Good evening and welcome back to our study of the Dhammapada.
Tonight we continue on with verse number 95, which reads as follows.
Which means,
Like the earth, one is not disturbed.
Just as the earth is not disturbed.
Just like the earth that is undisturbed.
or just as the earth is not undisturbed, is not obstructed, whatever that means, just as a foundation pillar, indakila, just like an indakila or a foundation post is such a one of
is such a one of good behavior or good deeds.
Subhato.
So I guess this is translated, he is undisturbed like the earth.
That's what it is.
He is undisturbed like the earth.
One who is of good behavior or of good manners,
It is like a foundation post.
It is firmly, well-founded, unshakable.
Rahadhova apetakadamu, like a lake that has become un-muddied, that is clear and free from cloudiness.
Kadama is mud.
Sangsara nabhavantitadino.
There is no wandering on.
There is no round of samsara.
There is no transmigration from one life to the next, born old, sick and die.
Being born old, getting old, getting sick and dying again and again for such a person.
So, like the earth, it is unbounded.
unobstructed, untroubled maybe, founded like a foundation post, like a lake that is clear and unmudied.
For such a person, there is no more becoming.
This is a description of Sariputta.
So the story is about a famous incident that occurred in regards to Sariputta.
Sariputta got the idea that he would go off on a wandering tour.
So we had one story where the Buddha went off on a wandering tour and Maha Kaspa turned back.
It's a story about Maha Kaspa.
Here's a story about Sariputta.
And it seems that Sariputta was having monks to go with him, talking to monks about going with him or staying behind.
And there was one monk who Sariputta didn't know by name or who his name doesn't even show up.
And Sariputta was addressing monks by name.
And this monk thought to himself, oh, Sariputta will address me by name, and he never did.
Sariputta just said, okay, and the rest of you do this or do that.
He
He didn't call him out.
Which, it seems like such a small thing, really.
But it reminds me when I was a new monk.
And it's a story that I'll always remember.
When I returned to stay with my teacher as a monk, I always wanted him to...
It was that he didn't remember my name.
That's what it was.
I was always kind of disappointed that he didn't remember my name.
And he would always ask, what's his name?
And when I told him my name, he said, no, what kind of a name is that?
Which is kind of making fun of me, actually.
And I could never remember my name every time I go to see him.
What's this monk?
Where did he ordain?
He ordained with you.
Oh.
Because after I ordained, I left and went back to Canada for a year.
It was an odd situation.
So I stayed with a monk in Canada.
And then there was this big brouhaha about the International Department, and I kind of caused a ruckus, demanding something.
I was put in a position, because it was all politics, and there were two groups.
The monastery was
sort of split between those who wanted the international students to go with a group of lay people and those who wanted the international students to practice with the monks through a translator.
Anyway, I was being put on one side, and there was another monk being put on the other side, and we were the two people.
And I said, this is splitting up the sangha.
He said, I refuse to do it.
And I went in front of Ajahn Tong, and the other monk yelled at me and said, who do you think you are?
Anyway, Ajahn Tong scolded me as well and said, this isn't splitting up the Sangha, this is trying to make things work.
And he said, you have wrong thought.
He scolded me for it.
There were stories going around the monastery about my bad behavior.
I was quite adamant and I guess you could say kind of arrogant about it.
Kind of how Westerners tend to be when we think something's not right, we get up and say in front of everybody.
And from then on he never forgot my name.
So yeah, I know how that is.
But after that I wasn't, so it was kind of ruined for me after that because I know why he remembered my name.
Not for the best reason.
But again, it goes back to how monks can get a little bit crazy, you know, when your life is so simple.
I mean, for most people in the world, they have very extreme outputs for pleasure.
So you have all sorts of complex activities.
If you want to go to a movie, or if you want to go dancing, or if you want to go to the opera, or I don't know, what do people do?
Want to go to a rave?
Do they still do those?
Or you could do drugs or that kind of thing.
But for monks there's very little of an outlet.
And so you tend to get petty.
And this is an example of this monk being very petty because his ego didn't have much to react to.
So a simple slighting, not calling him by name.
set him off.
And from then on, he had a grudge against Sariputta.
And you hear about this a lot.
Monks who had grudges, they tend to be recognized.
Again, it harkens back to my own experience.
I can verify this.
What is it?
I don't know if there is even an adage for it.
