(upbeat music) - This podcast is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you and happy listening. - Okay, so my name's Amo Kavatja and soon I've answered a few times in the past I said, "Why don't you follow the Dharma Kasha?" And he said, "Ellen, this year." 'Cause he said, "You've got a sanger to treat." "Why don't you come up?" And I thought, "Yeah." And I was able to, this year, so here I am, a Dharma Kasha on the Glasgow Buddhist Center, sanger to treat. And normally that, he said, more things to me. He said, "Well, we're gonna have a theme, "do you wanna give a talk?" And I said, "Well, okay, yeah, "I'll give a talk." And then he said, "Okay, the theme is the telegatta, "the telegatta." And I gave a talk on one of the, some things that are called songs of the elders. So I said, "Right, okay." And I've read them before and they're free, if you want. I don't know if you've been reading any of their extracts that have been around. But they're free, if you want. They're really full on. These are early Buddhists that gained enlightenment. So they're not just messing around. They're not just taking around. They have a kind of hardcore, yeah. They've really gone profoundly deep in their practice. So I said, "Okay, I'll give a talk." And then I thought, "Oh, we're gonna give a talk on." So I was reading through these songs of the elders. And the one that struck me was on Mahakashaka. So I'm gonna talk on Mahakashaka. Yeah. And I think yesterday, soon I've actually gave a proper talk what I'm good at giving today is possibly a bit more like a story. And so I was really pleased that he was talking about fairy stories yesterday. He was. You did say, you can check in the transcript. He talked about stories and even fairy story was mentioned at one point. So I'm not sure if I'm gonna tell a fairy story, but I'm gonna tell a story. And it will be the story of Mahakashapa. And we'll hear some of his verses at the end. And as I'm talking, I was thinking, well, there's two types of truth. There is narrative truth and there's cognitive truth. Mostly in the West, we're very familiar with cognitive truth. Cognitive truth is what appears to a rational mind. It's the truth of science. It's the truth of science. That's a good way of putting it. It's very cognitive, very rational. But there's also what's called narrative truth. Narrative truth is the truth of legend, of poetry. And you know, if you've been out in the weather today, you might come back in and say, God, it was raining cats and dogs. And people will understand what you mean. But it wasn't literally raining cats and dogs yet. So there is such a, this is an narrative truth. It's the poetic truth that conveys something, but it's not to be taken literally. So some of what I'll be talking about is probably actually happened. Some of what may be my understanding of what may well have happened. And that will become apparent. So it's probably more than the realm of high geography. So we think again in the West a lot about history and we think we want to get facts and details and this heart and then and that heart and then and then somebody did that and they did it in that place and I went to that place. And that does convey something. But again, more traditionally in Buddhism, you often get high geographies. And they are based on some historical events, but they're also conveying the feeling or the experience of what it was like that went on. So this is what high geographies are saying. It's not about hags, it's not the bad review of hags. It's conveying something more poetic, a combination of poetic truth and literal truth. So this is what you get a lot in Buddhist texts when you get a life of, say a life of Padma Sandoval. Some of it probably actually happened and some day something and the rest of it happened, but it was a zest, it was like this. So it was as if this was what happened. Okay. So you're all sitting comfortably. Good, good. So we're going to begin. I've got a time travel. Yeah, so when you tell your story, so all stories happen kind of slightly in a different space. So we're going to do some traveling. So do sit tightly. And yeah, put your seat belt on. So we're going to travel. We're going to travel back. We're going to do two types of travel. We're going to travel in time. And we're going to travel in space. And I've got, so I've got, Dr. Who's gets tiredness. Well, I can do one better. And I just use symbols. We're going to travel on the sound. We're going to travel on the sound. So we're going to travel, maybe not quite the speed of sound, but we're going to travel in the sound. Yeah, so as the sound goes, as the sound, the sound's going to be traveling. So we're going to travel with this sound, yeah? And we're lifting off from Dana-Kosha. You're all pretty safe. Don't wander off too far on your own. Yeah, stay with us. And we're going, but we're going to go east. Yeah, so we're heading back in time and we're heading east. And we're still traveling. We're going back 10 years or 100 years further. Going back 1000 years. Going back in further. It's still possible. Might have to ring the bell again to get a bit further. Going further back. We're going back two and a half thousand years. And we've found the place that we're going to. And this is a very flat land, yeah. And as you've familiarized yourself with it, you'll find that, yeah, it's quite flat. In a very far distance, you can see a sea. There's lots of green around. There's lots of forest around. And in a distance, there's also some mountains. And these mountains have got snow on top. So they're very high. Yeah, they're very high. And sometimes you know that there's a cold wind can come down off of those mountains. You can feel it on your skin. But there's three seasons in this land. There is the kill season. There's a hot season, and there's a rainy or monsoon season. And this land is called Magadar. And this land is also called India. So we know what it's India. In the past, people knew it under different names. But we will call it Magadar. So we're back, we have two and a half thousand years to go. There is lots of people who live in villages. There is kings reeling over lands. There is lots happening. So some of you went to village end of today. You probably see something very similar. So we've traveled