— From Siddhartha Gautama to present-day Buddhism in an allegory
© 2018 Panadure KUSALAGAVESI Bhikkhu
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It is an oppressive and dreadful desert, full of suffering. Without knowing when and how it started, and when and how it might end, beings live there attached to it, reborn in it endlessly with the delusion that it is a pleasurable place. No matter how long they live there, how much suffering they endure, how many times they are reborn, it is very difficult to find a being who has lost interest in this harrowing desert. Most beings in the desert believe that this is their first birth in it, and after their death, they will be reborn in an everlasting place: another desert, yet with less suffering. Some beings, even though believing that such a rebirth is not everlasting, still desire for it.
There was an ancient legend about an oasis beyond the desert and heroes who managed to reach it. However, most beings who know that legend put forth no effort to travel there. Even a rare being who tries to travel to the oasis circles back to where he was—having lost his way—as the ancient path is hidden under the sands of time. After a long while, being appalled by the oppressive, dreadful, and suffering nature of the desert, one day a wise and worthy man made a strong determination to leave it and reach the oasis. With great effort, this hero managed to find the ancient path and reached the oasis.
Not only filled with wisdom and heroism but also with compassion, this hero never thought to keep the path to the oasis to himself. He came back and taught about the oasis and the path he trod to reach it, to five worthy men who accompanied him during the early days of his journey.
The teachings of the hero happen to be simple and practical. He found that the whole desert life is “suffering”; the reason for that desert suffering is “craving”; the liberation from that suffering and the reaching of the oasis as “extinction”; the path to that oasis as the “middle path”. The path to the oasis is called middle path because if one strays to the left or the right, one invariably circles back to where one was.
The hero also established a signpost at the entrance to the path with instructions on how to travel on the path. At the time when the post was established, many wise beings in the desert managed to reach the oasis by following its instructions.
After the passing away of the hero and his followers who reached the oasis, the enthusiasm to reach the oasis began to fade away. Contrary to the hero’s advice of “one should leave the desert without any delay,” some of his later followers began saying, “We will also become a hero in a distant future rebirth. That is a greater going than this lower going shown by the hero.” They went on to establish another sign post called “greater going”—with a different set of instructions—pointing to a path which circled back to the beginning. Many lazy followers gathered around this new sign saying, “We will also reach the oasis with a future hero.” Not only that, they soon began writing their own ideas on the hero’s signpost claiming that the original instructions were incomplete. As time passed, the signposts proliferated, promoting more distorted ideas. Replicas of these signposts were on sale for varying prices as there was a big demand among desert beings for such fancy ideas.
Some followers who gave up the journey to the oasis began resurrecting tombs of various sizes, storing the bone remains from the hero’s cremation. Some beings wondered, “If all the bone remains were to be gathered from all these tombs, they would surely surpass what was in the hero’s body.” They began planting a type of tree, once used by the hero for shade during his journey to the oasis. A story was fabricated that after reaching the oasis, out of gratitude the hero stood looking at the tree for a whole week without blinking.
The hero had said that it is meaningless to make any statue of his image. At one time, it was even considered disrespectful to do so. Yet later, they started to build hero’s statues of various sizes, imagining what the hero may have looked like. These followers’ lives were entirely dedicated to the maintenance of those tombs, statues and trees, and the conduct of various rituals for them. It became a common practise to collect money by keeping boxes near these places.
Today, most desert beings visit these places, not thinking about what the ancient hero did or what he advised them to do, but with the belief that such places have powers to help them with their daily desert life. Some followers sing portions of the instructions from the hero’s signpost as well as their own fabrications, claiming both are incantations by the hero, with power to cure any sickness or to solve any problems. It is not unusual for these incantations to continue for seven consecutive days.
Followers who haven’t seen the oasis can sometimes be seen misleading others, falsely claiming that they have in fact seen or reached the oasis. They appear to be champions at giving guidance on the path. These later guides are also in competition for amassing the most number of followers. The early, simple teachings of the hero have been twisted into complicated organised religions. The behaviours of the so-called followers today show that they have never trod the path taken by the hero, nor they have any interest in doing so. It is a drama enacted by so-called followers and desert beings.
However, a smile might appear on the face of a rare man who reads the instructions on the ancient signpost placed by the hero. He may have understood the hero’s intention and the guidance, and gained faith about the hero and his instructions. This worthy man will leave the desert, and will not return to it.
—
“Few are the people who reach the Far Shore. The rest simply scurry along this shore.”
~ Dhammapada 85
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