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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

    The Mustard Seed

    There was a rich man who found his gold suddenly transformed into ashes;
    and he took to his bed and refused all food.
    A friend, hearing of his sickness,
    visited the rich man and learned the cause of his grief.
    And the friend said:
    "Thou didst not make good use of thy wealth.
    When thou didst hoard it up it was not better than ashes.
    Now heed my advice. Spread mats in the bazaar;
    pile up these ashes, and pretend to trade with them."
    [1]

    The rich man did as his friend had told him,
    and when his neighbours asked him,
    "Why sellest thou ashes?" he said:
    "I offer my goods for sale." [2]

    After some time a young girl, named Kisa Gotama,
    an orphan and very poor, passed by,
    and seeing the rich man in the bazaar, said:
    "My lord, why pilest thou thus up gold and silver for sale." [3]

    And the rich man said:
    "Wilt thou please hand me that gold and silver?"
    And Kisa Gotami took up a handful of ashes,
    and lo! they changed back into gold. [4]

    Considering that Kisa Gotami had the mental eye of spiritual knowledge
    and saw the real worth of things,
    the rich man gave her in marriage to his son, and he said:
    "With many, gold is no better than ashes,
    but with Kisa Gotami ashes become pure gold."
    [5]

    And Kisa Gotami had an only son, and he died.
    In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbours,
    asking them for medicine, and the people said:
    "She has lost her senses. The boy is dead." [6]

    At length Kisa Gotami met a man who replied to her request:
    "I cannot give thee medicine for thy child,
    but I know a physician who can."
    [7]

    And the girl said: "Pray tell me, sir; who is it?"
    And the man replied: "Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha." [8]

    Kisa Gotami repaired to the Buddha and cried:
    "Lord and Master, give me medicine that will cure my boy." [8]

    The Buddha answered:
    "I want a handful of mustard seed."
    And when the girl in her joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added:
    "The mustard seed must be taken from a house
    where no one has lost a child, husband, parent, or friend."
    [10]

    Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house,
    and the people pitied her and said:
    "Here is mustard seed; take it!"
    But when she asked,
    "Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?"
    They answered her:
    "Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many.
    Do not remind us of our deepest grief."
    And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it. [11]

    Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless, and sat down at the wayside,
    watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again.
    At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere.
    And she considered the fate of men,
    that their lives flicker up and are extinguished.
    And she thought to herself:
    "How selfish am I in my grief!
    Death is common to all;
    yet in this valley of desolation there is a path
    that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness."
    [12]

    Putting away the selfishness of her affection for her child,
    Kisa Gotami had the dead boy buried in the forest.
    Returning to the Buddha, she took refuge in him
    and found comfort in the Dharma,
    which is a balm that will soothe
    all the pains of our troubled hearts. [13]

    The Buddha said: [14]

    "The life of mortals in this world
    is troubled and brief and combined with pain.
    For there is not any means by which those
    that have been born can avoid dying;
    after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings.
    [15]

    "As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling,
    so mortals when born are always in danger of death.
    [16]

    "As all earthen vessels made by the potter and in being broken,
    so is the life of mortals.
    [17]

    "Both young and adult,
    both those who are fools
    and those who are wise,
    all fall into the power of death;
    all are subject to death.
    [18]

    "Of those who, overcome by death, depart from life,
    a father cannot save his son, nor kinsmen their relations.
    [19]

    "Mark! while relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply,
    one by one mortals are carried off,
    like an ox that is led to the slaughter.
    [20]

    "So the world is afflicted with death and decay,
    therefore the wise do not grieve,
    knowing the terms of the world.
    [21]

    "In whatever manner people think a thing will come to pass,
    it is often different when it happens,
    and great is the disappointment;
    see, such are the terms of the world.
    [22]

    "Not from weeping nor from grieving will any one obtain peace of mind;
    on the contrary, his pain will be the greater and his body will suffer.
    He will make himself sick and pale,
    yet the dead are not saved by his lamentation.
    [23]

    "People pass away,
    and their fate after death
    will be according to their deeds.
    [24]

    "If a man live a hundred years, or even more,
    he will at last be separated from the company of his relatives,
    and leave the life of this world.
    [25]

    "He who seeks peace
    should draw out the arrow of lamentation, and complaint, and grief.
    [26]

    "He who has drawn out the arrow
    and has become composed will obtain peace of mind;
    he who has overcome all sorrow
    will become free from sorrow, and be blessed."
    [27]

    End Chapter 84


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

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