back two and a half thousand years ago. And we'll begin to hear the cry of a newborn baby. So he's just born. And even back in India, they used to spank you in your bottom just to check you had a good pair of lungs. And he's beginning to cry. It's a boy, it's a young boy. And his father and mother are both present. Well, and the mother's always present and the mother's present as well. Yeah. And the father's there as well, they're both very proud. They're both very happy, they've had a newborn son. Yeah, so the mother's exhausted, but very happy. And the father's kind of beside himself. He's got a near to his throne. Because this is, no, maybe not quite a king, but he thinks he's a king. He's said to be, he owns 16 villages. So I don't know what size the villages are. Maybe you can imagine better than I can, but they are, he's the owner of 16 villages. So I don't know, that could be quite a big bit of land. And anyway, this particular mind is very wealthy. Yeah. And he assumes, he feels like, well, maybe if it was Scotland, he might think he was the client chief, but he's an India, so he's a Raja, he's a king. He feels himself to be a king. He's very happy that he's got a son. And his mother is very proud that she's got something that she can bring up, something that she can daughter and love and bring up. So they're both very happy. So thanks progress in this young boy's life. He begins to grow older, and his character begins to form. We begin to get to see that this young lad has a character. And his character is that, well, he's quite a happy child. Yeah, he's bright, he's happy, and he's very contented on his own. He's happy just doing stuff on his own. So his parents sometimes think, well, maybe I'll need to get in some playmates. We're not sure if he's getting a brother's assistant, but he's quite happy. He's happy on his own, he's quite bright. And he goes through his early years, and he goes into his teenage years. And this character just begins to, this just seems 'cause I'm quite special about him. I'm sure you've all probably met something that you just think, inside, that's just something quite blessed about this particular person. And so that's young boy. And he's got a name, his name is Cashapar. So he just seems inside, very happy, very bright, very contented. And yeah, as far as the king of these 16 villages, his mother's very, very proud. And especially as you get into teenage years, those of you that are parents, probably, no, the teenage years are a bit more difficult between parents and children. So it seems like there's a bit of tension. And it's about unusual tension. And that's a particular family. 'Cause here we have Cashapar, very bright, very happy, happy to spend time in his own. Love Swearies, Livin', 'cause he can quite easily get out into the jungle and get out into the wilderness and just really enjoy the beauty of the natural world around him. And there's a bit of tension. And the tension is that his father wants Cashapar to become like him. His father wants Cashapar to grow up and to take on the 16 villages. The Cashapar's not really that interested. Cashapar's much more interested in sort of leaving our worldly life. So there's a bit of tension in the household. So now his father is, you know, just trying to give them all the things that he thinks he would want. So he's dragging him down to the ice shops and trying to see an apron, you know? (audience laughing) Do you want the apron? I don't know that the store's got apron. Cashapar's in. No, I don't even want one. What do you want? I'm just quite happy with all of them wandering. You know, just leave me. I'm just quite happy and he's a mother. He's in his teenage years, these teenage years. And his mother has sort of been doting on him and seeing him grow up playing in his own and been quite happy and he's only thinking, is there something wrong with my boy? He's not chasing after a woman. And he's not. So she's like, why don't you get yourself a girlfriend? Why don't we want a girlfriend who's quite happy as I am? So there's a wee bit of tension. Yeah, the parents can't really quite understand them. They're really into, as far as really happy that he's in charge of 16 villages. And he's proud that that's who he is. He's the larger, he's the king of these 16 villages. He's got some status. He's got a place in the world because he's got this position. And his mother is very, well, she's a bit concerned because he doesn't really seem to be interested in girls. And so he's one of all, is he gay? And he's obviously not gay, but he's not interested in girls. So, what's the thing? What's the thing? He's just happy. He himself doesn't see it as a problem. He's parents are a bit worried. So they're saying to me, well, come on, I'll buy you, I'll buy you an A part, you know. Do you want to have a big birthday party for your 18th birthday? And he says, no, no. Look, we would just waste a lot of money. There's floods in Pakistan just over there. They're really short of water. They're really short of food. Send that money over there. Buy them some water purifying. Buy them some equipment so they can build wells and things like that. And he's paying some money. What, you don't want a party? Yeah, they say, no, I'll go and do something more worthwhile with it, you know. This party will be over now. They're about meaningless. We'll get together. We'll eat lots of food. And afterwards, we're about bloated. But you know, we could do a lot more without money than just waste it in a party. Yeah, so things like that are good on. And there's a bit of tension there. Yeah, so these parents are quite wildly in their way. They're very successful in what they're doing. And they've got their son who just doesn't really play the same game. And they're a bit concerned. So they're badger than them, all throughout these teenage years. Take on, become the king, look after all the properties, learn how to do it. You know, his father's very proud. And he's got all these villages that they're in charge of. And the mother keeps saying, well, you need to get married. You need to get married. And his dad says, you know, son, your mother's right. You know, she's always right. You need to just do what your mom says. Get married. No, it's a similar story all over the world. You're going to do