabricated, composed of parts, put together), and therefore being subject to decay, how can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!'? The devas, friends, are aggrieved."

 

"But, venerable sir, of what devas is Ven. Anuruddha aware?"

 

"There are devas, friend Ananda, in space and on Earth who are worldly-minded; with dishevelled hair they weep, with uplifted arms they weep; flinging themselves on the ground, they roll from side to side, lamenting: 'Too soon has the Blessed One come to final-peace! Too soon has the Happy One come to final-peace! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from sight!' But those devas who are freed from passion, mindful and clearly comprehending, reflect in this way: 'Impermanent are all compounded-things. How could it be otherwise?'"

 

19. Ven. Anuruddha and Ven. Ananda spent the rest of the night talking about the Dharma. Then Anuruddha said to Ananda: "Go now, friend Ananda, to Kusinara, and announce to the Mallas: 'The Blessed One, Vasetthas, has passed away. Do now as you see fit.'"

 

"So be it, venerable sir." Ananda prepared himself in the forenoon and, taking his bowl and robe, went with a companion into Kusinara.

 

20. At that time the Mallas of Kusinara had gathered in the council hall to consider that very matter. And Ananda approached them and announced: "The Blessed One, Vasetthas, has passed away. Do now as you see fit."

 

And when they heard these words, the Mallas with their children, their spouses, and the spouses of their children, were sorely aggrieved, aggrieved at heart and afflicted; some, with their hair all dishevelled, with arms upraised in despair, wept; flinging themselves on the ground, they rolled from side to side, lamenting: "Too soon has the Blessed One come to final-peace! "Too soon has the Happy One come to final-peace! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from sight!"

Homage to the Remains 

21. Then the Mallas of Kusinara gave orders: "Gather now all the perfumes, flower-garlands, and musicians in Kusinara." And the Mallas, with these, and with many sets of cloth, went to the Sal Tree Grove, the resort of the Mallas, and approached the body of the Blessed One. 

 

The devas join hte Mallas (Wisdom Matrix)

Having approached, they honored the body of the Blessed One with dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume. And erecting canopies and pavilions, they spent the day showing respect, honor, and veneration to the body of the Blessed One. 

 

Then the thought came to them: "Now the day is too far spent for us to cremate the body of the Blessed One. Tomorrow we will do it."

 

For a second day, and a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth day, they paid homage to the body of the Blessed One with dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume. And erecting canopies and pavilions, they spent the day showing respect, honor, and veneration to the body of the Blessed One.

 

But on the seventh day the thought came to them: "We have paid homage to the body of the Blessed One with dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume, and have shown respect, honor, and veneration; let us now carry the body of the Blessed One southward to the southern part of the town and beyond, and let us there cremate the body of the Blessed One south of town."

 

And eight Mallas from the foremost families bathed from the crown of their heads. Wearing new clothes they thought, "We will lift the body of the Blessed One" and tried to do so, but they could not.

22. Then the Mallas consulted Anuruddha, saying: "What is the cause, Ven. Anuruddha, what is the reason that these eight Mallas...cannot lift the body?"

 

"Vasetthas, you have one purpose, but the devas have another."

 

"Then what, venerable sir, is the purpose of the devas?"

"Vasetthas, your purpose is this: 'We have paid homage to the body of the Blessed One...now let us carry it southward to the southern part of town and beyond, and let us cremate the body of the Blessed One south of town.' 

 

"'But the purpose of the devas, Vasetthas, is this: 'We have paid homage to the body of the Blessed One with celestial dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume, and have shown respect, honor, and veneration; let us now carry the body of the Blessed One northward to the northern part of town; and having carried it through the northern gate, let us go through the center of town, and then eastward to the east of town; and having passed through the east gate, let us carry it to the Makuta-bandhana Memorial (cetiya) of the Mallas, and there let us cremate the body of the Blessed One.'"

 

"As the devas wish, venerable sir, so let it be."

 

23. Thereupon the whole of [the village of] Kusinara, including the dust bins and rubbish heaps, were covered knee-deep in [extraterrestrial, celestial, heavenly] mandarava flowers. And homage was paid to the body of the Blessed One by the devas as well as the Mallas of Kusinara. 

With dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume, both divine and human, respect, honor, and veneration were shown. And they carried the body of the Blessed One northward to the northern part of town; and having carried it through the north gate, they went through the center of town, and then eastward to the east of town; and having passed through the east gate, they carried the body of the Blessed One to the Memorial of the Mallas, and there laid it down.

