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The Gospel of Buddha

Preface

  • Preface:
    by Paul Carus


    Introduction
  • Chapter 01:
    Rejoice
  • Chapter 02:
    Samsara and Nirvana
  • Chapter 03:
    Truth the Saviour


    Prince Siddhattha becomes Buddha
  • Chapter 04:
    The Bodhisatta's Birth
  • Chapter 05:
    The Ties of Life
  • Chapter 06:
    The Three Woes
  • Chapter 07:
    The Bodhisatta's Renunciation
  • Chapter 08:
    King Bimbisara
  • Chapter 09:
    The Bodhisatta's Search
  • Chapter 10:
    Uruvela, the Place of Mortification
  • Chapter 11:
    Mara, the Evil One
  • Chapter 12:
    Enlightenment
  • Chapter 13:
    The First Converts
  • Chapter 14:
    Brahma's Request


    The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness
  • Chapter 15:
    Upaka
  • Chapter 16:
    The Sermon at Benares
  • Chapter 17:
    The Sangha
  • Chapter 18:
    Yasa, the Youth of Benares
  • Chapter 19:
    Kassapa
  • Chapter 20:
    The Sermon at Rajagaha
  • Chapter 21:
    The King's Gift
  • Chapter 22:
    Sariputta and Moggallana
  • Chapter 23:
    Anathapindika
  • Chapter 24:
    The Sermon on Charity
  • Chapter 25:
    Jetavana
  • Chapter 26:
    The Three Characteristics and the Uncreate
  • Chapter 27:
    The Buddha's Father
  • Chapter 28:
    Yasodhara
  • Chapter 29:
    Rahula


    Consolidation of the Buddha's religion
  • Chapter 30:
    Jivaka, the Physician
  • Chapter 31:
    The Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvana
  • Chapter 32:
    Women Admitted to the Sangha
  • Chapter 33:
    The Bhikkhus' Conduct Toward Women
  • Chapter 34:
    Visakha
  • Chapter 35:
    The Uposatha and Patimokkha
  • Chapter 36:
    The Schism
  • Chapter 37:
    The Re-establishment of Concord
  • Chapter 38:
    The Bhikkhus Rebuked
  • Chapter 39:
    Devadatta
  • Chapter 40:
    Name and Form
  • Chapter 41:
    The Goal
  • Chapter 42:
    Miracles Forbidden
  • Chapter 43:
    The Vanity of Worldliness
  • Chapter 44:
    Secrecy and Publicity
  • Chapter 45:
    The Annihilation of Suffering
  • Chapter 46:
    Avoiding the Ten Evils
  • Chapter 47:
    The Preacher's Mission


    The Teacher
  • Chapter 48:
    The Dhammapada
  • Chapter 49:
    The Two Brahmans
  • Chapter 50:
    Guard the Six Quarters
  • Chapter 51:
    Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation
  • Chapter 52:
    All Existence is Spiritual
  • Chapter 53:
    Identity and Non-Identity
  • Chapter 54:
    The Buddha Omnipresent
  • Chapter 55:
    One Essence, One Law, One Aim
  • Chapter 56:
    The Lesson Given to Rahula
  • Chapter 57:
    The Sermon on Abuse
  • Chapter 58:
    The Buddha Replies to the Deva
  • Chapter 59:
    Words of Instruction
  • Chapter 60:
    Amitabha
  • Chapter 61:
    The Teacher Unknown


    Parables and Stories
  • Chapter 62:
    Parables
  • Chapter 63:
    The Widow's Two Mites and the Parable of the Three Merchants
  • Chapter 64:
    The Man Born Blind
  • Chapter 65:
    The Lost Son
  • Chapter 66:
    The Giddy Fish
  • Chapter 67:
    The Cruel Crane Outwitted
  • Chapter 68:
    Four Kinds of Merit
  • Chapter 69:
    The Light of the World
  • Chapter 70:
    Luxurious Living
  • Chapter 71:
    The Communication of Bliss
  • Chapter 72:
    The Listless Fool
  • Chapter 73:
    Rescue in the Desert
  • Chapter 74:
    The Sower
  • Chapter 75:
    The Outcast
  • Chapter 76:
    The Woman at the Well
  • Chapter 77:
    The Peacemaker
  • Chapter 78:
    The Hungry Dog
  • Chapter 79:
    The Despot
  • Chapter 80:
    Vasavadatta
  • Chapter 81:
    The Marriage-Feast in Jambunada
  • Chapter 82:
    A Party in Search of a Thief
  • Chapter 83:
    In the Realm of Yamaraja
  • Chapter 84:
    The Mustard Seed
  • Chapter 85:
    Following the Master Over the Stream
  • Chapter 86:
    The Sick Bhikkhu
  • Chapter 87:
    The Patient Elephant


