Dawn of the Truth

A king hears a sound that he has never heard before, he enquires from his aids what that sound is and they say it is the sound of a Veena (an eastern musical instrument that resembles a lute). He demands that they bring that sound to him. The aids bring him the Veena (let’s call it a lute) with its bow and the king asks what they are. The aids say to him that it’s a lute. Not happy with what he got the King demands, "I want that beautiful sound I heard, not this." The aids explain to the king that the sound he heard originates from the lute when someone plays it with the bow. Disappointed with the lute the king exclaims, "Then I don't want that, take it away , break it  and  burn it."  The Buddha urges us to see the five aggregates of clinging in that manner, how they originate due to conditions. When one knows that, the Buddha says, erroneous notion of taking as me and mine will not arise. Let's examine this parable closely and try to unde...

On one occasion the Buddha was residing in a village named Kammāsadhamma in the Kuru country. A Brahmin called Bhāradvāja has prepared a grass-spread as resting-place for the Buddha in his fire-house. While the Blessed one had his dayrest in a nearby forest grove, the wanderer Māgandiya who visited Bhāradvāja learnt about Buddha’s visit and remarked that he would avoid Gauthama as he preaches to destroy births which he thought was detrimental to the existence of the world. His claim was that the beings who travel on Samsara ends the continuation of their existence when they listen to Buddha’s teachings and follow his Dhamma. As these people are not born again, he accused the Buddha, calling him a Destroyer of Births .  That evening the Buddha retired to the fire-house, where Bhāradvāja met him. The Buddha, knowing through his divine hearing what has happened earlier, asked Bhāradvāja about it, to his great surprise. They were interrupted by Māgandiya’s arrival. The ...