 

Amaravati, Andra Pradesh, India, stele (Musee Guimet)

24. Then the Mallas of Kusinara said to Ananda: "How should we act, Ven. Ananda, respecting the body of the Tathagata?"

 

"After the same manner, Vasetthas, as toward the body of a universal monarch."

 

"But how, Ven. Ananda, do they act respecting the body of a universal monarch?"

 

"The body of a universal monarch, Vasetthas, is first wrapped round with new linen, and then with teased cotton wool. And again it is wrapped round with new linen, and again with teased cotton wool, and so it is done up to 500 (read "a large number") layers of linen and 500 of cotton wool. When that is done, the body of the universal monarch is placed in an iron oil-vessel, which is enclosed in another iron vessel and a funeral pyre is built of all kinds of perfumed woods, and so the body of the universal monarch is cremated. And at a crossroads a burial mound (stupa) is raised for the universal monarch. So it is done, Vasetthas, with the body of a universal monarch.

 

"And even, Vasetthas, as with the body of a universal monarch, so should it be done with the body of the Tathagata [the Buddha]. And at a crossroads also a memorial mound should be raised for the Tathagata. And whoever shall bring to that place garlands or incense or sandalwood paste, or pay reverence, and whose mind (heart) becomes calm there -- it will be to that being's well being and happiness for a long time."

Imaginative Burmese depiction: the funeral pyre (Dr. Donald Stadtner/archaeology.lk)

 

25. Then the Mallas gave orders: "Gather now all the teased cotton wool of the Mallas!" And the Mallas of Kusinara wrapped the body of the Blessed One round with new linen...and they built a funeral pyre of all kinds of perfumed woods, and upon it they laid the body of the Blessed One.

 

26. Now at that time Ven. Maha Kassapa [the Buddha's great Brahmin disciple who convened the First Council as if to make of the Buddha's Dharma a formal "religion"] was journeying from Pava to Kusinara together with a large company of monastics. And on the way, he stepped aside from the highway and sat down at the foot of a tree.

 

A certain Ajivaka came by, on his way to Pava, holding a mandarava flower from Kusinara. Maha Kassapa saw the Ajivaka coming from a distance, and as he drew close he spoke to him: "Do you know, friend, anything of our teacher?"

 

"Yes, friend, I know. It is now seven days since the ascetic Gautama passed away. From there I have brought this mandarava flower."

 

27. Thereupon some monastics, not yet freed from passion, lifted up their arms and wept; some, flinging themselves on the ground, rolled from side to side and wept, lamenting...

28. At that time, Ven. Subhadda [not the wanderer who was the last to convert], who had renounced only in his old age, was seated in the assembly. [He gave vent to this wrong view:] He addressed the monastics, saying: "Enough, friends! Do not grieve, do not lament! We are well rid of that Great Ascetic. Too long, friends, have we been oppressed by his saying: 'This is fitting for you; that is not fitting for you.' Now we shall be able to do as we wish. And what we do not wish, that we shall not do."

 

Ven. Maha Kassapa then addressed them: "Enough friends! Do not grieve, do not lament! For has not the Blessed One declared that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded, it is subject to decay. How can one say: 'May it not come to dissolution!'?" 

• [This remark by this wayward monk later impelled Maha Kassapa to call the First Council to organize and systematically authenticate the Buddha's teachings, leading to the formation of a formal "religion."] 

29. Now at that time four Mallas of the foremost families, bathed from the crown of their heads and wearing new clothes, with the thought: "We will set alight the Blessed One's pyre," tried to do so but could not. And the Mallas spoke to Anuruddha: "What is the cause, Ven. Anuruddha, what is the reason that these four Mallas...cannot?"

 

"Vasetthas, you have one purpose, the devas [invisible fairies] have another."

 

"Then what, venerable sir, is the purpose of the devas?"

 

"The purpose of the devas, Vasetthas, is this: 'Ven. Maha Kassapa is on his way from Pava to Kusinara together with a large company of the Buddha's monastic disciples. Let not the Blessed One's pyre be set alight until Ven. Maha Kassapa has paid homage at the feet of the Blessed One.'"

 

"As the devas wish, venerable sir, so let it be." More

• Last Days of the Buddha, Verses 30 to conclusion
• Cover Story: The Fascinating Buddha (Satya Sai Baba)
• Cremation in Buddhism