what your mother tells you. But he thinks, forget, married, I'm just going to end up caught up. A bit like my father is spending all my time going from here to there, doing all these official duties. And I don't really want to do that. I want to go off. I want to learn to meditate. I want to leave the world. I want to find what's really valuable. But they keep on out. So he finally decides that he's going to give in. But he's going to try and do it on his terms. He said, OK, well, listen, I will get married. But only on one condition. And I'll tell you this condition tomorrow. So he goes away and he molds a figure of a female. So all the curves, beautiful face. And he dresses the figure up on all the silks. And he hands this beautiful image of a female to his mother and father. He says, well, listen, if you can find a woman who is as beautiful as this image, then yes, I'll marry her. So he hands over the image. And he's not quite sure if he's done the right thing, guys. He's never been to find any of these beautiful ones this. So his parents are great, OK? So they get the men on the job. So wait, we've got a task for you. Eight top guys come in. OK, you've got to search the land for this beautiful woman. Our son will only marry this woman that looks like this. Or this is your task. And you don't have a choice. This is what you've got to do. Yeah, go and find this. Go and find this woman. And so it's a bit like the Cinderella who's talking about Cinderella that day. Instead of having a slipper, can I go to that image? So they've got this image and they think, oh, OK, this is you and me. But let's go and find this woman. So they go off and they're looking around the countryside. And lo and behold, they're told that there is a really beautiful woman in one of the villages. And they think, well, I wonder if this is the one. I wonder if this is the one. And they go and they find that she looks just like the figure that Kashappa has modeled. And they talk to the parents and they say, OK, we have the Brahmins that we work for the king of these 16 villages. And he's sent us an omission. And we're looking-- he's looking for a beautiful daughter to marry his son who will become the king. And the parents, these talk to-- oh, that's funny. We've got a lovely daughter. But she's refusing to marry him. She says she's just wants to leave and go and join her. Have her leave the world of life. She said, oh, brilliant. This is sort of true. So are we part of arranged marriage, goes on. And Kashappa and-- let me root-- Bada. That's just the young princess is named Bada, the beautiful princess. They are arranged to be married. And they're both not sure about this arranged marriage. They're thinking, well, I'd really like just to go off and leave that world of life rather than getting more into it. I want to leave it. So they think, I'd better do the right thing and write to this person and tell them what I'm like. So they both have the same thought and they write a letter and no texts and those days. So they write a letter and fold it up and give it to the-- I don't even know if they were supposed to be supposed. We don't even know if they were supposed. And the letters are going, there's a letter crossing over. And the parents are quite fly, they think, OK, they're not-- they want to leave the world of life. They better make sure that nothing happens. So they're intercepting the male. So they intercept the male and they say, ah, letter, letter. Don't want to do this, or change it round, letter. Do you want to do this? So they switch the letters and the different letters go. So the marriage goes ahead. Marriage goes ahead. So these parents are quite crafty. They're quite-- they know a thing or two. So the marriage goes ahead. And as Bada and Kashabar meet and get to know each other, people introduce themselves and say what they like. But they do, they're as good as they do, communicate, saying, well listen, OK, I'm doing this a bit under first. First, what's the next thing that would go in. I'm doing this under pressure. And really what I want to do is I want to leave this behind and never draw that, go off into the jungle, and they both begin to realize that they're both of the same heart. You say, oh, that's funny, that's what I want. Did you not get my letter? And I said, no, but did you not get my letter? No, well, I wonder what happened there. So they're both beginning to understand that I said, they're coming into this marriage, but they're not. They are really under their parents' pressure. So they do get married. But they make a vow that they're not going to consummate their marriage. And they wonder, well, how are we going to do this? Young man, young woman, bed together. We're going to give this talk before I said at this point, well, you know, it's like when push comes to shove. [LAUGHTER] You've got young man, young woman, and a bed together. Well, you know, boy's going to follow. So what do you decide? Is they decide that they are going to have a garland of flowers down the middle of the bed. So they put a garland-- yeah, you may well shake your head. [LAUGHTER] A garland of flowers down the middle of the bed. And that's there to remind them of what they really want to do with their lives. Because they kind of realize, well, OK, it might be quite nice and I have fun, or a few nights have fun. But then if we want to be going off and leaving the world for life, we want to be able to do that for good children. We want to bring our kids up. We want to look after them, want to provide for them for all those years. So we'd be putting off for many, many years what we really want to do. So we think, well, we better not get to push comes to shove. So let's keep the flowers there. And it works. Yeah, it works. It's a story. This is what the story says. [LAUGHTER] A garland of flowers. So if you're ever in any paint spot, a garland of flowers, it works every time. [LAUGHTER] So the years begin to unfold. They're married, John. Bad as 16, cash was 20 when they get married. And they're living together. They're living there with cashier experience. And he's looking after the 16 villages, probably quite busy. You need to get on your four by four to get around them all. But has the parents died? And cashier buy and buy to take on the responsibility. They take