Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, which hit you like a harpoon hits a careless turtle.At Sāvatthī. “Possessions, honor, and popularity are brutal … Once upon a time in a certain lake there was a large family of turtles that had lived there for a long time. Then one of the turtles said to another, ‘My dear turtle, don’t you go to that place.’ But that turtle did go to that place, and a hunter pierced her with a harpoon. [Read More]

Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, which catch you like fish on a hook.At Sāvatthī. “Possessions, honor, and popularity are brutal, bitter, and harsh. They’re an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary. Suppose a fisherman was to cast a baited hook into a deep lake. Seeing the bait, a fish would swallow it. And so the fish that swallowed the hook would meet with tragedy and disaster, and the fisherman can do what he wants with it. [Read More]

Material possessions, honor, and praise are terrible things, obstructing spiritual progress.So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!” “Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this: “Possessions, honor, and popularity are brutal, bitter, and harsh. They’re an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary. So you should train like this: ‘We will give up arisen possessions, honor, and popularity, and we won’t let them occupy our minds. [Read More]

Kassapa asks the Buddha why there are now more rules but fewer awakened mendicants. The Buddha replies that it is due to the arising of the counterfeit Dhamma, giving five factors that lead to declineSo I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then Venerable Mahākassapa went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “What is the cause, sir, what is the reason why there used to be fewer training rules but more enlightened mendicants? [Read More]

Sāriputta asks Kassapa about whether a Realized One survives death.At one time Venerable Mahākassapa and Venerable Sāriputta were staying near Benares, in the deer park at Isipatana. Then in the late afternoon, Venerable Sāriputta came out of retreat, went to Venerable Mahākassapa, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Mahākassapa: “Reverend Kassapa, does a Realized One exist after death? [Read More]