The Story of Bahiya

0:00Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebudastodio.com forward slash donate. Thank you and happy listening. But how does one do this? It's easy to say, but how does one actually do it? Now broadly speaking we may say that there are two ways of doing it. Two ways of insuring, that they are now feeling, is not succeeded by Krishna, craving. Two ways of insuring that the world doesn't make another revolution. What we might call a sudden way, when the world is shattered as it were to the

1:00single blow and a gradual way in which is gradually slowed down a break. It's very slowly and gently applied and the whole thing slowly comes to a standstill. Now the first way, the sudden way, the abrupt way, is illustrated. You might be surprised to hear no. Not by the story from the Zen scriptures, but by one out of the Vinalapitaka, the book of the Discipline of the Pali Canon, illustrated by the story of Baha'iha. I've told this story before I know, and some of you know exactly what's going to come. But you can hear it again, some I'm sure haven't heard it. The story goes, that a certain monk called Baha'iha came into the place where the Buddha was staying. He wanted to meet the Buddha. He'd been admitted to the order, to the Sangha, to some distant part of the country, and

2:04he'd never had the opportunity of meeting the Buddha or asking him any questions. So in he came. But at the time of his arrival, apparently, the Buddha was out on his daily arms going from house to house begging for food. So Baha'iha inquired the direction in which he had gone and followed him. Before long, he caught up with him and was walking just behind the Buddha, as the Buddha went from door to door of the houses. So he called out to the Buddha who was in front. Please give me a teaching. That was the Buddha's custom that when he went on his arms route, he never spoke. He never said anything. So he ignored Baha'iha's request. He just quietly went on, proceeding from door to door. So a second time Baha'iha asked even more urgently this time, please give me a teaching.

3:08But again the Buddha ignored him and went on with Baha'iha following. So a third time Baha'iha made his request. So it was a rule of apparently of the Buddhas that if anyone asked him something even unto a third time, whatever the question was and however terrible the consequences might be for the questioner, he answered it. So he just halted us, it ran in his tracks. He turned round, gave Baha'iha a very direct look and he said, in the scene only the scene, in the herd only the herd, in the touched only the touched, in the tasted only the tasted, in the smelt only the smelt, in the thought only the thought. He turned round and went on with his arms round and Baha'iha became enlightened on the spot. So this is the sadden, a breakfast way and what does it mean?

4:12What the Buddha was and he fixed saying was, don't react, don't react, if a sound impinges on your yadra, alright that's just a sound, you don't have to react straight, that you like it or don't like it or want you to continue or want you to stop. In the herd merely the herd, so it's the same for the seat and the tasted and the touched on the thought. Don't react, let the bear experience be there, but don't make that experience the basis for any action or reaction in this cyclical order. If you can do that, then you're enlightened on the spot, as Baha'iha was, so in the scene in the herd only the herd, the bear experience and no reaction was so ever. If you can do that, then you cut off the whole Sangsara at a stroke, you stop the wheel

5:16revolving at a single stroke as it were. And you realise Nirvana, here and now, gaining enlightenment on the spot. Now this is obviously very difficult. Some of you might be thinking it's impossible. The case of Baha'iha shows it's not impossible, in the case of many other people also shows it's not impossible, but of course it's very, very, very difficult. So for most of us, if not for all of us, it's much better, much safer at least, much shorter, to try to follow, not this sudden path, not this abrupt path, but the gradual path, which of course doesn't mean the never-never path. We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite.

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