Take yourself as a continent
What did the Buddha say on the last passage?
Last episode
We told the story of King Ajax.
patricide
seize power
Then walk into the bamboo forest house
To meet the person he's been afraid to meet deep down
Buddha did not reject him
today
We keep going.
Hello
Hello.
I am Wang Lijie
Around 483 BC
Central India
An 80-year-old man was walking north.
exact year
It was controversial.
There are two main schools of thought.
One is long school.
It is believed that he was born around 563 BC
Ended in 483 BC
The second is short-term
It is believed that he was born around 480 BC
The first 400 years
Pali tradition and Theravada follow the former
So today we also use this coordinate as a benchmark
Buddha
Around 483 BC
Left this world
He was eighty.
He has been ill for many years
The body is getting worse
But he didn't stop.
Did not return to Wangshe City
Not waiting to die in that big city with easy access to medical care and adequate support
He chooses to go
Go north
Go to Kumanaro
A small town that was already quite in decline at that time
It's a place that most people don't go to.
This section of the road
About 300 kilometers.
According to his physical condition at that time
Been gone for almost three months
He's been teaching the Fa all the way
What I'm going to talk about today
It comes from the Pali scriptures, the Great Prajnirvana scriptures.
It is the longest sutra in the Pali < long part >
The information density of this sutra is very high
Recorded the last three months of Buddha's life
Almost every important thing that happens
Let's start with a scene before we set out
Buddha was still near Wangshe City at that time
The minister of Magadha, Usher, visited
With a question from King Ajax
King Ajay plans to attack the Republic of Baja in the north
He wanted to know.
Are there any odds?
The Buddha did not answer directly
Instead, he turned to ask the waiter Ananda seven questions
Baqi
Are you still holding regular national rallies?
Their assembly
Did it start nicely and end nicely?
Are they still obeying the laws handed down from their ancestors?
Are they still respecting and listening to the older elders?
They haven't started using coercion against women?
Are they still protecting and nurturing religious sites within their borders?
They are still taking good care of the practitioners
Are those practitioners supported?
Ananda answered one by one
Yes
both
Buddha said
As long as the Ba Qi people can achieve these seven things
They would not be doomed to decline.
Ajax
Can't attack them
Yu She said something before leaving
I just realized today.
Why did Ba Qi have such prosperity?
This is the scene.
Ostensibly a judgment about a war
But its true intention
To lay the groundwork for what follows
Because after Yu She left
The Buddha immediately called his disciples
Told the Sangha the Seven Non-Retreat Method
So he says.
monks
As long as you can do these seven things
The Sangha will not decline
first
meet regularly
Harmony
second
Do not arbitrarily add or subtract existing regulations during meetings
Just follow the original rules
third
Do not abolish the norms set by the elders
Do not underestimate their teaching
fourth
Not to be hijacked by lust and craving
Don't let selfish desires influence collective decision-making
fifth
Happy to be quiet and practice
Take pleasure in being alone
sixth
Create an environment where new practitioners can find support
seventh
Guard the virtuous bhikkhus
Enable them to be protected and supported
You listen
Don't you think these conditions are very simple?
Yes!
The Buddha is using the health indicators of the Jain Republic
Mapping the core requirements of an organization to stay viable
He is telling his disciples
The survival of an organization
It's a mechanism.
Not a leader
I didn't say that casually.
He was 80 years old.
Life is counting down.
He knows.
This is the final series of lectures
He is making the last institutional plan
Leave Wangshe City
Go north
And they came to Visheli.
A wealthy republican city
This was the last time the Buddha stayed in Vishali
There is a detail
It is worth noting
After eating
He walked over to a place called the shrine.
We do "elephant retrospect."
Looking back at Visheli for the last time
Elephant Review
It's the way the elephant turns around with its whole body looking at it.
Not the kind of person who glances back
It means a very complete, very conscious gaze.
Not randomly looking back
It's saying goodbye to involving the whole body.
Ananda records this detail
Not for literary effect
It was because he felt it at the time
And it wasn't just any looking back.
In Visheli
The Buddha told his disciples
Three months later.
I will perish here
finish
He did something that surprised his disciples
He continued to preach
And it talks about very practical spiritual content
During this time, he repeatedly emphasized the four thoughts
It is the focus of the four practices of mindfulness, mindfulness, mindfulness, and mindfulness
So he says.
monks
This is the only path to liberation
only
Not one of many paths
But the only one
So he says.
This is the practitioner purifying the body and mind, transcending misery
The Straight Path to Nirvana
Think about it.
At this point in time
He knew he was going to die in three months
But he wasn't talking about a will.
It's not a summary of my life.
