Hoa Vo Uu (Buddha Dharma Education Association)
Venerable Shravasti Dhammika
The Buddha’s Words of Wisdom
Mahãnãma the Sakyan came to see the Lord and said: “This town of Kapilavatthu is rich, prosperous, popular, crowded with men, thickly populated with people. Now, when I enter the city in the evening after waiting on the Lord or the monks, I meet with elephants, horses, chariots, carts and people, all swaying and rolling along. At such times, my thoughts that were fixed upon the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are utterly bewildered. Then I think: “If I were to die at this moment, what would be my lot, where would I be reborn?”
“Have no fear, Mahãnãma, have no fear! Your death will be good, your end will be good. For one whose mind has for a long time been practised in faith, virtue, in learning, in giving up and in wisdom, even though the body made of the four elements is devoured by birds and animals, yet the mind – if for a long time practiced in faith, virtue, learning, in giving up and in wisdom – the mind soars aloft, the mind wins the highest. It is just as if a man were to plunge a jar of butter or oil into a deep pool of water and it were to be broken; the fragments of the jar would sink to the bottom but the butter or oil would float to the top. So Mahãnãma, your mind has for a long time been practised in faith, virtue, learning, in giving up and in wisdom. So, have no fear. Your death will be good, your end will be good.”
