Okay, so today we continue our study of the Dhammapada.
Today we're on to verse 17, no?
Verse 17.
Verse 17 and 18 are actually very similar to 15 and 16.
So there's not going to be much to say about the verses themselves, but we do have some interesting stories to tell.
So hopefully these will be stories that have meaning for us.
In fact, I think they are, and they do.
So this verse goes, indatappati pechatappati papakari ubhayatatappati
So the meaning is very similar.
Here he burns or
It boils inside.
Hereafter he burns.
He is burnt.
The evil one is burnt in both places.
Thinking of, thinking, I have done evil.
Evil has been done by me.
He burns.
And even more so, Biyo,
He burns having gone to suffering, having gone to dugati, which in this case is referring to places like hell and so on.
In this case referring to hell because this is talking about Devadatta.
Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha's who along with several of the Buddha's relatives went forth.
And the story goes that the rest of the people who went forth had, because they had done great merit, and they were the punyakari, or the katapunyos, as the verses say.
They were ones who had done good deeds in the past, so their minds were in a good way, and they were actually ordaining for the right reason.
When they became monks, they put their hearts into realization.
And they were actually quite different.
For instance, Ananda,
took a lot of time to become enlightened because his intentions were different.
He was interested in remembering the Buddha's teaching and looking after the Buddha and so he didn't have as much time for meditation.
Then there was Anuruddha who took time as well because he was caught up in magical powers but
Devadatta was so caught up in his own baseness of mind that he wasn't able to gain anything except magical powers or spiritual power from the practice.
So as the rest of them eventually made their way to become at least Sotapanna and eventually Arahant, Devadatta only got these because he was practicing tranquility only.
He wasn't interested in insight or he wasn't putting his heart into it or he wasn't able to because of the evil in his heart.
So as a result he
He gained only this peace and the calm in the mind that allowed him to fly through the air and read people's minds or whatever.
He had some magical powers and he could fly through the air.
So he used these powers to impress the king's son because all the other monks were being praised and supported by the people.
But Devadatta also because he was
Having never done anything really good,
He didn't have the kind of radiance that people like to praise.
And so there were no lay people looking after him.
And also he had none of the wisdom or attainments as far as enlightenment goes.
So no one was looking for him to teach.
And so he felt quite jealous.
So he tried to think of who it could be that he could bring under his sway and gain power over.
And so he thought of the king's son, the king he couldn't touch because the king was a Sotapanna, Bimbisara.
So he went after the king's son and he...
He used his magical powers to make the prince, who really didn't know the difference between good and evil, make the prince think that he was enlightened.
And he said, I am Devadatta.
And he made an image of himself with snakes flying through the air.
And this prince thought, oh, this must be a real holy man.
And so Devadatta was able to get him under his sway and get him to kill his father and get him to help him to kill the Buddha.
And so he did many many evil things.
Devadatta, if you don't know the story, Devadatta was a pretty bad guy.
And if you read the Jatikas you can see that it's something that he's been doing for a long time.
So he released this wild elephant to kill the Buddha and that didn't work.
The Buddha just saw this wild elephant coming and he held out his hand and sent out loving kindness to the elephant.
It's something that you can find if you're practicing meditation, that you're able to radiate loving-kindness to animals.
It doesn't always work, and if you're not as powerful as the Buddha, you wouldn't try it on a rabid dog, but you can feel the power, and so the Buddha was able to extend great power in this regard.
And then he tried to send these robbers after the Buddha.
He tried to drop a rock on the Buddha,
And none of this was working.
And finally, when he released this elephant, everyone was so scared and realized that Devadatta was a really evil guy that suddenly he lost all respect, even from the prince.
And so from that point on he had great trouble and so he had to think of some other way to gain power.
And what he thought of was that he would break the Sangha up.
So he devised this plan that he would
asked the Buddha to instate these rules that were really, really strict.