It's not a memorial speech.
It's a very specific methodology.
See the body as the body
viewing is like receiving
Watch the heart as the heart
Viewing the law as the law
It's like a surgeon.
I know I'm retiring tomorrow
But I'm still working in the operating room today.
While teaching students how to cut and sew
His full attention
Not on yourself
On the job at hand
And then...
He called Ananda
Ananda followed the Buddha for about 25 years
Was his closest waiter in his later years
Of course he was confused inside.
He asked
Blessed One
After you leave
What about the Sangha?
Who will lead us?
Have you ever considered
What lies behind this question?
Ananda is not asking where power belongs
He is asking
I lost you
Where do I go to find directions?
A man who has been with us for 25 years
When the most trusted person is about to leave
The kind of fundamental confusion that emanates
Buddha's answer
Became the entire history of Buddhism
The most important sentence at the level of institutional design
Ananda
Take yourself as a continent
France as a continent
Don't take other places as a continent
Depend on yourself
law-based
Don't rely on other places
The first time you read this sentence
Do you feel a little lonely?
Yes, I do.
There are several layers to this sentence
first floor
The most direct meaning is
You don't need an outside authority to tell you what to do
Your own internal practice
And the law itself
Is your support
second floor
This is a decision about the system
Buddha is here
Explicitly refuse to appoint an heir
He took authority
Distracted from the abstract notion of law.
Rather than any one specific person
Third floor
The historical impact of this decision
Too big to measure
It is because of this sentence
Buddhism from the very beginning
There is no pope
There is no sole legitimate heir to this structure
No one can say
I am the only authentic Buddha who has been certified
Every practitioner
You must rely on your own practice
Law-based
This design
Created an incredible diversity of Buddhism
The southern tradition retains close to the original Pali language
After the Han Dynasty collided with Chinese culture
Growing Zen, Pure Land, Huayan
Tantra has taken a completely different path of practice
But also because of this design
Buddhism has also lost its unified judge
2,500 years
All sects deny each other and call each other authentic
South Legend has retained the factory settings for itself.
Han legend has it that he has the deepest prajna
Tantra says it has the highest amount of evidence
They don't speak the same language
They don't solve the same problem.
All of this.
It can be traced back to this sentence by Visheli
You think it's a genius design
Or a Pandora's box of endless controversy for future generations
I want to make a comparison for you
In several major human religious traditions
Different succession systems produce very different fates
Christianity later established the papacy
There is a single supreme authority
So there was the Reformation.
Parties appeared
"Who is God's agent on earth?"
Islam after the death of Muhammad
The first thing is to fight for the heir
The debate has divided Sunnis and Shiites
That division is still bleeding today.
Buddhism
Because of the sentence "Take yourself as the continent"
Take France as the Continent "
Took a very unique path
No Pope
But there is no authority that can unify Buddhism
It produces the richest diversity
It also pays the price of not being able to integrate
This comparison
There is no standard answer
But it helps you understand
The weight behind that sentence
We continue north
Departure from Pishe
And they came to Pava.
Right there.
A blacksmith named Chuntuo
Offering a meal to the Buddha
Regarding the content of that meal
And the Pali scripture says "thanal."
There are two schools of interpretation in English.
One school thinks it's a mushroom
One school thinks it's pork
What exactly?
There is no confirmation today.
After the Buddha ate
severe diarrhea
severe pain
Blood gushing
He's still walking in the direction of Kumanaro
on the road
He commanded Ananda
Go and tell Chuntuo a word for me
Tell him
Don't feel guilty about this.
history
There are two meals of equal weight
first meal
Before I became enlightened
That meal that restored my strength
Second meal
It's this meal of Chuntuo today
They've taken an equal place in my life's history.
The same merit
You stop and think.
An old man with severe abdominal pain who could collapse at any time
With the last bit of effort
Arrange for someone to tell the ordinary blacksmith who supports him
Don't feel guilty.
His attention
At this moment
Not on yourself
This is not a moral performance
It's a natural outpouring of an inner state.
They reached Komonaro
This city
In history, there is no reputation like Wang She City and She Wei City
It was a pretty run-down town.
A disciple asked the Buddha
Why are you dying here?
Why not in a big city?
His answer
I won't tell you.
Leave that to you.
After arrival
The Buddha asked Ananda to make a bed between two sara trees
Head north
Lying on the right
Facing west
Saul tree sensed something
Bloom flowers outside the season for him
Sprinkle flowers on him
Just at this time
Here comes an old wandering practitioner
Suvartha
He traveled most of his life
Met many mentors
He never found an answer that really satisfied him
I heard that someone is about to die
He came to see
Ananda tried to stop him
Ananda said
The Blessed One is weak
Don't bother
Buddha heard it from his bed
Say
Ananda
Send him in.