on-- they're quite responsible people. The very ethical and realizable. We've got responsibility to run this day well for the people that are working here. So they take on the course of looking after the 16 villages. And they do it very well. They're very good at it. And so it happens that one sort of harvest type, they are cashier put out in the fields, overseeing the re-plowing of the fields ready for the next season. And as he's watching the plow and the plow show, going through the ground, you see in the app getting turned over. And as the app's getting turned over, he's seeing the warms and all the different insects that are-- their beds are being disturbed. A bit like, say I'm famous, because I saw the very same thing. And we also see that following the plow and the plow share all the birds. And the birds are getting their meal from the insects that are disturbed by the plow. He's quite disturbed at this kind of carnage. He's got quite a sense of heart. And he sees all the insects just being eaten by the birds that are following the plow. And he's quite disturbed at this. And he turns to-- so this is awful. This is that-- whose car has this-- all this carnage, all these disturbed lives, all these lives that have been taken, being killed. Who's car has this going to be? And the man who's the plowman is looking to say, well, it's you, you, you're the boss. You're in charge of the 16 villages. You're in charge of the state. This is your car, I'm not afraid. And cash was really deeply disturbed by this. It didn't quite realize that. So it's just quite-- so it's a bit like a Sam Vega arises. Yeah, so he sees, oh, my goodness. I need to do something about this. This is awful. All this suffering. I can't really bear it. I can't really bear it. Meanwhile, at home, at the same time, the assessment harvest has come in. And bada is what we're seeing, the assessment harvest. And as the seeds have laid out to dry in the hot sun, all the insects that are trying to build a smell and buy some food, again, there, they've been eaten by another. The other flock of birds that know that this is going to be happening. So she's witnessing carnage back at home. And she's also deeply disturbed and thinking, my goodness, all this killing, all this suffering. Who's Karma, is this going to be? And she turns to her lady maids and says, well, all this suffering that's happening here. Who's Karma's is going to bear this Karma? And the ladies' maid turns as well. Bada, you're the queen of all this estate. This is your Karma. And it really hits winter, though, my goodness, all this suffering. And it's my-- it's going to-- I'm going to bear this. So again, that can sound-- Vega arises off-- this has got to do something about this. Got to do something about this. So Kashupa returns, and they're talking when they both return back to the back home. And they're sharing their day. And they both realize that they want to do something about this. And they want to-- they want to go forth. They want to-- this is no time to leave their worldly life. They've followed their parents and wishes and instructions. But really, they can't bear it any longer. Their will to live a less worldly life is so strong that they've got to do something about it. So what they do is they send some servants down to the bazaar, and they ask them to come back with some yellow ropes on two begging balls. So they send down to the bazaar. So I thought it was that they bring me two ropes, so two begging balls. We're leaving. So that's what happens. You know, the servants bring back the ropes. And these are the ropes of the wandering mendicants, the ciders that were just wandering in India. Yeah, that was-- that was signal I that you were a cider. And they've got the begging balls as well. So they decide that they're going to head off. The next day, they head off, dressed in their wanderer's ropes with the begging balls slung over their shoulder. And they shave each other's head, just as that last mark of going forth, they shave each other's hair off. And that's them, they're on their way. And they set out, and they're leaving behind the restates. And the people that are on, working on the state, are very upset because they think, well, who's going to run this day? And Krishna says, well, I'm just leaving it in your hands. And those that wear our slaves, he had set free. He says, well, now's the time. You're now free, you're now free people. But they're both the term that they're going to leave. So they leave, and they go forth on the wandering life. So this is the life of Asadu. We just don yellow ropes and get your-- you partake of the wealth of the country and the countryside just by begging, and the people support you to do that. So they are going forth. And as they're wondering about, they're kind of thinking about what they're doing and the life that they've chosen. And they kind of begin to realize that she's still a young, beautiful woman. He's a young man. And they're thinking, tell us are going to be wagging. OK, so we've kind of gone forth from the household life. But people want to be believers. We'll create a lot of-- with this, it's going to create a lot of difficulty for ourselves if we say that we've gone forth from the household life, but we're wandering around still as man and woman. I don't know if they were still using the gal on the flowers. But they would just realize that, actually, this is going to cause a lot of difficulty. And it's going to create a lot of unnecessary-- anyway, bad karma for those that are going to gossip about us. Because the lobby, we are just still platonic. And people will not believe that. And so they will gossip about us. And it will be bad for us. And it will be bad for them, because they'll be gossiping. So they sadly realize that they're going to have to part. And there's some suggestions in this story that for many lifetimes, they have been involved together. And so this is a really difficult decision for them, because they're very deeply fond of each other. But they realize that they're going to have to go to different ways. It just won't work, because of the culture that they're going to just won't work. So Bada says to Kashapak, OK, I think we're really-- we are going to have to split. We have to go separate ways, at least for the meantime. So