Essays in Zen Buddhism : $b First seriesSuzuki, Daisetz Teitaro
Religion
Essays in Zen Buddhism : $b First series
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro
Zen Buddhism
[f18] This was very well understood by the Buddha himself when he
first attained Enlightenment; he knew that what he realised in his
enlightened state of mind could not be imparted to others, and that
if it were imparted they could not understand it. This was the reason
why he in the beginning of his religious career expressed the desire
to enter into Nirvana without trying to revolve the Wheel of the
Dharma. We read in one of the Sutras belonging to the Agama class
of Buddhist literature, which is entitled _Sutra on the Cause and
Effect in the Past and Present_ (fas. II.): “My original vows are
fulfilled, the Dharma [or Truth] I have attained is too deep for the
understanding. A Buddha alone is able to understand what is in the mind
of another Buddha. In this age of the Five Taints (_pañca-kashāyā_),
all beings are enveloped in greed, anger, folly, falsehood, arrogance,
and flattery; they have few blessings and are stupid and have no
understanding to comprehend the Dharma I have attained. Even if I make
the Dharma-Wheel revolve, they would surely be confused and incapable
of accepting it. They may on the contrary indulge in defamation, and,
thereby falling into the evil paths, suffer all kinds of pain. It is
best for me to remain quiet and enter into Nirvana.” In the _Sutra
on the Story of the Discipline_, which is considered an earlier
translation of the preceding text and was rendered into Chinese by an
Indian Buddhist scholar, Ta-li and a Tibetan, Mang-siang, in A.D. 197,
no reference is yet made to the Buddha’s resolution to keep silent
about his Enlightenment, only that what he attained was all-knowledge
which was beyond the understanding and could not be explained, as its
height was unscalable and its depth unfathomable, containing the whole
universe in it and yet penetrating into the unpenetrable”.... Cf. the
_Mahāpadāna Suttanta_ (Dīgha Nikāya, XIV), and the _Ariyapariyesana
Suttam_ (Majjhima, XXVI).
[f19] Cf. Saṁyukta Āgama (Chinese), Fas. XXXII.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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