It's something like the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
But that's supposed to be a good thing.
Sometimes it's better to go unknown, because the reasons for becoming known.
This monk got in the Dhammapada for his, and they didn't even put his name in, insult to injury.
They put him here and they refused to include his name, or just refused to remember his name, I don't know, or just forgot it.
anyatronamagotavasena apakatobiku, whatever that means, apakato, unknown, right?
So they refused to remember, or they just, no one knew his name.
Or it was unknown by Sariputta, I guess.
So Sariputta didn't call him out by name.
Anyway, being petty, and now he's remembered forever, immortalized in the Dhammapada for it.
So then on top of that, to add insult to injury, not at all really, but to get even more, let's say to be even worse about this whole situation, be even more petty to an extreme degree.
As they were preparing, Sariputta walked past him and the corner of his robe touched the upset monk on the ear or something.
And the monk, either getting angry about it or just using it as an excuse, started going around and telling people.
Or he went straight to the Buddha, maybe, and told the Buddha.
What do you think he said to the Buddha?
He said, he went straight to the Buddha and said, Reverend Sir Venerable Sariputta, doubtless thinking to himself, I am your chief disciple, struck me a blow that almost broke
my eardrum or something, some part of my ear.
And then without even asking forgiveness, he set out on his alms, set out for alms.
So it was before the alms round.
Could you imagine the gall of this guy going to the Buddha to inform upon Sariputta, who had done nothing wrong,
I mean, the amount of ignorance you need to do that is pretty astounding.
And yet,
I mean, it happens.
People get blinded.
But as we'll see, it doesn't last long.
It can't last long.
There's such purity.
And as we'll see in regards to how Sariputta responds, there's such a profundity to these beings that it can't last.
And eventually he asks forgiveness.
So all the monks hear about this.
The Buddha calls someone, go and tell Sariputta to come.
And all the other monks finding out about this, they gathered together.
And Moggallana and Ananda went around to all the monks and said, come, come and see.
You want to see something neat?
See how Sariputta deals with this guy.
And so all the monks came out to listen.
And the Buddha said, so Sariputta, this monk says that you have struck him and without even apologizing, went away.
You hit him.
And then to find out what Sariputta says, we actually have to go to the Anguttara Nikaya.
This is actually one story that is...
I recall, supported by the actual canonical texts.
Remember, the stories we're reading are sort of recreations, recreated from the verses.
So they may have been exaggerated, and more likely to have been exaggerated, perhaps some you might even say made up, and just based on folklore.
But
Regardless, they are not canonical, whether they're true or not.
But here we have one that is based on the Anguttara Nikaya Book of Nines, because the Ksariputta says nine things.
He doesn't say, I didn't hit the guy.
Instead,
He says, one who has not established mindfulness directed to the body in regards to his own body.
Let's see how he says that.
So one who is not mindful of the body, and this can be in one of various ways, but you could relate it back to our practice and say one who is not aware when they're walking that they know they're walking.
not aware of the movements of their body, where their hands are, not aware of when they
where their mind is, and not objective about their actions.
Such a person could very easily strike someone out of anger.
But the point is, when you're mindfulness, you actually are unable to get angry.
When you're truly mindful, as an arahant is always, it's not possible for you to strike someone.
And that's what Sariputta says.
And he gives nine similes as to why it wouldn't be possible or as to what it's like to be someone who is mindful of the body, who is aware of the movements of the body, who would know when they were raising their fist and would be fully mindful and thus unable to give rise to the rage required, the cruelty required, the hatred required to hurt someone.
And so he says, just as water
Just as you can wash impure things in water and the water is not repulsed by it, the water doesn't get upset by that.
He said, my mind is like water, without enmity or ill will towards anyone, no matter what they do.
Just as fire burns impure things, but is not upset by it, so too I dwell like fire, not upset when people, whatever they may say or do to me.
Just as air blows upon impure things and is not repulsed by that, so too I can meet with anything, come in contact with anyone and not be upset.
In my mind I dwell with a mind like air.
I dwell with a mind like a duster, a dust rag, I guess.
A dust rag is used to clean up all sorts of, a rag is used to clean up all sorts of things, and yet the rag is not repelled.
And then just as an outcast boy or girl,
When I walk, I think of myself as an outcast boy or girl holding a bowl and wandering around for
for alms or for charity, begging.