He said to the Buddha when everyone was in attendance, he came up to the Buddha and said, I ask that you instate these five rules.
And one of them was that monks should always have to live in the forest, that monks should always go on alms, that monks should only wear rag robes and so on.
And these were rules that the Buddha had already stated that
and certain people could undertake them and others might not undertake them because they're not intrinsically necessary for the practice.
And depending on a person's situation, they might actually inhibit progress.
So the Buddha refused to lay these down and Devadatta went around saying, oh look who's the real strict ascetic and look who's the lazy one.
And so he started speaking badly of the Buddha.
At some point he also asked the Buddha to step down.
He said, oh, you're old now.
Let me run the sangha.
And the Buddha said, I wouldn't even give the sangha to Sariputta or Moggallana, let alone a lickspiddle like you.
A lickspiddle, I guess, is someone who licks spiddle.
And this is what he called Devadatta.
And it was really for the purpose because
The whole way along the Buddha knew that Devadatta was not a good person.
So the question always comes up, well why did he let Devadatta ordain?
And the answer is that he saw from the beginning where it would lead to.
And he knew that Devadatta had been following him around and there was no way he could escape.
If he had let him be a layperson, maybe he would have aroused an army to wipe out all the monks or so on.
Just the pure evil that was in his heart.
And so the Buddha thought that he would be a refuge for Devadatta.
And so he let all of this happen.
And the reason why he called him a lickspitter was to make it very, very clear to Devadatta and to the whole world, to bring out to the light finally.
He wasn't beating around the bush because this was his last life.
He couldn't play games anymore.
So he finally, and he told everyone after Devadatta got very angry and left, he told everyone, he said, Devadatta is evil and on the wrong path and so on.
So, of course, when you say this about someone, it brings about a conflict in the heart.
All of his anger and hatred towards the Buddha that he had built up after following the Buddha from life after life, it just came boiling up inside.
And so this is where his burning started.
It was from the point where he decided that he was going to take over the Sangha that he lost all of his magical powers.
That's another thing.
So when he decided to take over the Sangha,
he went around asking all the monks or he called all the monks together when all the monks were assembled he said whoever agrees with these five rules should take a ticket so they had these tickets and some of the new monks who didn't know it right from wrong they thought hey well this guy is really serious maybe the
Maybe the Buddha is not really serious and so they followed after Devadatta.
Devadatta went up to Gayasisa and taught them.
The Buddha sent Sariputta after him and Moggallana and Sariputta and Moggallana went up.
It's really kind of funny how it happened.
When Sariputta saw, or when Devadatta saw Sariputta and Moggallana coming, he thought, oh, here come the Buddha's two chief disciples.
See, I told you, eventually the whole Sangha will come around.
So Sariputta Moggallana didn't say anything, but Devadatta thought, oh, they've come to join me and look.
And then Devadatta, he set himself up like the Buddha, and he said, I'm going to lie down now, Sariputta Moggallana, you teach on my behalf.
And so he lay down, because the Buddha would lie down and listen mindfully.
Devadatta lay down and fell asleep.
And so Sariputta and Moggallana saw him fall asleep, and so they turned to the monks and they started teaching them.
And Moggallana had all sorts of psychic powers that he used to impress them, and Sariputta had this incredible wisdom.
And so as a result, they were able to teach and to convert these followers of Devadatta.
And as a result, allowed them to see the truth, and they actually became enlightened.
As enlightened beings, Sariputta said, okay, time, let's go back to where the real teaching is.
And so he brought all the monks back to the Buddha.
At which point, Devadatta's assistant, I forget his name, woke Devadatta up, kicking him in the chest and saying, Look, I told you that Sariputta and Moggallana are no good.
What are you doing trusting them?
And he kicked him in the chest.
And at that point, Devadatta got very, very sick.
He was quite injured by that and as a result of the evil in his heart.
At the point when he got very, very sick, as often happens, he started to realize the evil that was in his heart.