when you come to the next fork in the road, please you take the right hand fork, and I'll take the left hand fork. And when we split, it'll be very sad. And that was for the meantime. We'll have to do that. So they come to the next fork in the road. And sadly, Bada goes down the left hand road, or the left hand part. And that's another story. And that's another story for another time. Our story is going to follow Kashapak down the right hand road. So Kashapak follows the right hand. I don't think there's any significance. Sometimes they're tangy, you get this left hand tangy. But this is actually all about, yeah. So who else is on the scene apart from Kashapak and Bada? Well, the Buddha, the Buddha is around. He has been at Nanda, and he's in that facility. And when Bada and Kashapak go their separate ways, it's such a spiritually momentous and important time that the earth trembles. It's not an earthquake. It's the ground is shaking because of the momentousness of the act that they're doing. And again, quite many times in the Buddhist tradition. So when the Buddha gained enlightenment, it said that the earth trembled in many different types of ways. And that was just to signify the momentousness of that occasion. So when Bada and Kashapak separate, it's a very spiritually momentous occasion that it would profound. And the earth trembles. And the Buddha's done that right hand for, finally enough. And he senses the earth trembling. And he knows that why this is trembling. And he realizes that something deeply spiritually important has been happening. So he decides that he's going to set off in that direction. So the Buddha sets off down this road from the other direction, from where Kashapak is going. And the Buddha gets so far. And he decides it's time for a rest and finds a victory. We're told, as wise as one, on many occasions, he sets under a victory. And he's sitting there waiting. And because he knows that somebody's going to come along this road. And then Kashapak appears, new robes, new begging ball, strading out. And Kashapa sees the Buddha. And Kashapa realizes-- he sees the spiritual brilliance of the Buddha. And the Buddha is sitting there, as you do it. So under your victory, waiting for your disciple to arrive. And Kashapa senses that this is someday that's really special. So Kashapa approaches the Buddha. And as he approaches, he just begins to realize there's something more and more special. But this person, the closer he gets to him, probably not long after the Buddha's enlightened. So there's really still something quite in nature. And the Buddha's demeanor in his order. If you could see his order, it would have been an enlightened order. So there's just a lovely presence about the Buddha. And Kashapak approaches the Buddha and proclaims that this human-- from now on, I'm taking you as my teacher. The Buddha doesn't get to say, yeah, me. He doesn't have a year to make his mind up. He has to respond very quickly. And he probably sees that, actually, this is some cool geezer. This is somebody who is actually really going for it. So he responds to Kashapas, he says, yes, fine, I will. I will take you on as one of my disciples. I will be your master. I'm going to give you a teaching. I'm going to give you a teaching. I don't know if this is what I'm going to sit in and down a boat. But this is what I'm between the Buddha and Kashapak. So the Buddha sees Kashapak, and he-- Buddha was very astute, I think, with his perception of people. And he sees Kashapak and he thinks, well, what will be your benefit? What can I say that will be a benefit to Kashapak? So what he says is that, yes, Kashapak, you can become-- do become my disciple, do become part of my Sangha. But I'm going to give you three teachings. And he says, the first teaching that I'll give you is that I always maintain a keen sense of shame and of wrongdoing towards all others in the Sangha. So the Buddha probably says something about Kashapas de Mina, and sees that this is somebody who is of quite an upper class background. But don't allow that to get in the way of your relationships with others in the Sangha. Don't come-- don't bring a haughty manner into your dealings with others in the Sangha. So be aware of it appropriate to watch all others in the Sangha. The second teaching that he gives him, he says, the second teaching that I'm going to sit you is, well, anything, any Dharma that you hear or listen to, listen to it with an open mind. And if you find it to be worthwhile, then just let it absorb into your heart. Be as whole-hearted as you can about receiving this teaching. And Kashapakak thinks, yeah, that's going to be a problem, very happy to do both of those things. And then the Buddha says, and there's a third thing I'm going to say to you, the third teaching. And this third teaching is, he says, well, as you're practicing, you'll be practicing mindfulness of your body. But as you're practicing mindfulness of your body, don't forget, don't neglect the gladness of your heart that's linked with that practice. So yeah, be mindful. Get really into your meditation practice. But don't forget, don't neglect the gladness. So all that's fine. Kashapak is very happy to take on these teachings. The Buddha's very happy to take Kashapakakas as the disciple. So they carry on their journey. And they're walking along. They're walking back towards Rajagriha. Rajagriha's-- I'm just termed a mountain. But I don't know, I'm told that, well, in Indian terms, it's a mountain, but it's not that high. It's about 500 feet. Yeah, so it's not me. But it's a mountain for them. So but they're heading back to the moment of Rajagriha. And we stopped to have a rest. And Kashapak is very respectful to watch his new teacher. So he takes off his robes and he folds it up, picks off these new robes, and puts them down in the ground so that the Buddha can sit on them so that the Buddha can have a seat. And the Buddha sets down, saying, oh, that's very comfy. That's really nice. Thank you very much. It's just quite pleasant. Very nice one to do that. And Kashapakas senses, my robes are really soft. But the Buddha has just got these old rags sewn together. So thanks. The Buddha, I'd like-- why don't we swap? Why don't you have my robes, my nice, new, soft robes? And I'll take on your robes, your