All Dharmas are on fire

🍂🙏All dharmas are on fire 🔥 🍂🙏

🍂🙏One afternoon, while the Buddha and Kassapa stood along the banks of the Neranjara, Kassapa said, “Gautama, the other day you spoke about the meditation on one’s body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. I have been practicing that meditation and I have begun to understand how one’s feelings and perceptions determine the quality of one’s life. I also see that there is no permanent element to be found in any of the five rivers. I can even see that the belief in a separate self is false. But I still don’t understand why one should follow a spiritual path if there is no self? Who is there to be liberated?”🍂🙏

🍂🙏The Buddha asked, “Kassapa, do you accept that suffering is a truth?” “Yes, Gautama, I accept that suffering is a truth.”

“Do you agree that suffering has causes?”

“Yes, I accept that suffering has causes.”

“Kassapa, when the causes of suffering are present, suffering is present. When the causes of suffering are removed, suffering is also removed.”🍂🙏

🍂🙏“Yes, I see that when the causes of suffering are removed, suffering itself is removed.”

“The cause of suffering is ignorance, a false way of looking at reality. Thinking the impermanent is permanent, that is ignorance. Thinking there is a self when there is not, that is ignorance. From ignorance is born greed, anger, fear, jealousy, and countless other sufferings. The path of liberation is the path of looking deeply at things in order to truly realize the nature of impermanence, the absence of a separate self, and the interdependence of all things. This path is the path which overcomes ignorance. Once ignorance is overcome, suffering is transcended. That is true liberation. There is no need for a self for there to be liberation.”🍂🙏

Uruvela Kassapa sat silently for a moment and then said, “Gautama, I know you speak only from your own direct experience. Your words do not simply express concepts. You have said that liberation can only be attained through the efforts of meditation, by looking deeply at things. Do you think that all ceremonies, rituals, and prayers are useless?”

The Buddha pointed to the other side of the river and said, “Kassapa, if a person wants to cross to the other shore, what should he do?”

“If the water is shallow enough, he can wade across. Otherwise he will have to swim or row a boat across.”

“I agree. But what if he is unwilling to wade, swim, or row a boat? What if he just stands on this side of the river and prays to the other shore to come to him? What would you think of such a man?”

“I would say he was being quite foolish!”

“Just so, Kassapa! If one doesn’t overcome ignorance and mental obstructions, one cannot cross to the other side to liberation, even if one spends one’s whole life praying.”

Suddenly Kassapa burst into tears and prostrated himself before the Buddha’s feet. “Gautama, I have wasted more than half my life. Please accept me as your disciple and give me the chance to study and practice the way of liberation with you.”

The Buddha helped Kassapa stand back up and said, “I would not hesitate to accept you as my disciple, but what of your five hundred devotees? Who will guide them if you leave?”

Kassapa answered, “Gautama, give me a chance to speak with them this morning. Tomorrow afternoon I will let you know of my decision.”

The Buddha said, “The children in Uruvela village call me the Buddha.”

Kassapa was surprised. “That means the Awakened One, doesn’t it? I will call you the same.”

The next morning, the Buddha went begging in Uruvela village. Afterwards he went to the lotus pond to sit. Late that afternoon, Kassapa came looking for him. He told the Buddha that all five hundred of his devotees agreed to become disciples under the Buddha’s guidance.

The next day, Uruvela Kassapa and all his followers shaved their heads and beards, and threw the locks of hair into the Neranjara River along with all the liturgical objects they had used for fire worship. They bowed before the Buddha and recited three times, “I take refugee in the Buddha, the one who shows me the way in this life. I take refuge in the Dharma, the way of understanding and love. I take refuge in the Sangha, the community that lives in harmony and awareness.” Their recitation of the three refuges echoed throughout the forest.

When the ordination was completed, the Buddha spoke to the new bhikkhus about the Four Noble Truths and how to observe one’s breath, body, and mind. He showed them how to beg for food and how to eat in silence. He asked them to release all the animals they had once raised for food and sacrifices.

That afternoon the Buddha met with Kassapa and ten of Kassapa’s senior students to teach them the fundamentals of the Way of Awakening as well as to discuss how to best organize the sangha. Kassapa was a talented organizer and leader, and, with the Buddha, he assigned capable senior students to train the younger bhikkhus, just as the Buddha had done in Isipatana.

The next day Nadi Kassapa, Uruvela Kassapa’s younger brother, arrived with his disciples in a state of shock. The day before, he and his three hundred devotees who lived downstream from Uruvela had seen hundreds of braids and liturgical objects floating in the river and they feared some terrible catastrophe had befallen the community of his elder brother. When Nadi Kassapa reached Uruvela it was the hour of begging and so he was unable to find anyone. His worst fears seemed to be confirmed. But slowly bhikkhus began to return from begging and they explained how they had all taken vows to follow a monk named Gautama. Uruvela Kassapa returned from begging with the Buddha and was most happy to see his younger brother. He invited him for a walk in the forest. They were gone for a good length of time, and when they returned Nadi Kassapa announced that he and his three hundred devotees would also take refuge in the Buddha. Both brothers agreed to send someone to summon their brother, Gaya Kassapa. Thus, in the space of only seven days, the two hundred devotees of Gaya Kassapa were also ordained as bhikkhus. The Kassapa brothers were well known for their brotherly love and sharing of common ideals. Together they became deeply devoted students of the Buddha.

One day after all the bhikkhus had returned from begging, the Buddha summoned them to gather on the slopes of the mountain in Gaya. Nine hundred bhikkhus ate in silence with the Buddha and the three Kassapa brothers. When they were finished eating, they all turned their gaze to the Buddha.

Sitting serenely upon a large rock, the Buddha began to speak, “Bhikkhus, all dharmas are on fire. What is on fire? The six sense organs —eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind—are all on fire. The six objects of the senses—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and objects of mind—are all on fire. The six consciousnesses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling, and thought—are all on fire. They are burning from the flames of desire, hatred, and illusion. They are burning from the flames of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and from the flames of pain, anxiety, frustration, worry, fear, and despair.

“Bhikkhus, every feeling is burning whether it is an unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral feeling. Feelings arise and are conditioned by the sense organs, objects of the sense organs, and the sense-consciousnesses. Feelings are burning from the flames of desire, hatred, and illusion. Feelings are burning from the flames of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and from the flames of pain, anxiety, frustration, worry, fear, and despair.

“Bhikkhus, do not allow yourselves to be consumed by the flames of desire, hatred, and illusion. See the impermanent and interdependent nature of all dharmas in order not to be enslaved by the cycle of birth and death created by the sense organs, objects of the senses, and the sense-consciousnesses.”

Nine hundred bhikkhus listened intently. Each man was deeply moved. They were happy to know they had found the path that taught how to look deeply in order to attain liberation. Faith welled in the heart of every bhikkhu there.

The Buddha remained in Gayasisa for three months to teach the new bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus made great progress. The Kassapa brothers were talented assistants to the Buddha, and they helped him guide and teach the sangha.

Old path white clouds 

Thich Nath Hahn