    The Last Days
  • Chapter 88:
    The Conditions of Welfare
  • Chapter 89:
    Sariputta's Faith
  • Chapter 90:
    Pataliputta
  • Chapter 91:
    The Mirror of Truth
  • Chapter 92:
    Ambapali
  • Chapter 93:
    The Buddha's Farewell Address
  • Chapter 94:
    The Buddha Announces His Death
  • Chapter 95:
    Chunda, the Smith
  • Chapter 96:
    Metteyya
  • Chapter 97:
    The Buddha's Final Entering into Nirvana


    Conclusion
  • Chapter 98:
    The Three Personalities of the Buddha
  • Chapter 99:
    The Purpose of Being
  • Chapter 100:
    The Praise of All the Buddhas


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    The Gospel of Buddha

    Uruvela, the Place of Mortification

    The Bodhisatta went in search of a better system
    and came to a settlement of five bhikkhus
    in the jungle of Uruvela;
    and when the Blessed One saw the life of those five men,
    virtuously keeping in check their senses,
    subduing their passions, and practising austere self-discipline,
    he admired their earnestness and joined their company. [1]

    With holy zeal and a strong heart,
    the Sakyamuni gave himself up to meditative thought
    and rigorous mortification of the body.
    Whereas the five bhikkhus were severe, the Sakyamuni was severer still,
    and they revered him, their junior, as their master. [2]

    So the Bodhisatta continued for six years
    patiently torturing himself and suppressing the wants of nature.
    He trained his body and exercised his mind
    in the modes of the most regorous ascetic life.
    At last, he ate each day one hemp-grain only,
    seeking to cross the ocean of birth and death
    and to arrive at the shore of deliverance. [3]

    And when the Bodhisatta was ahungered,
    lo! Mara, the Evil One, approached him and said:
    "Thou art emanciated from fasts, and death is near.
    What good is thy exertion?
    Deign to live, and thou wilt be able to do good works."

    But the Sakyamuni made reply:
    "O thou friend of the indolent, thou wicked one;
    for what purpose hast thou come?
    Let the flesh waste away,
    if but the mind becomes more tranquil
    and attention more steadfast.
    What is life in this world?
    Death in battle is better to me
    than that I should live defeated."
    [4]

    And Mara withdrew, saying:
    "For seven years I have followed the Blessed One step by step,
    but I have found no fault in the Tathagata."
    [5]

    The Bodhisatta was shrunken and attenuated,
    and his body was like a withered branch;
    but the fame of his holiness spread in the surrounding countries
    and people came from great distances to see him
    and receive his blessing. [6]

    However, the Holy One was not satisfied.
    Seeking true wisdom he did not find it,
    and he came to the conclusion that mortification would not extinguish desire
    nor afford enlightenment in ecstatic contemplation. [7]

    Seated beneath a jambu-tree,
    he considered the state of his mind
    and the fruits of his mortification.
    His body had become weaker,
    nor had his fasts advanced him in his search for salvation,
    and therefore when he saw that is was not the right path,
    he proposed to abandon it. [8]

    He went to bathe in the Neranyjaro river,
    but when he strove to leave the water
    he could not rise on account of his weakness.
    Then espying the branch of a tree and taking hold of it,
    he raised himself and left the stream.
    But while returning to his abode,
    he staggered and fell to the ground,
    and the five bhikkhus thought he was dead. [9]

    There was a chief herdsman living near the grove
    whose eldest daughter was called Nanda;
    and Nanda happened to pass by the spot where the Blessed One had swooned,
    and bowing down before him she offered him rice-milk and he accepted the gift.
    When he had partaken of the rice-milk all his limbs were refreshed,
    his mind became clear agin,
    and he was strong to receive the highest enlightenment. [10]

    After this occurrence, the Bodhisatta again took some food.
    His disciples, having witnessed the scene of Nanda
    and observing the change in his mode of living, were filled with suspicion.
    They were convinced that Siddhattha's religious zeal was flagging
    and that he whom they had hitherto revered as their Master
    had become oblivious of his high purpose. [11]

    When the Bodhisatta saw the bhikkhus turning away from him,
    he felt sorry for their lack of confidence,
    and was aware of the loneliness in which he lived. [12]

    Suppressing his grief he wandered on alone,
    and his disciples said:
    "Siddhattha leaves us to seek a more pleasant abode." [13]

    End Chapter 10


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    The Gospel of Buddha
    The Gospel of Buddha
    Compiled from ancient records by Paul Carus, 1894

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