He says, that's how I see myself.
I put myself on that level when I go for alms, when I walk, when I live.
As an outcast boy or girl in India, they're not allowed to work.
They're not allowed to do so many things.
They have to live in special areas or had to.
This is in ancient times.
just as a bull with his horns cut, mild, well-tamed, and well-trained.
So a bull without its horns isn't going to attack anyone.
And then, I am like this bull without horns.
I have no horns with which to attack.
Meaning he can't even, he couldn't hit someone even if, well, if he wanted to, because he couldn't want to.
It could never happen.
It's not possible.
He's not capable of it.
It's not that he doesn't even want to, it's that he's not capable of it.
And number eight, just as a woman or a man, a young woman or man, think of a young woman, a young man who liked to dress up, liked to be clean, liked to put on perfumes, liked to put on makeup.
Imagine if such a person had a carcass of a snake, a carcass of a dog, or a carcass of a human being slung around their neck.
Would you imagine?
Put a carcass of a dog around your neck.
What they would think of that?
And he said, he says, Bhante, just in that way, I am repelled, humiliated and disgusted by this foul body.
Interesting wording, no?
Means he has no, it's not even, you have to take that kind of with a bit of license, because I think it's unfair to say he's disgusted by it.
Disgusted would be, you know, an upset, but he's certainly not upset.
It just has no thought that there's anything good inside it.
I mean, the body is made up of all sorts of icky things.
And number nine...
Seeing as he does that, just as a person might carry around a cracked bowl, or imagine someone with a garbage bag from behind a restaurant with fat and refuse and so on.
with a leaky garbage bag.
So this is a perforated bowl, a cracked bowl with fat in it that oozes and drips.
And the body is like this with all sorts of holes in it that ooze and drip and sweat and smell.
And so he said, in conclusion, one who has not established mindfulness directed to the body in regards to his own body might strike a fellow monk here and then set out on tour without apologizing.
So it's called the lion's roar.
It's one of the many lion's roars that we hear about.
This one is by Sariputta.
And so it's kind of impressive to read that Sariputta has no qualms about putting this monk in his place, so to speak.
It's interesting that this came right after criticism.
Yesterday we were talking about criticism.
And reading through it today made me think, okay, this is the emulation required.
This is what we have to work towards to be like Sariputta, who is so mindful that he has no ill will and
So this is the necessary Buddha's argument as to why that such a thing wouldn't be done.
So you think that would be enough, and it was enough.
The monk immediately was shaken and got up on his hands and knees and prostrated himself at the foot of the Buddha and said, please forgive me.
I was stupid, I was wrong, I committed a transgression that I so foolishly, stupidly and unskillfully slandered the Venerable Sariputta on grounds that were untrue, baseless, false.
And the Buddha acknowledged that.
And then he turns to Sariputta and he says, Sariputta, forgive him before his head explodes.
This apparently was a thing, or is a thing.
If you insult someone who is enlightened, it can get you into some serious head exploding.
And so as if it wasn't enough, Sariputta puts the icing on the cake by saying, I will pardon him because of what he's said.
Or I think it's, I will pardon him if he says that to me.
If he asks me forgiveness.
Meaning, he hasn't yet asked the Buddha, asked Sariputta forgiveness, he asked the Buddha forgiveness.
So the point is, Sariputta has no pardon to give until the monk says he's sorry.
Not that Sariputta needs it, but he's saying, well, if he came to me, of course I'd apologize.
All right, forgive him.
I have no hard feelings.
And then he says, and then, and let him pardon me as well.
Let him forgive me as well.
Meaning for anything I might have done to him.
This is actually quite standard.
When you apologize to a monk, we do this often, we'll apologize to each other, and then I apologize to this monk, and the monk turns around and apologizes to me.
We actually have a
At the end of the opening ceremony we do this.
Opening and closing ceremonies for a meditator.
We have this ceremony of asking forgiveness of the teacher and then the teacher turns around and asks forgiveness of us in this tradition.
So this is an example for us to emulate.
Then we switch back to the Dhammapada story.
Then apparently the monks started commenting on this and were
terribly impressed and in awe and reverence for Sariputta and his ability to just put this guy in his place, but to not be at all upset or disturbed or angry towards the other monk.
And the teacher heard what they were saying and came and said to them, oh, it's not
It's not unusual.