This is where it starts to frighten you when you can no longer overpower it, when you're no longer in charge and you can no longer run away from your evil deeds.
When a person is sick, this is often when their good and their bad deeds become their refuge, either a good refuge or their prison.
So in this case it became a prison, and this is where he finally caved in and realized all the evil that he had done.
He became quite sick, probably even more so when he realized that the monks had deserted him and he was now all alone, only with a couple of his cronies.
And so he asked his followers that he should like to go and see the Buddha.
He couldn't even stand up.
And so he said, please bring me to see the Buddha.
And they said, what are you talking about?
You only wanted to destroy him when you were well.
And Devadatta said, it's true that I wanted to destroy him, but the Buddha never harbored any evil towards me, and I'm sure he will see me.
And so he requested, please bring me.
And so they picked him up in his bed and they brought him to Jetavana.
Now the story goes that because of how evil he had been and because of his treachery and breaking apart the Sangha, there was no way that he could possibly see the Buddha.
The Buddha said, he was told by the monks, Devadatta wants to come to see you.
And the Buddha said, let him come, he'll never see me again.
And they brought him, and as they were bringing him, people said, oh, now he's only a league away, or he's only a mile away.
And the Buddha said, let him come right up to my doorstep.
He'll never see me again.
And so they brought him on this chariot all the way to Jetavana.
And they stopped inside the gate to take a break and to wash in the pool.
and Devadatta saw them washing and so he sat up on his bed, put his feet on the ground and when he put his feet on the ground, I guess thinking that he was going to walk to where the Buddha was,
His feet sunk into the earth.
The earth couldn't even hold his weight.
And so they say he sunk right into the earth and all the way to hell or whatever.
And he died there and the fires of hell came up and he was totally torched and arose in hell.
That's how the story goes.
So something like that.
When he rose in hell, they say, the story of Devadatta, where he has to go, because he tried to attack the Buddha and tried to attack the Dhamma, which is impossible to shake, which is immovable.
The Dhamma, of course, is eternal.
They're trying to attack that truth and pervert it in the form of the Buddha and the Buddha's teaching.
He has now transfixed himself and immovable.
So what that means is he's encased in iron with a spike going from his head out through his bottom, from the right side out through the left side, and just constant fire and burning, transfixed and immovable for eons and eons.
But the plus side is that the Buddha said it would have been worse for him if he hadn't come in contact with the Buddha and if the Buddha hadn't woke him up in this way, because at the very end he realized and he gained wisdom and understanding.
So the story goes that after all of the time that he spends in hell, he will be reborn as a private Buddha, a Pachika Buddha.
So it's a long story.
It's actually much longer than that.
I tried my best to abridge it.
But it's a story of great importance and one that we always talk about and remember.
It's a story of what not to do if you become a monk.
The sort of monk that you don't want to be.
So the lesson is very much in accord with the verses before.
A person who does bad deeds, bad things happen to them.
They actually burn.
The word tapati.
They are vexed.
Here and vexed in the future.
They burn really.
So the idea of burning in hell has to do with all of the anger that's built up and the result of having so much anger inside.
But the anger inside itself, of course, is burning.
Just another story in regards to how evil people burn inside.
There was once a teacher, one of my teacher's teachers in Thailand.
I read a book about it.
He was very much involved in bringing Vipassana meditation to Thailand and also the Abhidhamma and many things that Thailand wasn't
wasn't well equipped with.
So from Burma they brought a lot, because in Burma, of course, they would study directly, study the Tipitika.
These books come from Burma that we get here.
And they would actually read through and study these.
Whereas in Thailand, very little study of the Tipitika is done.
So he brought it all over.
And that's why now in Thailand they actually teach Abhidhamma, for example.
And that's where this meditation comes from.
My teacher was sent as part of a group to go to Burma, to Myanmar to learn meditation.