rags that you've put together. And the Buddha says, are you sure? Are you sure you can wear these hemp and worn out right robes of mine? And Kashapak says, yeah, I can actually. I want to. So it's quite significant, but this last almost vestige of his position, Kashapakas gives away. And he takes on the old rag robes of the Buddha. And it's very happy to wear them. And the Buddha just takes Kashapasrops. Yeah, that's fine for him. So this is the story of Kashapakas and the Buddha meeting. And it said that Kashapak was then seven days gained enlightenment. So he was a fast mverver, and he did remarkable well. So again, he gained enlightenment in seven days. And as his life unfolded, Kashapakar carried on with many of-- well, with his intention to lead the very simple life. And he became very well known, very renowned, for his meditation, and very renowned for his-- well, his sustainities, actually. He was very keen to practice a simple life so that he didn't get caught up on necessarily and anything else. And Buddhists are allowed 13 ditanga practices. This is a list of them that Dandy wants to practice them for the rest of the week. And Kashapar became very well-renowned for them. It said that he became foremost among the bikus and bikunis in regard to observing theusterities. And when he was asked why he practiced theseusterities, he said, well, I practice them because they're for my own well-being. They bring me joy. And he also said, well, I also practice them to show that they can be done. And that I couldn't be an example for future generations. It is possible to lead a simple life. And not just a simple life, but a simple life that's full of gladness and joy. So also, he was as good as his word. And he did remember the Buddhist teaching about remembering to foster and cultivate the gladness in his heart when he was practicing his asceticism, doing his meditation. So low here, he led a very simple life. His inner life was incredibly rich. His inner life was very joyful and very glad. So we're talking something about his life and qualities. So he's foremost among the bikus and bikunis in observing the simple life and theusterities. The next quality about kashapa is that it said that he wouldn't do anything underfitting a monk for the sake of robes, for arms food, for medicine, for anything at all, for a house. So I'm going to say he wouldn't really compromise his ethics. So it always take what came his way. So when the bikus were wandering around, they'd have their bow. And that's where they collected their food. And so you can imagine-- or can you? I don't know if I can. Imagine just getting the food from having a bow and wandering out and standing outside somebody's front door. Whatever comes your way, comes your way. And that's what you eat. But that's-- so you can imagine getting quite anxious about, well, am I going to get the curry that I like? You know? And any veggie burgers today, you know? You just eat what comes your way. And if it's just a poor village, then you might just get rice. And if it's a poor village in hard times, you might not get anything. And this is what happened to those bikus and bikunis. They're old. They've been old, isn't it? But it said that kashapa would always just take this in good grace. And he wouldn't get upset. And if he didn't get a lot to eat, if he didn't get what he liked, then he would just take and eat what he got. And he wouldn't see anything to-- you know, you can imagine you're hungry. You get your bowl, and you get a little bit of dough, and a little bit of curry thing. Is that all you're going to give me? But because you're really hungry. But he said that he never crossed his mind, never even crossed his lips. Any bad work, any frustrated or anxious or angry what. The first thing about kashapa that we're told is that he was exemplary in his meditation practice. So in this practice, we have-- Wolf and Arne talked about eight dianas. There's four dianas of form, and there's four formulas, dianas. And they're very profound meditation states. And it's said that makashapa, as it went on, he became makashapa. It said that makashapa was only second to the Buddha, and his ability to go deeply in meditation. And through his practice of meditation, it's said that he developed six supernormal knowledges. So soon, thanks for mentioning three of these yesterday. So if you meditate deeply, you can get six supernormal knowledges. They'll tell you about them, because it might inspire you to go and sit there in your meditation. The first one is that you get magical powers. Yeah. Whoa, what about that down there? You get magical powers. And you get the ability to walk through walls. How cool is that? You can walk in water. You can sit there and manifest another image of yourself. So there can be two three of you. And who's to know that some of us aren't already doing that? Some of us might be in a treat and down in Glasgow having a highlight, right? So you can manifest different. That's one of the cities. That's one of the magical powers. That's one of the first habenius they have called, or habenius, six supernormal knowledges. They're nice, quite mundane actually. Yeah, you don't even want to just stop there. You might be able to impress your friends apart. But there's further that you can go. The second one is queer audience. So you can hear things at a distance. The third one is that you can tell people's mind. So you can tell what state of mind somebody's in. And this used to really freak me out. And the first came along for the first moment. I thought, oh my god, I've got to know what's in my mind. Because I've heard of this ability of people to read minds that are hard now. And then it's a great relief to find out that we couldn't. And it's so great. So I'm going to begin to find out to tell people what was on my mind. So yeah, so that's the third habenius. It's that you can-- you know what's on people's mind. You know if it's a mind of grades, or hatred, or delusion, you can tell. Yeah. But when we go on to the fourth super knowledge, that's when it begins to get a wee bit more interesting. And that is super nice to say yesterday. You begin to recollect former lives. So you're moving now from just sort of pretty mundane abilities, pretty cool abilities, but still quite mundane, into something