Sanyuttha Nikaya 6.1.1
summary
- The line of Buddha who opened enlightenment.
- This law is hard to understand.
- It is impossible for the greedy to understand.
- If I preach the Dharma and others do not understand, it is fatigue and anguish for me!
- So instead of willingly preaching, we retreat and remain silent.
- Brahma lines.
- Oh, the world is dying.
- Preach the Law.
- Some people's eyes are not yet stained with dust.
- Buddha
- I heard Brahma's plea and observed the world.
- Some have the eyes of wisdom untainted by the dust of vexation, others are terribly stained
- Some are born with superior qualities, others with inferior ones.
- The gate to immortality has been opened.
- He who has ears to hear, let him hear and cast away his own blind faith
- O Brahma, I did not preach the Law because I feared it would harm people.
explanation
- Some people find this story offensive or inconvenient, but the fact remains that this was written
- What the actual exchange took place is, of course, unknown.
- First, the Buddha thought that "it is impossible for a greedy person to understand the laws that he understood."
- And I thought, "[Trying to make those who don't understand understand create suffering."
- The idea that suffering arises from trying to control the uncontrollable is a fundamental law of Buddhism.
- Focus on what you can control and don't worry about what you can't control.
- So Buddha thought, "Let's not preach."
- At this point, Buddha thinks everyone but himself is incapable of understanding.
- Brahma begs to be preached to because some people can understand him.
- At Brahma's suggestion, Buddha wonders if there might be someone other than himself who might understand.
- I would even go so far as to say that there is a difference in "innate qualities," which is a horrible expression from my perspective in 2018.
- He who has ears, listen."
- So you believe that there are those who do not have ears.
- The idea that "trying to make those who don't understand understand create suffering" hasn't changed.
- We are free from suffering by not trying to force the unheard to listen.
- I'm not sure what the last line is for.
- That preaching the law to someone who does not have the capacity to understand it hurts that person?
A story about changing your mind when you are told that if you are trying to avoid your own suffering, it is not good for the world.
- Very human.
- Not a good story for those who want to make Buddha an infallible deity.
- Furthermore, the Buddha does not believe that all sentient beings can be saved, and worse, he even refers to "those born with inferior qualities," which is very inconvenient for a religion for the general public.
2024-08-31 Re-thinking my religious beliefs...
- 2024-08-31My religious beliefs
This page is auto-translated from [/nishio/サンユッタ・ニカーヤ 6.1.1](https://scrapbox.io/nishio/サンユッタ・ニカーヤ 6.1.1) using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.