Hoa Vo Uu (Buddha Dharma Education Association)
Venerable Shravasti Dhammika
The Buddha’s Words of Wisdom
Rohitassa, a son of the gods, when the night was fading came to see the Lord. Lighting up all the Jeta Grove with surpassing brilliance, and saluting him stood to one side and asked: “Lord, is it possible by going far to know, to see, to reach the end of the world, where there is no more being born, growing old, dying, no more rolling away from one existence and rising into another?”
“I say that the end of the world cannot be known, seen or reach by going.”
“Wonderful! Marvellous! This is well said by the Lord. In my last birth I was sage called Rohitassa, son of Bhoja. I had such psychic power that I could walk in the sky and my speed was such that I could go faster than an arrow. The extend of my stride was the distance between the east and west ocean. And I thought to myself: “I will reach the end of the world by going.” Except for time spent eating, drinking and answering the call of nature, except for struggles to banish sleep and weariness, though I lived and travelled a hundred years. I never reached the end of the world, but I died trying.”
“I say that the ending of suffering cannot be found without going to the end of the world. And within this six-foot body with its perceptions and thoughts is the world, the origin of the world, the ending of the world and the practice leading to the end of the world.”