that is beginning to be of the nature of insight. So you're beginning to see that in a former life you were so and so and so and so you did this. And you get-- you just see back and back, but you've had a whole-- there's been a whole stream of lives. So who you are is just beginning to be thrown into it a much, much bigger context. And the fifth knowledge is what they call a divine eye. And that means that you can see where you go, what your future, what lives in your future. And Dave and I are said to be able to see where you're going in the future. And you're also understanding that, independence of what you do now, that's what gives rise to your future. So what you're doing in your present is creating your future. So that's the Dave and I. So those two are linked around condition corporate options. So it's a bit better you can get into it and really see that everything is arising and depends upon conditions. And the sixth supernormal knowledge is the knowledge of the destruction of the Ashrivas. So Sue likes to again say a little bit about that yesterday. But that's the kind of realization that that capacity to act in anyway unskilledfully has completely just been rooted out. It's just going as dissolved as it were in your consciousness. So those Ashrivas are no longer operate in your stream of consciousness in your mind. So yeah, this is the third major quality about Mark Ashrivas. He's renowned for his meditation experience and as well as development of those supernormal knowledges. And one of the little stories that I like about Mark Ashrivas is that on one occasion, he was going through a village. And there was a poor villager, a poor female villager. And she saw this sadu coming through a village. And she just was able to see that there was something about this particular person that was very special. And I think we get that from time to time that we think, oh, there's something really special. This person's got something. So this female villager was experiencing a sadu, just a little bit of something about this person. And so she knew that he would be in his arms round. So she wanted to offer him. She wanted to support and be in whatever way she could part of what he was involved in. So she offered them some of them. She just had a partial trace. So she offers them a little bit of partial trace. But she also makes the wish that whatever good this sadu, this vicar, is involved in, could she put also partake in? Another way she's got, in a way, is giving some rice. But she gives some rice. And her giving is her way of getting involved, of being involved, supporting this thing that she thinks was quite special. And she gives that to Mark Ashrivas by receives it. And as she's walking away, we're told that she comes across a poisonous snake who bites her and kills her. So she dies from the snake bite. But she's reborn as a deviant, as a goddess, because of the skillfulness of that action, just as she was on the point of death. And she remembers how she had the best very fortuitous bath. So then she sees, she's able, with her day that I had to see Mark Ashrivas sitting there and meditating in his little hut, his little cutie, which thinks, oh, there's that sadu. So she comes down. And for three days, she cleans his heart. And for three days, replaces the water in his heart. And Mark Ashrivas must be thinking, I thought I'd finish that water. Then it's miraculously refilled. And this is what the story relates, that this Devi spent three days cleaning out his heart and replacing the drinking water and the washing water. But Mark Ashrivas, he twigs, ah, there's a Devi doing this. Don't know how he does it, but he does. And he'd ask her to leave because it wouldn't be appropriate for him as, again, as a renunciant that's gone forth to have a Devi, a goddess, cleaning out his heart. So it's just not appropriate. If you imagine what a Sunday newspapers would say about her. So again, he says, there's a lot of little story. And he has another encounter, not just this time with one goddess, but 500 goddesses see him. And they're so impressed by his spiritual life and what he's doing is that they want to come and offer him arms fit. But as the approach, you see some companies, it's nice. No, it's not appropriate for me to receive my food from the gods, the goddesses. So I can't accept this. So he says he can't do it. That's not appropriate. So they go off and they're really disappointed. And they are really-- there's different layers of gods and goddesses in the end in mythology. And they're the realm of Shaka, who's the chief of the gods. So he gets to hear what's going on and thinks, wow, this is a guy, sort of meditating. So Shaka, the chief of the gods, decides that he wants to go and give Maakashapar his food. He wants to give to him. So he disguises himself because he knows that Maakashapar won't accept food for my god. So he disguises himself and gives Maakashapar the food. And Maakashapar doesn't notice until he gets the rice. And the fragrance of the rice is just quite exceptional. He thinks, mmm, this is favorite rice. And then he realizes, ah, something I've been cleared a checkup on here. And he tells off Shaka, the king of the gods, but inappropriately giving him home food. So again, a picture-- I mean, we can kind of laugh at it. But this is somebody who is quite serious about the practice and lived a very simple life. And then we wanted to-- in a way, show that, yeah, you could lead a very simple life. And not only would it be a simple life, it'd be a really happy, it'd be a joyful life. He was-- Maakashapar was one of the main disciples of the Buddha. And there's possibly about five major disciples. Well, in the account of telling that I heard, you have Mahamal Galyana and Shai Putra. And they die, they die before the Buddha. But the Buddha dies before Maakashapar. And we're told that Maakashapar, he's walking-- he's on an arms tour with some of his disciples. And he's having an afternoon break, underneath a fig tree, yes. And he sees another sadhu walking past. And this sadhu is holding on a window of a flower, yeah? So what's unusual about that? Fasciny. [INTERPOSING VOICES] It's a massive flower. And it's a flower that only grows where? Yeah, I've put a thread. Hello. I've put the mandala for the scroll. They grow in