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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 Mirror of Truth

    The Blessed One proceeded to the village Nadika
    with a great company of brethren
    and there he stayed at the Brick Hall.
    And the venerable Ananda went to the Blessed One
    and mentioning to him the names of the brethren and sisters that had died,
    anxiously inquired about their fate after death,
    whether they had been reborn in animals or in hell,
    or as ghosts, or in any place of woe. [1]

    And the Blessed One replied to Ananda and said: [2]

    "Those who have died after the complete destruction of the three bonds of lust,
    or convetousness and of the egotistical cleaving to existence,
    need not fear the state after death.
    They will not be reborn in a state of suffering;
    their minds will not continue as a karma of evil deeds or sin,
    but are assured of final salvation.
    [3]

    "When they die, nothing will remain of them
    but their good thoughts, their righteous acts,
    and the bliss that proceeds from truth and righteousness.
    As rivers must at last reach the distant main,
    so their minds will be reborn in higher states of existence
    and continue to be pressing on to their ultimate goal
    which is the ocean of truth, the eternal peace of Nirvana.
    [4]

    "Men are anxious about death and their fate after death;
    but consider, it is not at all strange, Ananda,
    that a human being should die.
    However, that thou shouldst inquire about them,
    and having heard the truth still be anxious about the dead,
    this is wearisome to the Blessed One.
    I will, therefore, teach thee the mirror of truth
    and let the faithful disciple repeat it:
    [5]

    "'Hell is destroyed for me,
    and rebirth as an animal,
    or a ghost, or in any place of woe.
    I am converted;
    I am no longer liable to be reborn in a state of suffering,
    and am assured of final salvation.'
    [6]

    "What, then, Ananda, is this mirror of truth?
    It is the conciousness that the elect disciple
    is in this world possessed of faith in the Buddha,
    believing the Blessed One to be the Holy One,
    the Fully-enlightened One, wise, upright, happy, world-knowing, supreme,
    the Bridler of men's way ward hearts, the Teacher of gods and men,
    the blessed Buddha.
    [7]

    "It is further the conciousness that the disciple
    is possessed of faith in the truth,
    believing the truth to have been proclaimed by the Blessed One,
    for the benefit of the world, passing not away,
    welcoming all, leading to salvation,
    to which through truth the wise will atain,
    each one by one by his own efforts.
    [8]

    "And, finally, it is the conciousness
    that the disciple is possessed of faith in the order,
    believing in the efficacy of a union among those men and women
    who are anxious to walk in the noble eightfold path;
    believing the church of the Buddha,
    of the righteous, the upright, the just, the law-abiding,
    to be worthy of honour, of hospitality, of gifts, and of reverence;
    to be the supreme sowing-ground of merit for the world;
    to be possesed of the virtues beloved by the good,
    virtues unbroken, intact, unspotted, unblemished,
    virtues which make men truly free,
    virtues which are praised by the wise,
    are untarnished by the desire of selfish aims,
    either now or in a future life,
    or by the belief in the efficacy of outward acts,
    and are conducive to high and holy thought.
    [9]

    "This is the mirror of truth
    which teaches the straightest way to enlightenment
    which is the common goal of all living creatures.
    He who possesses the mirror of truth is free from fear;
    he will find comfort in the tribulations of life,
    and his life will be a blessing to all his fellow-creatures."
    [10]

    End Chapter 91


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

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