Hoa Vo Uu (Buddha Dharma Education Association)
Venerable Shravasti Dhammika
The Buddha’s Words of Wisdom
And the Lord said to Mãgandiya: “It is like a man born blind who cannot see either colour or shape, the even or the uneven, the starts, the sun or the moon. He might hear someone speaking of the pleasure of a lovely, unstained, pure white cloth, and start searching to get one.
But someone might deceive him by giving him a greasy, grimy, coarse robe and saying: “My good man, this is a lovely, unstained, pure white cloth.” He might take it and put it on. Then his friends and relations might get a physicial and surgeon to make medicine for him, potions, purgatives, ointments and treatment for his eyes.
Because of this he might regain his sight and clarity his vision. Then the desire and attachment he had for that greasy robe would go, he would no longer consider the man who gave it to him a friend. He might even consider him an enemy, thinking:
“For a long time I have been defrauded, deceived and cheated by this man.” Even so, if I were to teach you Dhamma, saying: “This is that health, this is that Nirvãna,” you might come to know heallth, you might see Nirvãna. With the arising of that vision, the desire and attachment you had for the five clinging aggregates might go.
You might think: “For a long time I have been defrauded, deceived and cheated by the mind, by clinging to body, feeling, perception, mental constructs and consciousness. Conditioned by this clinging there was becoming; conditioned by becoming there was birth, conditioned by the birth old age, dying, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation and despair came into being. This is the origin of the whole mass of suffering.”
And Mãgandiya said to the Lord: “I have confidence that if the good Gotama were to teach me Dhamma, I could rise from my seat no longer blind.”