But of course there were people who didn't like this and actually said things like, isn't Buddhism in Thailand good enough for you?
And really people who didn't like Burma because Burma had once attacked Thailand.
Actually the real core of it is this monk was quite popular.
And what he was doing was quite popular with the people because he would teach meditation to ordinary people.
Or he was involved with it and they were teaching Abhidhamma and they were teaching so many new things so people were quite interested.
And it was all about jealousy because he started getting power and he had a powerful position.
And the other monks who were vying for the same position or were trying to get to the top position and thought that he might be getting it, they began to attack him.
and eventually a group of them, apparently including the Sangharaja, the very supreme patriarch, although his involvement isn't quite clear, they accused him of having sexual intercourse with a woman, and they actually found a woman who was willing to say that he had sexual intercourse with her.
And I was reading this book, it was a wonderful, very thick book, and I'm trying to read through it in Thai,
And when I came to this part with the woman,
And then they sent him a letter and said, please, you should disrobe.
You've done this terrible thing and we have a witness and we've gone through the motions of investigating and found that you're guilty.
You should disrobe and leave.
And he said, if I'd actually done it, why should I disrobe?
They said, disrobe means you should cease to become a monk.
And they even called him Lungta or something like that, which means a monk.
They still called him by a monk.
And he said, well, how could I be a monk if I had done this?
Why should I stop becoming a monk?
Because of the wording, he said, you should cease to become a monk.
And he said, well, if I did it, I would... So obviously it's just a sham that they're making up.
But the interesting point that I wanted to make is in regard to this woman.
As you turn the pages and you come to, he said, eventually they found the woman.
And they talked with her.
And after repeated trying to get her to tell the truth, eventually she came forth and she wrote this letter.
She came forward by herself.
And she said, I just want to sleep at night.
She said, I'm sorry for what I did.
I realize now that a person who does evil deeds can never prosper.
And what I've done is a horrible thing, and it's given me nightmares ever since.
I haven't been able to sleep.
Just if you read it, it was such a heart-rending...
And she said, that monk isn't guilty of anything.
And I'm writing this letter because I just want to sleep at night.
I don't want to go to hell.
So this kind of thing, in a person who actually has some wits about them, and is not totally corrupt as Devadatta was,
When you do an evil deed, it can really hit you very hard, and the realization comes that evil really does exist.
For people like Devadatta, they're able to use their force of will, as I said, to cover it up.
Most people are not able to do that and as a result have some semblance of morality and they realize when they do evil deeds.
But eventually it comes to you at any rate.
For Devadatta it came when he was very sick and his mind was weakened by the sickness and so as a result he wasn't able to cover up the evil deeds and he was forced to see them and then he realized for himself the badness.
Unfortunately, what's done is done.
It's very difficult to do away with evil deeds.
You can mitigate the results by doing good deeds.
But he certainly didn't have the time to do that, even though he tried.
So he was forced to burn in this life and burn also in the next life.
But because of his goodness, the goodness doesn't disappear as well.
It doesn't disappear either.
and just like the goodness that we do here even if you practice meditation and eventually you decide that you can't take it anymore and you go home the goodness doesn't leave you and all of the goodness that you do it's like as the Buddha said and we'll come to that verse it's like putting water into a cup and so even for Devadatta the goodness that he did do and especially the goodness he did at the end of his life where he right before he died they say he raised his hands
in homage to the Buddha and said, I take refuge in the Buddha, please.
May the Buddha forgive me and so on.
Or may the Buddha take me as someone who has taken refuge.
And so as a result of that, his mind is actually set in the right way now.
It's just going to take time for the weight of the evil deeds to work themselves out.
And then they say eventually he'll come back and
be able to practice and become free from suffering.
So, not much to say there.
And the next verse is going to be the same.
Just more to think about and another nice story.
I'm just going through these in order.
So, there will be a lot more wisdom to come.
So, thanks for listening.
I'm back to meditation.