It's not hard to understand.
He said it's impossible for Sariputta and people like him to have hatred.
And Sariputta's mind is like the great earth.
It's like an indakila, like a foundation post, like a pool of still water.
And then he taught this verse.
So, how this relates to us, again, it's about emulating this.
These are qualities to emulate.
We should read the whole Sutta in the Anguttara Book of Nines for when people accuse us of things that we didn't do, or even of things that we did do.
I guess it's harder when you didn't do it, when you didn't do something.
And you notice that Sariputta, and in general you'll notice that it's not that they don't refute it.
They do, but they do so without anger.
And they do it for the purpose of setting the record straight so people don't get the wrong idea.
They don't do it so that it makes them look good, for sure.
And so we emulate these qualities.
We emulate the imagery that Sariputta talked about.
But most importantly, we emulate them in their practice.
Mindfulness of the body.
It's a huge one.
Well, mindfulness is the huge one, but here he's talking about mindfulness of the body is because we're referring to the body.
He hit someone.
Sri Buddha just points out, you know, it's just a funny thing to think about because I'm so mindful with my body, he'd say, you know.
It's not really possible that such a thing, watching, observing his own actions, which is, you know, the proper way to deal with an accusation.
Someone accuses you of something, you know, just say, I would never do that.
You reflect and say, could I do something?
Did I do that?
Could I do that?
And he looked and he said, it's not possible.
Because I'm mindful all the time.
How could you do that if you're mindful?
And this is the key.
Our theory is, and the power of mindfulness is, that you can't be angry and mindful at the same time.
When you're clearly aware and objectively aware, the objectivity overcomes any anger or any greed.
And you just are.
You're just present.
makes you like the earth, undisturbed, untroubled.
It's the imagery of the great earth, Mahapatavi, the earth as a planet that does have earthquakes, but is pretty much undisturbed, just sits there.
It's totally grounded, you could say.
And like a foundation post.
They use this Indakila to mean something.
Kila means a post.
Inda is of Indra.
It's an expression.
It means the foundation of a building.
The first post that sort of keeps the building up, I guess.
And so it's the most stable part of a house.
Someone who is firm and unmoved.
So if someone calls them a nasty name, they don't get upset.
If someone says nice things to them, they don't get pleased by it.
Good things come, they're not elated.
Bad things come, they're not depressed.
They live at peace.
They live in the world without being of the world, without being moved by the world, without falling under the power of samsara.
They become like a pool of water, still a pool of water free from mud.
You can think of mud as all of the mental defilements.
This is what we're aiming for in Vipassana, is to have a clear mind.
Such a person, the rounds of existence do not exist.
Samsara does not exist.
There is no samsara.
Samsara means wandering on.
They have nowhere left to wander.
They have no desires or no lessons left to learn.
No goals yet to achieve.
They've done it all or they've risen above it all.
They've gone beyond it all.
Anyway, so that's the Dhammapada for tonight.
Nice story.
It's always nice to hear about Sariputta.
He has other stories like this.
There's another story about a monk actually coming and hitting him on the back.
Sariputta was wandering on alms, and this Brahmin, I think, he'd heard that the Sariputta was like this, probably heard from this story, and he thought, wow, I wonder if it's true.
How could it be possible that this guy doesn't get upset no matter what happens?
And he said, well, let's test him.
And so he took a stick and
He wanders up, walks up behind Sariputta when he's on alms and smacks someone on the back.
And Sariputta just turns around and looks at him and then turns and goes on his way.
And then the Brahmin ends up apologizing to Sariputta.
So imagine just walking up and smacking him.
He said, it's really true.
He doesn't get angry.
He doesn't get upset no matter what happens.
So, if you're really interested in Sariputta, you should read, there's an English, on the internet, there's an article.
I think it's in Great Disciples of the Buddha, but it's also under the life of Sariputta.
I think it was originally published in the Buddhist Publication Society, but I think it's on the internet.
Very much worth reading, because very much worth emulating.
Sariputta and Moggallana and all the great disciples.
If you want to know what a true Buddhist is like, what are Buddhists like when they go all the way?
It's pretty impressive.
So, that in mind, this is what we work towards, to be impressive.
Eh, not exactly, but to be free, to be pure, to be untroubled.
And that's impressive.
So thank you all for tuning in.
Wishing you all good practice.
And have a good night.