Hoa Vo Uu (Buddha Dharma Education Association)
Venerable Shravasti Dhammika
The Buddha’s Words of Wisdom
Once while Ãnanda was dwelling near Kosambĩn Ghosita Park, Bhaddaji approached and Ãnanda asked him: “Good Bhaddaji, what is the highest of sights, the highest of sounds, the highest of joys, the highest of conscious states, the highest becoming?”
“There is Brahmã who is all-powerful, non are more powerful, all seeing, with great power and dominion. To see Brahmã is the highest of sights. There are gods of radiant splendour in whom joy flows and overflows and who utter a cry of “Joy! Oh, joy!”
To hear this is the highest of sounds. There are the illustrious gods who feel joy but who rejoice in silence, and this is the highest of joy.
There are the gods who go to the sphere of nothingness, and this is the highest of conscious states. There are the gods who go to the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness, and this is the highest becoming.”
“But Bhaddaji, what you say is just the talk of the crowd. Listen, pay attention, and I will speak. If, while one looks, the defilements are destroyed, this is the highest of sights.
- If, while one rejoices, the defilements are destroyed, this is the highest joy.
- If, while one is conscious, the defilements are destroyed, this is the highest of conscious states
- If, while one becomes, the defilements are destroyed, this is the highest becoming.”