Suvartha sit down
I asked him a question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time
So he says.
There were many famous spiritual teachers at that time
They each claim to have attained the highest state
But they all said different things.
Whose story is true?
The Buddha did not evaluate those people
He only said one sentence
Suvartha
Any spiritual practice system
If the Eightfold Path is not among them
There will be no true spiritual results
And then...
He preached the Noble Eightfold Path to Suvarata
Subata became a monk on the spot
Become the last personal disciple of the Buddha in his life
Every time I read this passage
Will stop
He was in terrible pain.
May die at any time
Just then someone knocked on the door
Ananda wants to block
So he says.
Let him in!
Then he patiently explained the Fa to the stranger
Watch him become a monk
The word compassion
I think it's too light.
It's a state that's only possible after you've forgotten yourself.
Just before and after
And something else happened that was very moving for me.
Ananda steps aside
Against the door frame
Bow your head and cry
Why is he crying?
He later said
I haven't done it in my life
My mentor is about to perish
He was so nice to me.
And I have not yet been able to preach
The Buddha noticed that Ananda was gone
Let someone find it
After finding
Call him in.
So he says.
Ananda
Don't cry.
Don't be sad
Didn't I tell you already?
All dear and beautiful things
Will eventually be separated
That's the nature of impermanence.
I'm leaving soon
But I want to tell you
Of all my waiters
You are the kindest and most considerate one
Ananda
You have been practicing for a long time
Keep improving
You will soon preach
And then...
The Buddha said to the other disciples
And you know what?
There was always a Buddha in history.
There is such a waiter
Just like Ananda today
Ananda is a very rare person
This record
Every time I read
I feel very distressed
Also very warm
A person is dying
In his final days
He saw the person next to him crying
He took the initiative to find this person
comfort him
sure he
Tell him
You are fine
You will do it.
His death
It's even warm.
And finally.
Buddha entered into meditation
Enter from the first meditation
Go deep layer by layer
Second meditation
Third meditation
Fourth meditation
And then move on to the deeper invisible boundaries
Ananda is standing beside
I thought he was destroyed in the deepest part
But Analeus, who is proficient in meditation, says
Not yet.
The Blessed One is still there
He's just reached the point where he wants to die.
It's not dead yet.
And then...
Buddha walked back from the deepest place
Exit layer by layer
Through all levels of the invisible world
Return to the fourth meditation
Third meditation
Second meditation
First meditation
Then go deeper again
Return to the fourth meditation
In the fourth meditation
He perishes
The disciples present
Then I recited a verse
Impermanence
It's birth and death.
Birth and death
Silence for joy
This verse
From then on, it was tied to this scene forever
He left no description of where he had gone
He didn't say wait until you meet on the other side
He also left no one who could replace him as the final referee
The last words he left behind
It was said to the disciples before entering meditation
All promising law
Are impermanent
Please use unbridled diligence
Finish your own liberating work
This sentence
And what he said in Pisheli, "Take yourself as your continent."
Take France as the Continent "
The two pillars that formed the final stage of his life
One is at the institutional level
Don't look to outside authorities
Law is to rely on
One is the spiritual level
Don't rely on anyone
Diligence is your own business
Put the two sentences together
Is the final core of his entire teaching
consciousness
It's your own business
No one can replace you
No one's blessing can allow you to bypass your own practice
Two and a half thousand years have passed.
These two sentences are still sharp
even
In an age of high-dimensional teachers, enlightenment certifications, and energy transfer
They are more piercing than ever
Because they are saying
There are no shortcuts.
Not doing it for you.
No one else can walk for you
Certainly.
His death also left a very huge suspense
After he left
What about these disciples?
Ananda that night
What happened
What decision did Dajiaye make?
For the first time, they gathered all their disciples together
It was not a harmonious academic conference.
It's a big gathering full of tension and games
Who recites the scriptures that count?
The Book of Ananda and the Book of Kasyapa
Can it match?
Gathering this time
And they fundamentally shaped Buddhism for the next 2,500 years.
That's where we're going in the next episode
That's it for today's episode.
I'd like to ask you a question.
Take yourself as the continent
Buddha's meaning
It is for everyone to rely on their own inner practice
But today
How do we tell the difference?
Sober-mindedness
And self-centered arrogance
The former is a kind of self-reliance
The latter is a self-enclosure that refuses to be corrected
The boundary between the two
How do you row?
Please let me know your opinion in the comment section.
I am Wang Lijie
See you next time.