the day for locus. They grow in the day for locus, yeah? So they only appear in the day for locus that have magical fire. And it's said to be what I'll leave across or something, massive, for us as well. So I don't know how to see some of these [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGHTER] I walk along with this mandala for flower. But Maakashapar realizes that something quite special has happened. So he tums to the sadhu, and he said, where did you get that flower? Where did you get that flower flower? And the sadhu says, well, I was over at Kussanara. It's been a bit of a diet. I said, I'm over it. I was over at Kussanara, and they're building a pie for the bitter. And that's where I picked it up. And Maakashapar gets this sad news that the bitter-- his teacher, his beloved teacher, has died while he's separate from him. So he's really concerned that he's not going to be able to be his last respects to his teacher. He's not in sorrow, because he knows that everything's impermanent. Some of the people that he's worth are really grief-struck, and they were told that Kussanara wasn't grief-stricken. And he makes their way back to Kussanara. And there's been a bit of trouble at Kussanara. And the trouble is that you had to build this pie to cremate the bitter. But they can't light it. It won't light to get the matches, isn't it? It's not lighting. And this is after a week. So a week later, Kussanara comes with this band of disciples. And they're very glad to be able to have got to say the goodbye and their last respects to the bitter. And they circumambulate colloquies around the pie of the bitter. And they do that once. And then you go around again. And once they've all circumambulated that pie twice, the pie just spontaneously combosts. And that's the story, as I've heard it, without adding anything into it, or taking anything away, if that's what I've been told. So that's what we're told happened. That was Kashabas feel well to the Buddha. We're not sure how Kashabas died. We're not told about how he died. But we know that he did outlive the Buddha and that he was a fairly highly respected disciple of the Buddha. So where does that leave us? So let's still lead us to our first musical in India. We've quite come back. Yeah. We've quite come back to the present. We're coming back on lovely with us. We haven't lost anybody. So we're back in Dhanna Korsha. It was 2010. It was '20 to '12. So here we have the story of Makashipa, yeah. And I don't see any rushing off to Balwether to get their yellow robes in the robe. But what can we make of this life story? It is of a different time. But it's trying to get something across. There's something I think that we can learn from this story. I think often we can think of taking up a spiritual life. And sometimes it can feel that all that means letting go or stop and doing stuff. And sometimes there are things that we want to move on from and let go of. There's also things that we want to pick up and make sure that we're practicing. So Bill at Makashipa, yeah, he was leaving his worldly life. But his instructions from the Buddha was don't forget to have a glad heart. So this, I think, is really important. So some of the things that make us happy are somehow from the senses. So what can we do if we are living a more simple life? Then how do we maintain a glad heart? And some of the things that are suggested in Sri Ratna are practices like puja, faith and devotion, meditation, study, puja, ethics. But also being around in nature, being in nature. So we're very fortunate that we've got Danakusha, because it's so beautiful around here. There's so much nature, just there by the side. And there it is, yeah. Elements and the natural world in all its glory and beauty is really around us at Danakusha. But also friendship is something that's encouraged to keep our hearts alive and nourished so that our hearts don't shrivel. So we might sometimes think, oh, I've got to let go of this and do that and do this. But we've got to watch that heart remain glad. Yeah. And I think especially-- I suppose in Scotland, we've got this quite a sense of tradition. The part of that seems to be about letting go of things. We love a simple life. But maybe it hasn't given a lot of attention to that sense of, yeah, if you love a simple life. Also make sure you've lived in a glad life so that your heart is really thriving and flourishing. So now, just to finish with my beautiful assistant. So there's some talks about practicing a middle way. And that's a middle way between pleasure and the skepticism. And one of the most maybe important insights of the Buddha was that you cannot afford just to deny yourself any pleasure. But the pleasures that you give yourself do they-- what kind of come down afterwards do they have? What do they-- yeah, do they lead you on, or do they-- are they supportive of your spiritual life? So I think we cannot-- we are parallel to neglect, joy, and pleasure. So where do we get that in our spiritual life? How do we get that? How do we follow a little way between pleasure and cynicism? So how do you find your middle way? So are you more-- are you more in this realm? Are you more headless or are you more an ascetic? Are you more happily sick? Well, if I'm-- if I deny myself that chocolate biscuit today, I mean tomorrow, I'll get some good karma coming. So what-- where are you? Where do you kind of place yourself in this? Are you more an ascetic or are you more a headless? And then if you are, well, how do you make your way more towards what's a middle way? How do you glide in your heart? So you're like, sir, but I said for the straight things up, and I said, I'm sick of it, it's how do you glide in your heart? Yes, sir. So the language made a bit flowy, but I've been in England for 15 years, so you'll have to get in there. Yeah, so how do you glide in your heart? I think it's a very important question, because we have to set that on. So I'll leave you with those two questions that maybe we could take into groups if we haven't finished with the questions from us today. So, here we go. Thank you very much. [APPLAUSE] We hope you enjoyed this week's podcast. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freeputus.io.com/donate. And thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] You
