Chapter 40 Chapter 4 Nirvana Beyond the Concept-3

Buddha had a cousin named Nanda who was deeply in love with his wife.They are infatuated with each other, inseparable day and night.Knowing that it was time for his cousin to wake up from this addiction, the Buddha went to Nanda's palace to beg for food.Because Nanda has been busy making love, visitors are usually always sent away.But the Buddha has his special influence. For many lifetimes, he has never said that he has ever told a lie. Because of this merit, the Buddha has the power of persuasion. Wish, but also had to get up from his love nest.He felt that at least he should greet his cousin.Just before leaving the room, his wife wet her thumb with saliva, drew a circle on his forehead, and told him to come back before the saliva dried up.But when Nanda went out to make offerings, the Buddha invited him to see something very rare and wonderful.Nanda tried to find an excuse not to go on this sightseeing trip, but Buddha insisted that he must go.

So the two came to a mountain where many monkeys lived.Among them was a particularly old and bony one-eyed female monkey.The Buddha asked Nanda, who is more beautiful, your wife or this female monkey?Nanda replied that of course his wife was the most beautiful and described all her charms.As soon as he talked about her, Nanda remembered that the saliva on his forehead had dried up long ago, and he wanted to go back very much.But the Buddha insisted on taking him to Tushita Heaven, where he saw hundreds of beautiful goddesses and mountains of heavenly treasures.Buddha asked, who is more beautiful, your wife or these goddesses?This time Nanda bowed and replied that his wife was like a female monkey compared to these goddesses.The Buddha then took Nanda to see an empty throne surrounded by jewels, beauties and guards.Shocked, Nanda asked, who is sitting here?The Buddha told him to ask the goddesses.They told him that there was a man named Nanda in the world who was about to become a monk.Because of his good deeds, he will be reborn in the celestial world as the master of the throne where we will serve him.Nanda immediately asked the Buddha to ordain him.

After returning to the human world, Nanda became a monk.The Buddha called another cousin, Ananda, and told him that all the monks should not talk to Nanda, and that they should avoid him no matter what. "Don't communicate, because your motivations are different; therefore your views are different, and your actions must be different." The Buddha said, "You are looking for enlightenment, but he is looking for happiness." Nanda, he became lonely and sad.He told Buddha how it felt to be abandoned, and Buddha asked him to go out with him one more time.This time they went to the hell realm and saw all kinds of torture, mutilation, and suffocation.Among these, there is a huge iron cauldron, around which the hell imps are ready to serve.Buddha asked Nanda to ask what they were doing?They replied that there was a man named Nanda in the world who was now a monk.Because of this, he will go to the heavens for a long time, but because he has not cut off the root of samsara, he will be too indulged in the pleasures of the heavens and will not pursue more good karma. When the merits are exhausted, he will go straight down. In this pot, we just wait to boil him.

Only then did Nanda realize that he had to forsake not only unhappiness but also happiness. * ** * Nanda's story illustrates how we are addicted to pleasure.Same as him. , we discard existing pleasures as soon as better ones appear.Seeing the one-eyed monkey strengthened Nanda's perception that his wife was the most beautiful, but when he saw the goddesses, he abandoned her without hesitation.If enlightenment is nothing but happiness, it will also be thrown away when something better comes along.The foundation of a life built on happiness is fragile. We humans imagine the enlightened being in our own context.It is easier to imagine a fictional enlightened being standing vaguely in the distance than it is to be present, a living, breathing enlightened being.Because in our minds, besides possessing all the best human qualities, such an enlightened person must be extraordinary, possessing superhuman abilities and characteristics.Perhaps some of us think that by working very hard, one can eventually attain enlightenment.But with such a lofty image in mind, "working really hard" could represent millions of lifetimes of struggle and sacrifice of all things fun.This kind of thought may only emerge when we are willing to think about it, but most of the time, we don't want to think about it.It's exhausting.When we see how difficult it is to get rid of a worldly habit, enlightenment seems out of reach. If we can't even quit smoking, how can we expect to get rid of the habits of greed, anger, and ignorance?Many people think that we have to entrust someone like a savior or guru to do the work of purification for us because we don't have the confidence to do it alone.But these pessimistic views are unnecessary when we have the right message about the truth of interdependence and apply it with a little discipline.