Prince Poukatha had been a disciple of the Rathee Alara. He came to Buddha, and said to him, whilst he was under the shade of the tree: “Great indeed is the peace and calm composure of mind of the Rahans. On a former occasion,” added he, “whilst the Rathee Alara was travelling, he went to rest under the shade of a tree, at a small distance, by the wayside. A merchant with five hundred carts happened to pass by. A man that followed at a distance came to the place where Alara was resting, and inquired of him if he had seen the five hundred carts that had just passed by. Alara replied that he was not aware that any cart had come in sight. The man at first suspected that Alara was unsound in his mind, but he was soon convinced that what he was at first inclined to attribute to mental derangement was caused by the sublime abstraction of the Rathee from all that was taking place.” Buddha having heard this story, rejoined: “Which is, in your opinion, the more wonderful occurrence, to see a man in his senses and awake not to notice the passing of five hundred carts or even of one thousand, or to see another man, equally awake and in the enjoyment of his mental faculties, who did not hear the violence of a storm, a heavy fall of rain, accompanied with loud peals of thunder and uninterrupted flashes of lightning? In former times, I, the Buddha, was sitting under a small shed. A most violent storm came on; peals of thunder resounded more awfully than the roaring of the sea, and lightnings seemed to rend the atmosphere in every direction. At that time two brothers were ploughing in a field with four bullocks. They were all killed, men and bullocks, by lightning. A man came to me whilst I was walking in front of the shed, and told me that he came to see the accident that had just happened, and asked me some particulars concerning it. I answered him that I was not aware that any storm had raged near this place, nor any accident attended it. The stranger inquired of me whether I was asleep; or if not, whether I was in possession of my senses. I answered him that I was not asleep, and that I was in the perfect enjoyment of my mental and physical faculties. My answer made a powerful impression upon him: he thought within himself that great and wonderful is the power of Thamabat, which procures to the Rahans such an imperturbable calm of mind, which cannot be disturbed by the mightiest convulsions of nature. Now, Prince Poukatha, in whom do you think that the greatest calm of mind has prevailed?” “Most excellent Phra,” replied the prince, “the great respect I bore formerly unto the Rathee Alara has disappeared like the chaff before the wind, and run out like the water of a rapid stream. I am now like a man to whom the true road has been pointed out, who has discovered hidden things, and who has a shining light before him. You have announced to me the true law, which has dispelled the cloud of